GNPVA’s first-ever Mini Work Week was held at Saint Mary, September15-17th. Eight volunteers arrived at the Saint Mary Campground on the 15th and the work projects began the next day.
On a beautiful fall day, seven volunteers worked with park staff to scrape and paint the picnic tables in the A Loop of the campground. By 4pm all 45 tables had been repainted. The eighth volunteer worked all day to scrape and then repaint a 60 foot section of curbing at the Visitor Center. That curbing is painted a bright red to make visitors aware that it is there. That evening the volunteers were treated to a private tour of the recently completed observatory at the Visitor Center. Tuesday the weather changed and the volunteers were treated to high winds that came down the lake, bringing with it rain and even a little snow. Five volunteers worked at the Visitor Center, cleaning out planters and flower boxes that had become overgrown with grass and non-native plants, so soil could be added and native flowers planted. Firewood for the 1913 Ranger Cabin was chopped and stacked by two volunteers, who then joined the rest of the group to finish the project at the V.C.
Overall, the projects took 84 hours to complete, giving the park a total of about $1,850 in in-kind labor. The volunteers were Bill, Robin, Mark, Joan, Jim, Sue,Tom and Mary. The success of this three day event will, hopefully, lead to more Mini Work Weeks, with the goal of having spring and fall sessions on both sides of the park annually.
