Thursday, May 7, 2015

Upcoming Events in May and June

We got a lot of activities going on over the next month - hikes, our monthly meeting, gardening, Clean the Bay Day, and architectural tours.   There's something for everyone and we hope you come out partake in the fun.   We do particularly need volunteers of our Adopt-A-Spot gardening on May 23rd and Clean the Bay Day on June 6th.   Come on out and help make our community better!

 On Saturday, May 16th, from 9:30 am to 11 am, there will be a guided hike along the nature trail and through Indian River Park.  Meet at the park entrance at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2001 Rokeby Ave.) and learn about the history of the park, the native trees and plants in this century old forest on the Indian River flood plain, and its value to maintaining the health of local butterfly, bird, and wildlife populations.   

Thursday, May 21st, 7 pm is our next regular meeting at Oaklette United Methodist Church; Jackie Shannon from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation will be telling us about Oyster Gardening and Oyster Restoration along our Eastern Branch.   As always, there will be light refreshments and door prizes after the presentation.


On Saturday, May 23rd, from 9:30 am to noon, come out and help with our Adopt-A-Spot gardening around the Indian River / Oaklette Bridge, including the area around the last year's tree plantings.   We'll be putting in a few new plants, doing weeding, and putting down mulch.   Meet at Oaklette United Methodist Church.   Please wear closed-toe shoes, a hat and bring work gloves. If you can, bring any gardening tools such as like cultivators, and shovels that are helpful in planting. Participants under 18 years of age must have adult supervision.​

We also need on-going volunteers who will be willing to "adopt a corner" routinely go out and check on the bridge gardens and do some routine weeding and watering.   Contact us at info@friendsofindianriver.org  if you are interested and we'll discuss the details!

Saturday, June 6th is Clean the Bay Day and we'll be doing our cleanup at Indian River Park from 9 am to Noon at the park entrance at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2001 Rokeby Ave.).   We will be working along the stream buffer in Indian River Park, the headwaters of the Indian River.   This will help to spruce up the area and collect trash that will otherwise get washed into the river and impact wildlife.    The city will provide garbage bags.   We'll have water and snacks available.  Please wear closed-toe shoes, a hat and bring work gloves and other items that may be useful.   There is also trash to be collected from the flood plain of the creek, which is wet; bring rubber boots if you can help in this area.   Participants under 18 years of age must have adult supervision.  We will have a picnic after the cleanup around noon.  The Friends of Indian River will provide hot dogs, burgers, and drinks.   We invite folks to bring a side dish like dessert, chips, pasta salad to share.  To help our planning, please RSVP to info@friendsofindianriver.org if you know you will join us.   (Last minute volunteers are still always welcome).

And on Saturday, June 13th, we organizing a tour the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's new Brock Environment Center at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach.  The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Brock Environmental Center, now open at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach, is one of the most energy efficient, environmentally smart buildings in the world.   The Brock Environmental Center is designed to meet the strictest environmental standards in accordance with the Living Building Challenge™ and is the first in the nation to embrace energy and water independence.   Come see this cutting edge architectural example.  The tour is at (corrected time)  Noon but we may meet before hand to carpool, stay tuned for details.  Space is limited so you MUST RSVP to info@friendsofindianriver.org

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Indian River Park Adopt-A-Park

Our volunteer day at the park was cut short today by the on and off rain, but Thank You to the  12 volunteers who accomplished a lot, fixing up the entrance area.   Pulling weeds, spreading mulch, and staking trees, we got the gardens around the parking area refreshed and ready to show off their spring blooms.   We also planted two Washington hawthorn seedlings which should add some nice color to the trees along the roadway in the coming years.   The native plants we planted this winter are popping up all over.   The red chokeberries are just past bloom, the columbines are looking great, and a lot more color is getting ready to burst forth.   Along the nature trail we also found native trumpet honeysuckle in full bloom, and less showy, along the forest floor mayapple blossoms.
Blue flags
Picnic area


Atlantic White Cedars
Columbines

Trumpet honeysuckle
Mayapples


Monday, March 30, 2015

April Activities

At our next regular meeting on Thursday, April 16, 7 pm., representatives from Chesapeake Parks, Recreation and Tourism will be talking to us about our local parks and recreation centers, including upcoming plans and events.   As always, there will be light refreshments and door prizes after the presentation

On Saturday, April 25, we are holding an Adopt-A-Park Volunteer Work Day at Indian River Park, from 9:30 am to Noon.  Meet at the park entrance at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2001 Rokeby Ave.) We'll be working on various projects around the park including trail maintenance, invasive plant removal, tending to the native plant garden at the entrance, and trash pickup - depending on volunteer availability. The more volunteers that come out the more that we can accomplish! Afterward, we'll also do a short guided walk of the nature trail for those interested.  Please wear closed-toe shoes, a hat and bring work gloves. If you can, bring shovels, rakes, pruners, saws and other gardening tools. We will have water and lots of snacks. (We also always encourage folks to bring their own water in reusable bottles to minimize use of plastic bottles). Participants under 18 years of age must have adult supervision.