by Barbara Dixson
Looking around the Reserve, you’ll see so many wonderful features that are the direct result of the Tuesday Crew. Since 2017, these folks have gathered on Tuesday mornings, or sometimes for nearly a regular work week, to create and maintain such features as the tables and benches in the Menzel Pavilion, the woodwork on the fishing pier, and the trail, deck, and observation platform at Moses Creek Meadows. They also do the sort of unglamorous maintenance that keeps the Reserve safe and beautiful. And right now, they are at it again, getting trails ready for the May 3 Candlelight Hike.
The Tuesday crew welcomes newcomers, people who come only now and then, and those with or without special skills, including me, this past Tuesday. I arrived at 8 a.m. for the coffee-and-chat time, then followed the crew down the Frog Chorus Trail to a segment with many downed trees in need of clearing. To the whine of chainsaws and the scream of the chipper, everyone pitched in.
Erik Lacey loading tools.
Mark Strey getting ready to cut.
Pat Sinnott, the group’s newest member, hauls cut logs.
Bill Barnes moves logs from trail to truck.
Karl Wolf cutting limbs.
Griffin Bray takes on a downed tree.
Mike Orella has been central to the team since before it became the Tuesday Crew.
Karl Wolf with helmet and ear protectors ready to go.
Peter Fee brings cheerful good will along with skill to the work.
Mark Strey in full protective gear cuts limbs.
Jim Buchholz amazes Jerry Lineberger with his trailer backing skills as he sets the chipper in place.