Trail maintenance the order of the day in Cornwall

CORNWALL — Enough volunteers signed up and showed up for the third annual Clean-up and Green-up Day on Saturday, Sept. 21, that they could be divided into four teams to tackle four trails in need of a little sprucing up and some invasive plant removal.

“This is a community event, building community and keeping it cleaner and greener,” said event organizer Gary Steinkohl who, along with Casey Cook, created the event three years ago. He was addressing the volunteers who had gathered at the Cornwall Conservation Trust office in West Cornwall to kick off the morning with fortifying pastries and coffee as well as helpful instructions. 

Thirty-six volunteers crowded into the reception area. Some were new residents, eager to meet their neighbors and do something helpful to boot. Enthusiasm was high. Ages ranged from 9 to 89.

Buster, the dog whom everyone seemed to know and like, was fully engaged with keeping the carpet cleared of any muffin crumbs.  He was eventually assigned to one of the stick pick-up teams.

Steinkohl said that in previous years the teams did perennial plantings, including daffodil bulbs at the Cornwall Library and perennial plants at the traffic triangle in Cornwall Bridge. This year, though, they would concentrate on picking up along some trails and pulling some invasive barberry plants as they found them.

“The perennials are doing well,” he reported.

Areas targeted this year were Trinity Preserve on Dibble Hill Road, Welles Preserve on Town Street, Hare Preserve on Popple Swamp Road and Rattlesnake Preserve on Rattlesnake Road where the invasive barberry would be found. 

Team members received gloves, garbage bags, safety vests for visibility, signs to warn traffic and water, and then they were on their way. Souvenir backpacks were also distributed as a token of thanks for their work.

Cara Weigold of the Conservation Trust kept things running smoothly, and smoothly they ran.

The team leaders had scouted out in advance what work needed to be accomplished and had reported back to Steinkohl and Cook to aid in planning.

Conservation Trust board member Katherine Freygang explained, “Gary and Casey came to us with the idea for a clean-up day.”

 Steinkohl and Cook countered that it was Buster’s idea. When it was adopted by the Conservation Trust, it meshed with the group’s objective to conserve land and open the land to the public through trails.

All agreed that expert foragers often spot something delectable in the wild, and return on their own to collect their finds.

The Clean-up Day offers a chance to get a guided tour of the trails, while helping to keep them healthy.

“It’s our third year and going strong,” Cook added.

Looking ahead to next year, the work will likely include planting trees, Cook said.