This last Thursday Adam Johnson’s shop class from the Ridgway Secondary School, finished out the last tasks to be done in Rollans park before winter set in. The students put in 30 feet of split rail fence, sanded and stained the outdoor classroom and hauled t-posts and fencing to the parking lot for the Ridgway Park crew to store for next year. They did a lot of work in one hour and the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership thanks them for their hard work.
So with these few last tasks finished, we’d like to thank all of the volunteers who worked in Rollans park this year and go over the multiple projects and events the UWP held in Rollans park with a 2013 Rollans Park Round-Up!
- Willow Planting! This spring a few volunteers and Ouray County Weed Manager Ron Mabry helped the UWP plant willow spikes to help further stablize the Uncompahgre’s river banks in the park.
2. Ridgway River Festival
It’s not all hard work at Rollans Park, its also the location of the annual Ridgway River Festival! Park visitors could learn about our watershed, pan for gold or paint ceramics in the Kids Eddy. On the river we had the Kayak Rodeo, Junk of the Unc Race, and Ducky Race. Complete with music and a silent auction it was a fun day for everyone.
3. Expand Fencing, Mulch Trees, and Weed!
During July 2013, the UWP hosted a 8 member National Civilian Community Corps crew for one week to do work around Ouray County. Besides improving trails in Ouray with the Ouray Trails Group, and installing tent pads at Ridgway State Park they also helped out at Rollans Park. For two days the crew expanded fencing around trees to allow them to grow without being eaten by beaver or rubbed by deer, they put mulching around the trees to prevent weed growth and keep tree root moist and the pulled evasive weeds from the park. It was a lot to do and we thank them for all of their hard work!
4. Weekly Weed Pulls!
In order to eliminate the need to use pesticides in the park the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership hosted weekly weed pulls every Thursday in the month of August. The weeds we targeted in Rollans included Spotted Knapweed, and pig weed. Unfortunately, our photographer was also pulling weeds and forgot to snap a few photos. We thank everyone who came to our weekly weed pulls!
5. Volunteer Day 1
As the official Adopter of Rollans Park the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership hosted a couple of volunteer days in order to maintain past park improvements. Our first volunteer day focused on fencing trees, sanding picnic tables to prep them for staining, and removing willows from the walking path. We spent all day in the park and had a great turn out with ten volunteers. We thank everyone who came out to help.
6. Volunteer Day Part 2:
For our second volunteer day our industrious volunteers moved the sanded picnic table to the Hartwell pavilion for staining. It had rained every day for over three weeks and we needed to let the tables dry for 24 hours. Maybe one of our future projects will be to put a pavilion in Rollans park. 😉 But it was worth the effort because here is the wonderful result!
7. Ridgway Secondary School Shop Class
Finally this last Thursday, Adam Johnson’s shop class came to help install fencing, and stain the outdoor classroom. These students got a lot done in just an hour, and we thank them for all of their hard work!
