Branch Hoppers and Roosevelt Elk Calves initiate Spring 2016 service

You've probably heard it quoted: “Timing is everything in life!” That was certainly the case last Sunday as the Branch Hoppers gathered to initiate the service component of the Boys Explorers Club spring 2016 season at Connelly Creek. Their start time - 10:00 am; April shower (downpour, really!) commencement - 9:50 am. It’s a shame we don’t have a photo of mentor Brian and a succession of parents huddling under a raised minivan tailgate to complete service paperwork in a driving rain. Thank you, parents, for your patience and flexibility through what had to be one of the roughest starts to an outing in some time.

After a short walk to the service site, we found ourselves gawking at Reed Canary Grass as tall as

April showers

mentor Brian (I know, really tall!). This invasive plant is quite the fighter. Each of the last several seasons, we’ve stomped down the grass and covered it with bark mulch. And each time we return, so has the grass. Fortunately, we have more than one arrow in our quiver. The long term solution is to deprive Reed Canary Grass of its much loved sun all year around. So, we’ve planted alder trees that will provide shade when fully grown. Until then, we’re engaged in a tug of war with the grass. 

As we began to dig into the pile of bark mulch provided by Bellingham Parks and Rec (with tools provided by the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, or NSEA), the Roosevelt Elk Calves (REC) arrived as if to bolster our resolve in the face of our wily, stubborn adversary. The REC, 9 and 10 years old, are a bit younger than the Branch Hoppers (BH). This puts the BH in the position of role models for the younger boys, a challenge they accepted with gusto. Before long, shovels were scooping, buckets and even garbage cans full of mulch were being ferried to the newly flattened grass, and rakes were spreading mulch. As one of our BEC mottos emphasizes, “Many hands Make Light Work.”

Lopper brigade

A select crew was also working to cut back and uproot the few remaining Himalayan Blackberry bushes in the “front” part of the service area. It was about this time when a park neighbor came around to thank us for our work and to ask us to leave some of the foliage as a screen for the back of her property. This we were happy to do because we could see how that helped her and because the Bellingham Parks representatives have stressed with us the importance of limiting our efforts to the park boundaries. What at first might seem like a good-hearted deed can, viewed from a different perspective, cause unforeseen issues. In BEC, we endeavor to act with integrity, to “Walk Your Talk” (see Mottos); in this case, we focused on balancing our desire to pursue the grass and blackberries to every corner of that parcel of land with the needs and desires of the park neighbors and the Parks Department. As members of their explorers club group, these boys are practicing behaviors that will serve them well as adult members of our larger society. Everything is connected; sensing the issues and opportunities associated with that relationship is a sign of maturation for these boys. 

Through lunch and water breaks, the BH and REC groups continued to attack the mulch pile. Come

Impressive effort

early afternoon and we realized they were going to deplete the entire heap! Such industry! 

Well, as mentioned above, timing is everything. The shower at the start of the day meant we were working while wet, an additional challenge we accepted in gratitude for the nourishing rain. Now, timing was more in our favor. The bulk of our work was finished with time for some fun. The Branch Hoppers, who you’ll remember had started first, channeled their creative energies to an impromptu game they called “Double spiders web tag”. Think Capture the Flag….and more. What really struck me was their creativity and fun approach. It’s a game that may never be played again, but it looked fun.

Giving thanks!

The Roosevelt Elk Calves turned their attention to the remaining gnarly blackberries toward the back of the site. Even after having worked for a few hours on the mulch pile, the REC continued their enthusiasm for this, one of the most physically demanding tasks in service. In fact, they even figured out how to make if fun by competing for the biggest root. 

Both groups showed once again their positive attitude and inner strength in their approach to this task. The grass and the blackberries are worthy adversaries and neither is very good for spawning salmon. The effort is worthy and your explorers are more than up to the task. Look here for more photos from our outing.