FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE
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By Lynne Fritz
It is a pleasure to join you in the preservation of the beautiful Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve. Thank you all for the warm welcome! My first week at the park I walked the trails, enjoyed the flora, met docents and many park visitors, educated a few dog owners from the parking lot, and kept a few joggers and hikers on the trails. I am currently being assisted by Ranger Jack Kuhn, a veteran Ranger, and two Park Aides, Jeff Leaver and Toby Wolf; all three have worked at Edgewood before. We have set up a temporary Ranger Station at the rest room in the Picnic area, and have started maintenance on the trails. We are recruiting volunteers to assist with trail maintenance which started April 16 and will continue through June as needed (see schedule on page 6.) We plan to repair trail tread where the soil is still damp. Some very hard, dry areas will have to wait for more rain. Then we will focus on cutting back the brush and weeds. I am also looking for volunteers to assist in monitoring our attendance at different access points throughout the summer. Up until now, our attendance figures are an educated estimate, assisted by the visual counts made by the Trail Patrol members on their hikes. With some coordinated tallies I will be able to see how close we are in our estimates. Anyone interested in volunteering to tally visitor attendance for 2 or more hours this summer please give me a call. I welcome our new trail patrol members: Cory Mangini, Peter Ingram, Lee Franks, Ken Seydel, and Larry Peterman. I also want to thank all who have participated in our Friday night effort to control after hour activity, a big THANK YOU to Nancy Mangini, Frank Figoni, Stew Simpson, Billy James, Guy Cohen, Susan Summers, Susan Thrasher. Boy Scout Troop 149 in RWC is still active in the park. Eagle Scout Ryan Fay installed the Mileage Markers on the Sylvan Trail in November, and was recognized at a Court of Honor on Friday, April 19. Eric Hutcheson is going to continue the same concept on either the Serpentine or Edgewood Trail. James Wilsey is building an information board to be mounted on the wall outside the rest room in the picnic area. Another Scout is building a new, one sided, display board to go up by the Sunset gate. Troop 149 will assist with the installation of new trail signs throughout the year. The Scout groups also want to do one day service projects. If there is something you would like to see them assist with, please let me know. Starting July 1st the park’s budget will include $3,000 to support the volunteer efforts in the park. It will cover training costs, trail patrol jackets and hats, tools for volunteer crews and other costs associated with supporting your efforts in the Park. My commitment to Edgewood ‘s volunteer efforts is to encourage, direct, support, and coordinate all interested efforts toward common goals such as preserving and enhancing Edgewood’s natural resources and ensuring safe and appropriate public enjoyment of the same for generations to come. |
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Got
a bright idea? I am accepting suggestions for a name for my column in the Edgewood
Explorer. Who ever submits the name I use will go to a Saturday brunch with me.