For our last work party of the summer, we were honored to be supported by local law firm, Brett McCandlis and Brown. The attorneys and their families came out to take care of business on a sunny Saturday. Paula McCandlis led the charge, getting her crew out for a couple hours of work in the woods. We thank them for sponsoring this work party and contributing to the success of the project. 

We were also delighted to be joined from Boy Scouts from Troop 7, here in Bellingham. Here is half the guys running our bucket brigade of mulch up to one of our two native plant sites. This group of young men had recently completed a 50 mile hike on the Olympic Peninsula. In order to earn their 50-Miler Award, they must also log 10 hours of trail work. 

We also thank NSEA for loaning us all the tools to get the job done. The piece that I was most excited about was the 200 gallon water tank that we were able to use to get water on our thirsty plants! It’s been a long, hot, dry summer and the native plants we put in the ground needed a tall drink of water, for sure. 

The plants got a whole lotta love from our volunteers over the past month of work parties. Pippin helps this plant out by spreading the mulch around and away from the base, so we can get plenty of fresh water on it’s base. 

She was joined by Courtney, showing the peace sign, delivering mulch to the site. Courtney’s husband, Matt Connor, is the newest member to the local law practice and they brought the whole family out to help. 

Yes, it was a family affair. The kids all got engaged too. It was great that everybody had a task and was eager to help.

The scouts came out of the gates strong, attempting to carry four buckets at a time. They soon learned that this was not going to last and settled into just two buckets. It is quite a walk from the mulch pile to the planting site. 

The boys were accompanied by some of the dads. We applaud these parents for getting out and being engaged with their kids. Thank you Troop 7! 

The boys provided a steady stream of mulch in their bucket brigade. The goal was to cover up a patch of area that was previously covered in non-native blackberries. 

It was fun to spend a couple hours with the kids. Here we get a thumbs up from John Finlay, one of the dads and a local middle school teacher. 

The scouts were troopers for the day. With smiles on their faces, they tackled the tasks assigned. Erik had a great approach to his work. 

We didn’t work the kids to the bone, we did give them time to stay hydrated too! 

Back to business! The men from the firm (and spouses) got into some friendly competition on who could take out the biggest holly bushes (tree sized). 

They were joined by our new friend, who keeps coming back for more. We met Joel when our intern Jon was making this fun video to help with our fundraising efforts. 

Matt and his daughter show up the big boys, helping out with holly removal! 

Matt and crew did a great job of removing huge amounts of holly from the forest. 

After a getting it all done, we got the thumbs up from the girls. 

You can see the large piles that Matt and Bill were working to get into bite size chunks for the city to take away and dispose of properly. 

After we were done, it was fun to talk with Erik. Here’s our team selfie!! 

Here they are, Troop 7! Thanks guys for coming out and helping out. 

Last but not least, thank you Paula McCandlis for reaching out and sponsoring this work party. It was great to spend some time together and meet and watch Joe in action! Thank you for helping make Fairhaven Park great. 

We will be getting the trail building going soon and will need volunteers to help with plantings. Stay tuned to our Fairhaven Park Trail project page!