Saturday in the Park, definately not the 4th of July, but an other item off the bucket list. . . sort of

A few months ago Matt was asked to help coordinate a portion of our stake in a huge day of service that is sponsored by Mormon Helping Hands.  This day of service will involve the church in Pennsylvania and Maryland.  Each ward in our area is asked to have 150 people participate.  That's about what our average sacrament meeting attendance is.  We've been asked to invite friends, neighbors and other community groups to participate.

Yesterday I tagged along with Matt as he met with ward team leaders and Jim, a park and trail volunteer, as they looked at a discussed some projects for the activity out at Caledonia State Park.  The day was a bit chilly and couldn't decide if it wanted to rain or snow. It was definately not the 4th of July.  I didn't mind the weather and I was surprise when we returned to the car that we had been walking for two hours. I loved my Saturday in the park.

 I hope we don't let Jim down.  He is thrilled with the potential manpower and excited by the prospect of getting some high impact projects done.  He is a firm believer of giving back and helping preserve what so many probably take for granted. It's a beautiful park. One trail project should be around for generations.  It will be a hard days work, but with enough people the project is possible. Without it the trail will continue to erode away and become impassible. An attempt was made to work the trail, but the engineering was faulty and has actually caused more harm.

I was  very impressed by the park volunteer, Jim.  I love to meet people who have a passion and a purpose.  He has been volunteering in the parks and with the Appalachian Trail for 35 years.  He has such a love for the park and a vision for what it can be and so many memories of what was.  He grew up up in this area and married his high school sweetheart.  At one point on the trail he showed us a water way that he had hoped to restore.  He and his honey had shared their second kiss there. Unfortunately regulations kept him from getting the water flowing through there again.  It's so close it seems such a shame.

We will actually be in Utah for Chad's graduation the day of the event, but it's been a blessing to have Matt be involved in the planning stages.  We'll be able to be apart of other work days in the park.

As we were walking we were able to walk awhile on the Appalachian Trail.  I really can't quite take it off the bucket list, but I did experience it for a few minutes.

They say you need two pairs of shoes if you hike the Appalachian Trail, one pair for Pennsylvania because it's so rocky you'll wear one pair out and one pair for the rest of the trail.

 

White marks the Appalachian Trail and blue marks trails that are appendages.

Just so you know. . .  I

 (LOVE)                                                                      (MATT)