July 2000 Friends of White Clay Creek State Park Newsletter

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THE FWCCSP RECORDFriends of White Clay Creek State Park Newsletter

Friends of White Clay Creek State ParkP.O. Box 9734Newark, DE 19714-9734http://fwccsp.udel.edu

Volume 3, No.2 July 2000

Reforestation Project Receives GrantWe are delighted that the Longwood Foundation has recognized our reforestation project

with a $20,000 grant toward expenses for our Fall planting, which will place 600 trees on twoacres of a field in the Possum Hill section of the park. Congratulations to proposal writers ChristaStefanisko and Andy Urquhart.The planting is tentatively scheduled for the weekend ofOctober 27/28/29. We will needlots of volunteers, so please save some time for this exciting project. We will get back to youwith more details as plans are finalized.Incidentally, to protect our public charity status with the IRS, we are arranging for thegrant funds to flow directly to the state where they will be placed in a special account for thisproject. Thus, these funds will not show up in our financial statements.

Delaware Migratory Songbird FestivalA higWy successful migratory songbird festival was held at WCCSP on May 7. Thefestival began on May 6 at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. At WCCSP we began with abird walk at 7:30 AM led by Jeff Gordon, a member ofFWCCSP and the current president of theDelmarva Ornithological Society. He is also a bird tour leader for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours,Inc. About 50 participants were thrilled with Jeff's ability to arrange excellent sightings ofmartyinteresting and beautiful birds such as the Cerulean Warbler, Northern Parula, and ScarletTanager. Several people from out of state, who had been at Bombay Hook on the 6th, were onthe walk and had nice comments about the festival, the leaders, and the beauty ofWCCSP. About25 persons attended Jeff's presentation on songbird migration later in the morning at theChambers House Nature Center (CHNC).In the afternoon Julie Smith led a wildflower and folklore walk in the Preserve for about12 participants. Late in the afternoon Frank Rawling, with help from Andy Urquhart and MetaLittle, led about 15 participants on a second birdwalk. They had good views of a female CeruleanWarbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Special thanks are due to theactivity leaders and to Frank Rawling for organizing the festival.


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Membership ReportDuring the second quarter seven new members joined the Friends, bringing themembership total to 159. We anticipate further growth in the third quarter after membershipdrives at Newark Liberty Day and Community Day events. To date, most of the members up forrenewal in 2000 have renewed, and we thank you for showing your continued support of theWhite Clay Creek State Park and the Friends group. For those who have not renewed yet, thedeadline has been extended to July 31. Please take advantage ofthis extension.Lisa Wool has agreed to assist with the Membership duties. Lisa brings a lot of energyand many new ideas on increasing membership and serving our existing members even better.We are looking forward to continued growth, both in membership and in activities throughout theyear. Ifyou know of any persons who would like information on joining the Friends group pleaserefer them to the new Friends web site at http://fwccsp.udel.edu or they can call Kyle Bottorff at239-9828 or Lisa Wool at 235-2240.

Treasurer's ReportRevenues for the second quarter of 2000 were $303.58, and expenditures were $431.29 fora net change of$-127.71. Most of the income was derived from member dues and contributionsfor the park bench project with minor revenue coming from unrestricted contributions andinterest. Major expenses consisted of costs associated with the birder's guide and bird houseprojects. There were minor expenses associated with the reforestation project, annual meeting,and mail. The FWCCSP books are open to all members. Call Kyle Bottorff at 239-9828 if youhave any questions.

Adopt-a-HighwayOur June 3rd clean-up ofFoxden Road yielded 12 bags of trash, about half the usualamount we have picked up previously, perhaps because other refuse is hidden by vegetation atthis time of year. Dee and Dick Benson, Laurel Pearson, Frank and Phyllis Rawling, MaggieThomas, and Chris Yasik comprised the pick-up crew. One item picked up by Chris was a"needle in a haystack" placed along the road by a field editor ofCountry magazine as part of their"Great Country Cleanup" campaign. Finders of these plastic needles placed in a plastic bag withaccompanying note each receive $100. Unfortunately, the program ended on May 31, 2000, andthe note says to not bother to call if you find the needle after that date. Sorry, Chris, you missedthe prize by three days.

Park Bench UpdateVolunteers Tom Braatz, John Thomas, and Andy Urquhart have recently completed 6 newbenches that are now ready for placement in the park. We will be installing some of thesebenches at selected locations over the next month or two. By the way, we can still acceptdonations for 4 of these benches.


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AdvocacyAs part of a broad coalition of environmental and civic organizations, representatives of

the Friends are continuing their efforts to encourage the state to preserve as much open space aspossible, including additions to our park. The state has been very generous in the past, and we arehoping the generosity will continue. Please remember always to thank your representatives fortheir past foresight in open space preservation and encourage them to continue this importantwork.

