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POLAND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BOON TO OUR LAKE
Students at Poland Regional High School and
their ecology teacher, Elke Christofferson, along with lake
volunteers Charlie Rodway, Jack Quinn, Ron Getchell, Douglas Carbone
and Babs Shapiro, helped clean the area and install plantings at the
Public Beach as well as rake out ditches and culverts on Jordan Shore
Drive. |
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Helpful High-Schoolers at Public Beach |
In April, we’d been approached
by Maine Department of Transportation via the Androscoggin Soil and Water
Conservation District to find volunteers to help plant 55 shrubs at the
Public Beach. I contacted the high-school several times and on June 6 was
finally able to recruit fourteen happy-to-get-out-of-class youngsters and
their teacher to help. Meeting with Richard Chick, Town Manager, to inform
him of our intended projects, it was found that the Town insisted on
safety precautions. They supplied us with orange vests and
"workers" signs on the road. |
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Second group of students work at Public Beach |
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Bob Moosman, landscape architect with MDOT and his
associate Susan Breau, brought plants and mulch funded by the MDOT
Surface Water Quality Protection Program to the Beach. This program makes
state and federal funds available to help lessen the impact of highway
runoff to surface water bodies. Moosman then instructed the students on
the importance and methodology of proper buffering. Having paved the
shoulder of the road previously to stabilize it, the State also added
rocks and mulch to further protect the area. |
A couple of weeks later, on June 19, thirteen
more teens worked under the supervision of Charlie, Jack and myself on
Jordan Shore Drive, raked ditches. The kids rewarded themselves on that
hot day by "falling" into the lake to cool off. We rewarded them
with thanks and TLIA caps. The Town of Poland helped by picking up the
debris. A planned meeting with John Laskey, our Volunteer Lake Monitor, to
demonstrate lake testing, was delayed until next year. |
High -schoolers who helped at the Public Beach were Emily
Anthony, Lyndsay Stevens, Abbe Withell, Kim Cash, Jesse Mynahan, Isaac
Boardman 3rd, Ben Bernard, Kyle Coolidge, Sarah Grant, Adam
Whittier, Josh Roy, Shannon Huskins and Jason Westleigh. Jordan
Shore Drive helpers were Jen Greenlaw, Mychelle Small, Bryan Lowe, Josh
Sturtevant, Matt Yates, Angela Roberts, Sarah Grasse, Mindy Cyr, Chrissy
Cox, Angie Belanger, Mark Martin, Nick Noble and Vanessa
Jordan. |
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Jack Quinn supervises High-School
road crew |
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A science teacher, Al Wanamaker,
recently contacted me and looks forward to a collaboration with our group in
the coming year. He’s currently instructing 9th graders in a
watershed study. Since Tripp is in their backyard, he hopes to connect with
us. I gave him copies of our recent watershed study as a guide.
We’re truly lucky to have this resource and hope to do some cooperative
work with them next spring and summer. They’re a wonderful, enthusiastic
and responsible group and we’re fortunate to have them in our backyard.
Our thanks to them, their teachers and to our faithful volunteers.
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