I Love My Park Day 2015 – Success!

May 4, 2015 | FOCAAdmin

The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct congratulate and thank the 60 volunteers, community co-sponsors and corporate donors who worked together along with the Aqueduct State Park crew on May 2nd to make the fourth annual I Love My Park Day on the Old Croton Aqueduct trail outstanding, productive and very enjoyable neighborhood events.

The Croton portion of the event’s participants included the Mayor of Croton on Hudson, Leo Wiegman. The volunteers bagged garlic mustard, removed many invasive plants and bushes, lopped tree strangling vines and cleared trash, all in a 2 mile stretch of the Aqueduct that intersects Quaker Bride Road in Ossining and Cortlandt north and south of the Unique Area. We also removed trash along the banks of the Croton River, branching out into the DEC managed Croton Gorge Unique Area. We restored some of the banks along the trail by planting native plants: a variety of ferns, wild geranium, partridge berry, witch hazel bushes and sweet spire bushes donated by Rosedale Nurseries, Inc. (http://www.rosedalenurseries.com)

We would like to acknowledge the great work done by contributing corporate sponsor SavATree (www.savatree.com) which sent a certified arborist and two crew members, a significant monetary donation by Sunrise Solar Solutions, LLC (www.sunrisesolarllc.com.) and our collaborating sponsors, including Teatown Lake Reservation (www.teatown.org), the Bronx River Reservation Conservancy (www.vinecutter.com), as well as the New York New Jersey Trail Conference (www.nynjtc.org) all of which sent mentors and staff, and the Saw Mill River Audubon Society (sawmillriveraudubon.org) which also provided a mentor who set up a very educational display of invasive species along with take home literature.

Local sponsors, Feed the Birds, The Black Cow Coffee Company (www.blackcow.com) & Run On Hudson Valley (www.runonhudsonvalley.com) and Mrs. Greens of Briarcliff contributed coffee, prizes for our lunch time prize drawing and refreshments.

There was also an I Love My Park Day event in Hastings on Hudson that started in Zinsser Park and continued along the trail. The volunteers walked the Old Croton Aqueduct with local naturalist Haven Colgate and learned about the local flora and fauna and how to identify and remove invasive species. They specialized in removing many vines that were smothering trees and cleared an entire section atop Zinsser field between Edgars Lane and Minturn Street. They also engaged with many passersby about the issues of invasive plants and about the fascinating history of the Old Croton Aqueduct. Elisa Zazzera and Charlotte Fahn, local residents and board members of the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct provided the historical background.

A great deal was accomplished during both events and the volunteers enjoyed the camaraderie for friends and neighbors as they improved the trail. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPHRP) in partnership Parks and Trails New York (PTNY) initiated the I Love My Parks Days events that took place throughout NY State this year. This was the fourth year of this now annual event and the fourth time the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct have hosted I Love My Park Days on the trail. We look forward to May 7, 2016!

I Love My Park Day 2015 Croton participants

Organizer Diane Alden introducing the mentors

Bob DelTorto discussing safety techniques

Invasive plant display provided by Karalyn Lamb; event organizer Diane Alden in foreground

Bob DelTorto demonstrating invasive plant removal techniques; Bittersweet vine in the foreground

Bob DelTorto instructing on vine cutting techniques

Robert Reardon comes prepared with tools

Guy Pardee and Karalyn Lamb with weed wrench

Bob DelTorto working in tandem with Aristan Garandeau lopping giant Bittersweet vine

Bob with volunteer; sometimes it takes two to do serious vine cutting

Cutting a vine at its roots; Bob supervises

Cutting invasive Barberry bush by the road

Mary Florin-McBride bagging invasive Garlic mustard

Removing garlic mustard from under a bush

SavATree crew member feeding Euonymus to chipper

SavATree certified arborist Kevin Jaeger working with crew member

SavATree crew member clearing a stone wall

SavATree arborist Kevin Jaeger feeding Euonymus to his chipper

SavATree crew members chipping a mountain of Euonymus bushes

Leigh Draper, crew leader contributed by Teatown, whizzing around on her bicycle

Lunch time break with Wilma and Margaret Abam-DePass and Jaime Abrams; Leigh Draper looks on

Diane explains the prize drawing sponsored by Feed the Birds and Run On Hudson; Crew Leader Linda Rohleder, Director of Land Stewardship, NY-NJ Trail Conference looks on

Diane Alden with Yadnesh Bosh preparing for our prize drawing

Yadnesh picks a winner to receive a hummingbird feeder from Feed the Birds

Yadnesh picks a winner to receive a gift certificate from Run On Hudson

Pablo Mora and Aristan Garandeau flagging Euynomus bushes for treatment

Aristan and Pablo removing and flagging invasive bushes by stone wall

Daria Gregg with her crew planting on the hillside; plants donated by Rosedale Nurseries, Inc.

Santosh and Yadnesh Bosh planting on the hillside

Brian Fitzpatrick with pick ax attacking a bush

Gary Telfer with his trusty hand saw at Station 2

Joseph O’Hagan with his lopper at Station 2

Tony Failla using his mower up and down the trail mulching the piles of invasive plants removed today

Guy Pardee, Mariana Barbecho, crew leader Karalyn Lamb, Wilma Abam-DePass, Croton’s Mayor Wiegman, Margaret Abam-DePass

Mayor Leo Wegman with Guy Pardee and crew leader Karalyn Lamb

Donna Barkman’s kayak at riverside with collected trash

Trash collecting; Bob DelTorto wins the prize

Tom Tarnowsky and Steven Oakes examine Bob’s prize trophy

Aqueduct Historic Park Manager Steven Oakes, Crew members Jeff Litwinowicz and Tony Failla

Aqueduct Trail crew member Jeff Litwinowicz, Historic Park Manager Steven Oakes and Linda Cooper, Taconic Region Director

Friends Board member and event organizer Diane Alden with Linda Cooper, Taconic Region Director of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

Preservation

The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct are committed to preserving the historic structures atop and underneath the trail. The Friends took part in the reopening of the High Bridge and undertook the complete renovation and reopening of the Keeper’s House in Dobbs Ferry.

Advocacy

The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct advocate for the Old Croton Aqueduct and Tunnel, fighting to preserve the integrity of the park and to protect it from encroachments by private landowners. Please find below examples of our work.

Stewardship

The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct work to maintain the beauty of the undeveloped trail and the integrity of the entire length of the tunnel from Croton into New York City. We are always looking for volunteers interested in getting involved with adopting a part of the trail for invasive management and native plant restoration. We also have an annual cleanup of the trail in Yonkers.TENDING THE TRAIL: INVASIVE PLANT MANAGEMENT & RESTORING WITH NATIVE PLANTS HISTORIC WALL RESTORATION

Education

The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct educate the public about the history or the tunnel and trail. SCHOOL TOURS LECTURES, WALKS AND TOURS NEWSLETTERS Please find below some of our educational content.