Greenways Service at Forest & Cedar Park: 10/1/16

Under a gray and misty blanket of clouds, the Chickadees gathered for their second outing ever and their very first service project as a club of Explorers!  Some were sleepy, some were nervous, and all were excited to see where this day might lead.

As soon as everyone arrived, the Chickadees walked down to Forest & Cedar Park.  We circled up under a giant maple tree and settled in to meet Stormie and Lauren, learn how to Be Prepared and practice Safety First, and to check in with each other since our last outing.  We heard what each girl was thankful for, with the answers ranging from pets, friends, and family to Explorer's Club and the whole world!  

This lead nicely into our discussion of our motto for the day- Our Cups Overflow.  This motto captures the essence of EC's service philosophy, and so, before meeting with Rae and the rest of the Bellingham Parks and Recreation staff, we demonstrated the meaning of this motto with some actual cups and water.  Girls called out different basic needs such as water, food, shelter, and community, while I poured a splash of water into a cup for each need.  When all of those basic needs were accounted for, we started naming things that we are thankful to have in our lives such as education, toys, candy, time to spend with friends and family, sports, etc.  We quickly saw just how much our cups overflow, leaving room for us to give back.  We discussed how today we would be taking some of our own overflowing cups and pouring them into the cups of Forest & Cedar Park, the City of Bellingham, and all of the animals, plants, and people who enjoy or live in this beautiful place.

We then ran across the park to meet Rae and receive our task for the day!  We met some bully invasive plants- Bindweed (aka Morning Glory) and English Ivy- and how to remove them to make room for our native plant friends.  The Chickadees learned what hand clippers and hoary hoaries are and how to safely use them, buddied up, and picked a spot.  These Chickadees were super efficient, motivated, and just plain fun to work with!  We chatted, made weed wands (ask your daughter about the magical properties of weed wands!), and freed a huge number of native plants from the clutches of strangling Morning Glory.

Since we did so well in our first spot, Rae took us up the hill for the next stage in restoration- planting!  We learned the proper techniques for making a good home for native Thimbleberry, and just how powerful double kid power is.  After hauling lots of mulch and helping to put away tools properly, the Chickadees settled in for a well-deserved lunch break.

After that, the Chickadees turned into Cougars to stalk Deer Lauren down into the main park area for some more games.  We played 'Salmon, oh Salmon!' to learn more about the other-than-human communities whose cups we'd filled, and then found a good spot for Peaceful Place.

We ended our day with a meaningful Closing Circle and a walk uphill to meet the parents.  What a lovely day of service and connection!

Chicka-dee-dee-dee...Check out the rest of our photos here!

Our words of the day? Peaceful, Invasive, Planting, Thimbleberry, Friends, Rain

Mottos especially alive today: Be Prepared, Safety First, LIBK, Our Cups Overflow, Walk Your Talk, All Things Are Connected