Service in Big Rock Park 10/10/15

Wowza! These Seastars consistently amaze this mentor with their work ethic, commitment and energy to get 'er done! Really, these girls have an amazing attitude and aptitude for service projects. They know how to work and fully embrace and enjoy service projects.


We began our day in a sleepy circle, checking in by sharing what kind of weather we were feeling like today. Lots of cloudy and overcast feelings, possibly due to the earliness of the hour and the actual weather forecast. But these girls quickly warmed up with a fun game of "All My Friends" and became inspired by the project ahead. Big Rock Park is a little known park in need of lots of TLC. We joined Rae Edwards, Alexandra Doumas and a lot of other volunteers on this windy, cloudy day for this park enhancement project. The J.O.B. before us: Protect the hillside, lay down a mulch blanket, plant new native plants, remove invader/bully plants and improve visibility and safety of the park area. But first! Get Prepared! Donning full rain gear to protect our bodies from slivers, dirt and potential rain, we learned how to use tools safely (we even took a quiz!), which buckets had special jobs, discussed the project ahead and donned our gloves.

The Seastars jumped right in, digging up young blackberries by the roots, hacking down obstructing snowberry, pulling ivy (so fun), planting and protecting a few short Oregon Grape babies, and then came the mulch madness... Giant mountains of mulch and empty buckets and sleds were swarmed by fifty volunteers. In the ensuing hours we all used muscles and positive mental attitudes to get the job done. From the moment they confronted Mulch Mountain, these girls were flying to fill buckets as fast as they were emptied, living into their "sled dog" and "reindeer" selves as they pulled heavy sleds of mulch up a steep hill, with big smiles and lots of gusto. Community members paused to watch, stating "Wow, who ARE these girls? They're amazing!"

Why'd we do it? We did it to make this park a friendlier, more accessible place for neighbors and folks who visit. Our efforts were an essential part of a community team: we filled those buckets, others transported them to waiting native plants and trees, some ringed the vegetation with mulch while others removed invasive weeds. After hours of sweating, hauling, filling, Mulch Mountain was reduced to a hill, then bump, and finally a flat brown spot. 

After a much-deserved break for food and water, we had a surprisingly fast and loud game of fox and rabbit tag, yippee! Squeals and screams ensued, as all games of tag seem to do. We then had a good slide down the Big Rock itself, it's really quite an amazing slab of Chuckanut sandstone-wow.

Our Words of the Day? Mulch, Muscles & Muddy Fun


Mottos especially in use today: Stretch Your Edge, LIBK, Collaborate and Compromise, Get Dirty!, Safety First.


See our Photo Album here.

Home Connections: Why do we do service? What do you like best about working on these projects?

Who may benefit from our help in Big Rock Park? 

How do you safely carry gardening tools like clippers and loppers?
Why is a thick layer of mulch better than a 1 inch layer?