Trail WorkThe scheduled monthly trail workday on June 3 commemorated National Trails Day with

a work session at the Judge Morris property. Joining us on this special day were volunteers fromthe Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints in Newark and members of the state parks trailcrew who accompanied each work group. The morning consisted of closing short spurs of f ofmain trails, some trail maintenance, and the removal of debris. Participating from the Friendswere Bob Bennett, Wendel and Andrea Cassel, Charlie Gaines, Tom Hallenbeck, and JohnThomas. See the calendar of events for upcoming trail workdays. If you think you'd like toparticipate in the future by receiving specific plans for each date, contact Wendel Cassel at 7373319.

Trail WatchAs part of the continuing program to provide monthly monitoring, minor maintenance,

and feedback to the park staff on more serious trail conditions requiring attention, morevolunteers from our membership are being recruited both for additional trails and as replacementsfor former trail-watchers. The level of participation committed by each volunteer is also beingsurveyed, ranging from (1) walking the assigned trail and removing debris, to (2) performingmaintenance activities such as trimming brush and clearing water passages across trails, to (3)checking trail conditions shortly after major storms in addition to normal monitoring. There arecurrently a few trails that need to be covered, so if you are interested contact John Thomas at 4563242.

Volunteer HoursThe Friends are continuing to be very active organizing and doing volunteer work for the

park. During April, May, and June we recorded 165,83, and 227 hours, respectively, for a totalof 475 hours for the second quarter of 2000. We can be proud of our level of support for the park.Thanks to all our volunteers.


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Update by Park Superintendent Nick McFaddenThe Wedgewood Road pedestrian bridge crossing White Clay Creek will be placed on the

reinforced bridge abutments during September.Construction of the day-use parking area for the Judge Morris area will begin this summerand is scheduled for a fall completion.Band stage, playground, and parking lot improvements at the Carpenter Recreation Area

are scheduled to begin this fall.Renovation of the equestrian barn into the new maintenance center should be done by this

summer.Creek Road between Wedgewood and Hopkins roads will be gated from sunset to 8:00AM, seven days a week, beginning sometime this summer. After a new day-use parking lot is

completed at the Wedgewood Road end, the road will be gated 24 hours a day, seven days aweek, with a possible modification during trout season.

Newly designed exhibits are planned for installation this summer in the CHNC.The Division has created a State Parks Trail Crew supervised by David Bartoo. Theirprimary focus is completion of a trail system in the Judge Morris area, but they will also assistWCCSP staff with trail maintenance in other areas of the park.

Division representatives met with DELDOT engineers about the safety of the ThompsonStation Rd. and Hopkins Rd. intersection. DELDOT is proposing possible late summer or fallwork to elevate the curve or level it out, pave the road with a more porous surface to lessenskidding, and install a guardrail on the curve.

Culvert replacement on Thompson Station Road is still scheduled for this fall and willresult in closure of the road between Chambers Rock Road and Hopkins Road.

Friends Support Parks ProjectsOccasionally park personnel call on the Friends to provide volunteers when help is needed

on their projects. As a recent example, Phyllis Rawling and Lyn Urquhart served food and helpedclean up at the Garden Party held at the Judge Morris House on June 17. Also, on June 24Wendel Cassel, Mike Cassel, Tom Hallenbeck, and Keith Weaver helped carry building materialsto a site in the Judge Morris area where a new footbridge is to be built. We can look forward tomore such requests in the future.

Meeting Schedule ReminderThe next meeting of the Friends will be on September 21 at 7:00 PM at the Chambers

House Nature Center.


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Calendar of EventsJuly 4 - Newark Liberty Day at Carpenter Recreation AreaJuly 15 - Trail WorkAugust 14 - Executive Committee MeetingAugust 19 - Trail WorkSeptember 11 - Executive Committee MeetingSeptember 16 - Trail WorkSeptember 21 - Quarterly Membership MeetingSeptember 17 - Newark Community DayOctober 9 - Executive Committee MeetingOctober 21 - Trail WorklMake-A-Difference DayOctober 27/28/29 - Reforestation Planting (tentative)November 12 - Trail WorkNovember 13 - Executive Committee MeetingDecember 4 - Executive Committee Meeting with the Advisory BoardDecember 7 - Membership MeetingDecember 17 - Trail WorkUsually there are also unscheduled activities underway. Call Projects Coordinator TomHallenbeck at (610) 274-1345 for more information if you think you might like to getinvolved.

Executive Committee:President: Andy Urquhart, 239-2471, [email protected]: Frank Rawling 738-0913, [email protected]: Kyle Bottorff, 239-9828, [email protected] and Newsletter Editor: Dick Benson, 410-398-4180, [email protected] Committee Chair: Tom Hallenbeck, 610-274-1345, [email protected]

Current Project Leaders:Trail Watch: John Thomas, 456-3242Adopt-a-Highway: Dee and Dick Benson, 410-398-4180Park Benches: Andy Urquhart, 239-2471Advocacy: Andy Urquhart, 239-2471Reforestation: AI Zverina, 239-5046, and Christa Stefanisko, 369-1933Birder's Guide: Mark Keese, 455-1076, and Gene Hess, 738-4690Birding Festival: Frank Rawling, 738-0913Trail Improvement Work: Wendel Cassel, 737-3319Website: Rick Hall, 831-1295, and Kyle Bottorff, 239-9828

Documents

July 2000 Friends of White Clay Creek State Park Newsletter