Tree Planting Volunteer Opportunity

TREE PLANTING VOLUNTEERS NEEDED SEPTEMBER 24TH

SCWA members and friends are needed to help with a tree planting event in the Morgan County Industrial Park on September 24, 2011 at 9 A.M. We will be planting 200 trees in the area surrounding the Washington Homeopathy Building to help slow storm water runoff into tributaries of Sleepy Creek and to stabilize the soil. The trees have been ordered and will consist of white pines and deciduous trees such as oaks and maples. Once the trees are established, they can absorb up to 68 percent of rain fall and are a good filter of phosphorus and nitrogen as they uptake moisture through their roots. This will help keep these chemicals, as well as sediment from erosion, out of our creeks and waterways.

Holes will be pre-augured, and top soil and wire cages (to prevent deer damage) will be on the site. Volunteers should bring buckets, shovels and hammers or small sledges to pound metal stakes to support wire cages. SCWA will provide gloves and drinking water. A bag lunch will also be provided for those who sign up in advance.

To reach the planting site, from Route 9 East and US 522 (at Sheetz) go south 10.7 miles to the entrance of the Morgan County Industrial Park. Turn left onto J.R. Hawvermale Way and follow the paved road two-tenths of a mile to the end. Turn right onto paved road to the Washington Homeopathy Building.

Everyone is invited to participate, and trees will be planted RAIN OR SHINE. Please sign up in advance in order to provide enough bag lunches. Contact Gale Foulds at 304 258-6155 or dgfoulds@aol.com.

PVAS Volunteer Opportunities

PVAS really, really needs help for these events! Working a booth is not hard—you just have to answer questions from folks. It’s usually rather fun and if there are 2 people, the time goes really fast!

PVAS is going to be represented in three locations on September 17th. We'll be spread pretty thin, so we'd LOVE some help staffing booths for all or partial days. We're seeking friendly faces, folks familiar with PVAS and the Master Naturalist Program, and good people skills. We'll provide the tents, information, and activities. Interested? Here's where we'll be:

Berkeley Springs Birding Festival:
Judy Webb is coordinating the festival and is looking for volunteers throughout the weekend to help staff the festival information desk, hand out brochures, sell tickets, etc...
Friday, Sept. 16 3:30-10pm: At the Country Inn
Saturday, Sept. 17, 9am-10pm: At the Country Inn
Sunday, Sept. 18, 9-11am: Country Inn. Help clean up room, silent auction pickup, etc..
Please contact Judy Webb directly if you'd like to help with this any portion of this event at natureniche@earthlink.net or 304-258-0992.

Sharpsburg Heritage Festival, Sept. 17th:
Vendors set up on Saturday morning between 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM. The event begins at 10:00 AM. Vendors are asked to remain set up from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM during the festival. Breakdown may begin at 5:30 PM.

Charles Town Heritage Festival, Sept. 17th:
http://historiccharlestownwv.com/heritagefestival.htm
Vendors set up on Saturday morning between 7:30 AM and 9:30 AM. The event begins at 10:00 AM. Vendors are asked to remain set up from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM during the festival. Breakdown may begin at 5:00 PM. (You could meet Richard Dreyfuss!)If you are interested in helping with either of these for at least part of the day, please contact Kristin Alexander at 304-676-3397 or PVASmail@aol.com. Thank you!

Future booth event:
Looking ahead, we could also use help at the Berkeley Springs Apple Butter Festival in October.
Saturday, Oct. 8th, 10am-5pm (parade is at 9 if you like parades)
Sunday, Oct. 9th, 12-5pm
Contact Peter Smith if you'd like to volunteer for this event at pvsmith@frontiernet.net or 304-876-1139.

Thanks, all!

Day of Caring

If you are looking for volunteer hours, the Day of Caring is a great way to go—lots of specials like food and shirts to thank you! This info is specific to Flowing Springs Park, but similar work will be going on at Yankauer. You can volunteer for Flowing Springs Park at the bottom of this letter. To volunteer at Yankauer, contact Tim Murphy at timurf@comcast.net The schedule for Yankauer is the same as listed here.
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The City of Ranson will be participating in the United Way's "Day of Caring" on September 13th at Flowing Springs Park. Similar to the April 2 event, we'll be doing some tree planting, some invasive removal, trash pickup, installation of a deer fence (electric this time) and give the trees from the spring planting some TLC with some water, mulch and beating back of some competitive weeds.

We'd love your help in accomplishing as much as we can on this day! Because it's widely recognized as a community volunteer day, employers often allow staff to participate in the Day of Caring, so please ask about it at work.

A couple of perks include: 3 free meals that day, a sense of accomplishment, and a t-shirt! Here's the schedule for the day:7:30am: Breakfast & Kick Off at War Memorial Park in Martinsburg
OR8:00am: Volunteer Open House & Refreshments at the Inn at Charles Town8:30am-4pm: Volunteers on Site (lunch provided around 12)4:30pm - 6pm: Dinner at the Clarion in Shepherdstown We'd love your help in accomplishing any of the tasks mentioned above. To sign up, please click on the link below. It will send you to a google doc spread sheet where you can provide me with your contact information and preferred task. I signed up myself as an example. If you are uncomfortable sharing your contact information in this way, please still sign up for your task, but you can send me a separate e-mail so I know how to reach you.

Everyone who signs up or contacts me will receive an e-mail the week before the Day of Caring with further instructions of what to bring, etc...

Thanks so much in advance for your help! Feel free to bring a friend! (But let me know ahead of time so I have enough food and shirts!)

Hope to see you soon!

Kristin Alexander
Potomac Valley Audubon Society

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AmHKnqBGzzmjdGM3T0xLRzhtbXNLN3F2VFdoaWRpZ1E&output=html