This Valentine’s Day, our staff has been reflecting on everything we love about working at Ney. From sauna sessions, to crafting with young learners, and even the little bit of snow we’ve gotten, there are plenty of things that fill our hearts with joy. Over the past couple of months, my personal favorite heartwarming moment was seeing donor support make a tangible impact during our volunteer workdays.
Between our 2023 and 2024 Fall Flings, eight different donors contributed monetary gifts to fund the purchase of a brand new chainsaw. After listening to descriptions provided by our volunteers, these donors were able to understand exactly how a new chainsaw would benefit our park stewardship projects. I am thankful that the Fall Fling always provides the opportunity for our community to work together on supporting the park they all love. Although the Fall Fling is only one evening, the positive impacts of it last much longer.
More specifically, a couple months after the 2024 Fall Fling, across multiple workdays, our skillful volunteers put the donor funded chainsaw to the test during an exciting new project.
Just off the gravel road, at the start of the pond trail, you might have noticed several dead trees separating the Ney land and farm land. This past summer, one of the smaller trees fell across the trail, causing a nuisance and potential danger to park visitors. To avoid this safety issue in the upcoming summer, our volunteers decided to take a proactive approach by removing the remaining dead trees.
I am very grateful for our incredible group of volunteers who collectively dedicated more than 30 hours of their time to this project. We had the vision to remove these trees and they took that in stride to successfully accomplish the task. The new chainsaw allowed an additional volunteer to participate in all of the sawing needs throughout this project. Together the group felled several large trees, removed countless branches, and cut every trunk into firewood sized pieces. It was inspiring to watch them work together, keep each other safe, and be proud of all they accomplished.
Thank you to our supportive volunteers and donors for allowing us to achieve our goals of caring for our park and keeping visitors safe. You all are the heart of our mission. We hope you feel the love as you continue to inspire appreciation and respect for nature in our community. Happy Valentine’s Day!
P.S. Stay tuned for an announcement on how you can help regrow this area of the park!