We?re really looking forward to a day of tending the greenbelt in this wonderful autumn weather! For those of you who support the project, but can?t come, please send “beautiful weather vibes.”

We will be working this Saturday, October 29, at the Gus Fruh Trail Entry, 2642 Barton Hills Dr., from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If any of you can, bring your wheelbarrow, we need three more than we now have available. Also, be sure to wear long sleeves, long pants, work gloves and work shoes, and bring your own water bottle. We will provide water and energy drinks, poison ivy preventative lotion, some treats, and a good lunch. We also provide the tools and trash bags we will need.

We will also have our usual broad range of tasks to choose from. We will be maintaining the entry trail edging; pruning back overgrowth into the trail; doing some small repairs on our recently constructed drain swales and catch basins along the switchback trail; reducing the invasive species population of ligustrum and nandina; collecting seeds and planting them in appropriate bare spots; and doing trash pick-up. We are also starting phase one of another major project: repairing a retaining wall by the large swimming hole that was swept away by major flooding episodes.

We?re looking forward to a great work day and fun in the Halloween spirit. I am still taking RSVPs, so let me know if you can come, so I can be sure to have plenty of treats and lunches on hand!

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator

Saturday, October 29, 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM
Gus Fruh entry, 2642 Barton Hills Drive

Dear Barton Creek Greenbelt Fans,

The season has finally changed (108 degrees in late September?!), and its time for another quarterly work day to tend our adopted greenbelt trails. This will be our eleventh work day since we began this community commitment. In writing up the Final Report for our Austin Parks Foundation grant, I calculated the number of volunteer hours we have contributed since the beginning of our Greenbelt Guardian Program in March, 2003: it is 1,316 “on the ground” work hours! At the City’s “volunteer rate valuation” of $10.65/hour, that is a value of $14,015 contributed to the care of our greenbelt. Our heartfelt appreciation of this wonderful resource is very clear.

I hope we will have a large showing of volunteers for this next work day, because we have another ambitious work plan! We will finally be able to work on replacing the blown out retaining wall at the intersection of the Gus Fruh Trail and the large swimming hole area in the creek. The charming natural cedar bench there has about an inch of soil left to hold onto, as does the Sycamore tree next to it. We plan to construct the wall with large stones harvested from the creek, combined with rebar, wire, and mortar, for flood water readiness. John Cook and Stan Ostrum will guide the creative construction process.

We’ve also got plenty of other tasks: entry trail weeding & edge repair, trailside pruning, invasive species removal, small repairs to the new trail drainage catch basins, a couple of new drainage swales, seed collection & replanting, and trash pick-up.

Please RSVP so we can plan appropriately. Be sure to wear closed heel shoes, long pants and sleeves, and bring work gloves and a water bottle. We will be providing all of the tools and materials, plus energy drinks and water and cups and lunch. PLUS some Halloween treats! You are invited to come with costume elements to stimulate even more than our usual amount of fun and goodwill –

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator