The Alevin met as the third and final Explorers Club of the season to do service work at Connelly Creek. After an initial evaluation by theFour Shielders and work from two other Explorers Clubs, the Alevin were in good shape to continue the legacy of stewardship at Happy Valley Park. Our goal for this hot and humid day: heal the land, have fun, and bring salmon back to Connelly Creek!
The group was excited to learn about and use all the tools that our partners loaned us. Big thank you’s go toNooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) and the City of Bellingham for partnering with us on this project. With their encouragement and resources, Boys Explorers Club has a chance to restore a part of the Connelly Creek watershed. We deeply appreciate everything you have given us for this project!
Explorers used loppers, shears/clippers, and shovels. As a result of responsible tool usage, we accurately and effectively removed blackberry and reed cannarygrass from the up-creek side of our service site. Please ask your Explorer which tools he used during the outing… and feel free to put them to work in your yard too :)
Explorers dutifully followed the mottos: A Tool is an Extension of the Body andThe Difference between a Tool and a Weapon is You. It is inspiring to know that Mentors’ constant reminders of these mottos have finally sunk in because the boys knew exactly how to practice these sayings during the outing.
Before we nourished the land through stewardship, however, we nourished it with a ceremony. Boys scattered bits of a salmon carcass in and around the creek as a way of telling the creek that one day salmon will swim up its currents and hide in its nooks.
Hopefully through the course of this blog and the pictures in the photo gallery you can see the progress we made at Connelly Creek. Please ask your Explorer to show you the site if he hasn’t already. We mentors are truly inspired and impressed by the work of these hard-working boys. You should also be proud of your sons for the work they did, do, and are capable of doing. It is exciting to know that we have years of work to do and that we’ll make a huge impact. Maybe we’ll see the salmon swimming up-creek in the next couple of years.
We also should remember the motto, Many Hands, Light Work. At our maximum, there were fourteen people serving the land, and we made quite a bit of progress. This gets even more impressive when we consider that two other groups (of twelve) worked on the site this season and as many as eleven groups will do service here in the fall! Indeed our efforts are important and part of a much bigger project than boys may even realize. As such, please head out there from time to time and see how the land is healing!
Boys ended the day with genuine exploration of the area they had been serving. They rushed through the grass, built bridges, spent time loosening up debris dams to make the water flow, and most got their feet wet. While they are diligent workers, they are equally curious and inquisitive Explorers! We had a circle of thanks, embracing our motto, Attitude of Gratitude, and walked back to the cars.
Thank you Explorers for the great stewardship that you exemplified! Parents, thank you for your support and encouragement of these boys and this program.
We’ll see you next outing at North Galbraith Mountain trailhead at 12pm on June 8th as we explore a place that is well-loved by the mountain biking community. But we’ll do it by foot! Also, it’s not too late to sign up for summer camp so check out the summer page and get the information you need. Please also make a note of the season finale: Summer Solstice Gathering on June 20 at Hovander Park.
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