To everyone’s surprise, our Fearless Leader’s prediction of good weather for the March work day was prescient! Rain was predicted, but the clouds parted promptly at 9 AM, and fueled by cocoa and donuts, eleven hardy souls went to work in the Audubon Newhall Preserve. Vice-Chair Lynn Hodgson, Karen Penale, Mary Ellen Blankenship and Stephen Streeter worked on the parking lot pollinator gardens, adding good topsoil to the extension to the east side of the gardens and weeding and preening the remainder of the garden. Sonny Huntley and Sal Gioia cleared some vegetation which had been blocking the sight lines for the front gate and hauled the debris to a large pile which will be taken away by Sea pines CSA. Bob Clemens planted a new Handicap Parking in an effort to enhance our accessibility, while others improved the newly laid milled asphalt to remove tripping hazards. Tackling the hardest task, Vice-Chair Matt Matoon, Jim Reynolds Hilton Klein and Jay Rawl laid 600 feet of PVC pipe through the forest to extend our water lines to the Audubon Pond. Bob, Sonny, and Sal also felled two pine trees and hauled the logs back to the parking lot to frame the Parking Lot Pollinator Gardens. Our thanks to everyone who participated, and to Debby Boots who is undertaking planting replacement plants at the Pond pollinator Gardens.
Photo: Volunteer Carrie Jones moving dirt ahead of the work day.