Description
Start Date-End Date: 10/06/2018-10/06/2018
Land Manager Office: City and County of Denver - Parks and Recreation
Land Manager Contact: Bob Finch
Funding Partner:
Programmatic Partner:
Summary: This large project is a short drive from Denver and offers a post-project happy hour.
Description: About the Stewardship Site:
O'Fallon Mountain Park is part of the Denver Mountain Park network and provides Front Range residents with superb hiking opportunities only 25 minutes from downtown. The area's rolling hills, flower-filled meadows, ponderosa pines, and great views reward users with a gorgeous mountain escape from city life.
About the Volunteer Experience:
Volunteers will completemuch neededrestoration workalonga 2500 foot section of the Bear Creek Trail. Work will include basic tread work, and the installation of drainage structures and a variety of different erosion retention features. Afterwards, you'll be treated to a post-project happy hour sponsored by Noble Energy.
About the Overall Impact:
The restoration work will create a sustainable trail that will provide a much more enjoyable experience for all users and reduce erosion and the negative effects it has on the surrounding habitat.
Need-to-Know Details:
Minors:All youth under 16mustbe accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on single-day projects.
Cancellation:Our land manager partners rely on VOC volunteers to accomplish critical stewardship needs, and our projects often have wait lists. If you need to cancel, pleasecontact Jamie Burkeat 303-715-1010 ext. 116 as soon as possible so we can free your spot for another volunteer and have a full workforce.
Latitude/Longitude: 39.655085, -105.288548
Additional Information:
Camping Available: No
Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate
High Altitude Project: No
Desired Number of Volunteers: 75
Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 70
Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 14
Total Volunteer Days: 84
Total Unique Volunteers: 84
Total Volunteer Hours: 552.5
Staff Hours: 19.5
Stipend Hours: 0
Project Summary: For the reroute, Bob had scoped out 10 sections of work for the project. 5 sections of trail construction, and 5 of restoration. The scope of work that Bob laid out for us was not enough for how many people were registered for the project. The weather turned out gloomy and cold the day of the project, which I think scared a lot of people off. With the more than anticipated no-shows, we actually ended up with the just the right amount of volunteers per crew lead. We had three DMP ranger staff that was able to provide leadership for the project. They were great to work with and if ever needed again for another project, reach out to Ryan Phillian. Bob Finch left early, he left pretty early in the morning. Ryan was our TA for the remainder of the day. Patsy and Gerald from Noble Energy gave some opening remarks in the morning. Around 2PM Patsy left the project site to meet Terry for the happy hour. Terry is the manager for the Blackbird Caf and Tavern just a quarter mile down the road from O'Fallon Park. Terry had set up a happy hour for us and created a whole menu for us. Quite a few of the volunteer showed up to the happy hour. I did the raffle at the happy hour. Some of our volunteers won items such as a Snarf Sandwich card, a t-shirt, and hat, VOC patches, and a pass to Earth Treks climbing gym.
Volunteers completed the scope of work with time left to spare. They did such a great job in short amount of time. We ended the project around 2PM. Everyone was in high spirits considering the weather was gloomy and cold for the first half of the day. Donna did an excellent job as our crew leader manager. At the end of the day I made an announcement recognizing Luke and Desirae as our two of our newest crew leaders.
It was Barbara Caley's first time being a crew chef helper for a VOC project. She did an excellent job and was very helpful. Barb Molitor was a little abrasive as she was trying to tell Barbara what to do in the kitchen. Barb was also a little abrasive towards the volunteers early in the morning. I had let a group know that they can grab coffee or hot water, and when they approached the cambros Barb yelled at them and said "It's not ready yet! I will let you know when it's ready!" I walked over to Barb and told her I was sorry and that I thought everything was ready to go, and asked her how I can help her to get things ready. All she did to make the breakfast table ready was open the half and half carton. I could tell the volunteers were a little hesitant to go back over there until someone else did, I approached them and let them know that everything is ready for them. I know others have had experiences like this with Barb multiple times, but this was the first time that I had experienced it myself.
Successes and Challenges: Successes
Completing scope of work
Having a successful happy hour
Challenges
Crew leadership cancelling only a couple days before the project
Collaborating with Noble for the happy hour
Not responsive in communication
Essentially tasked me with the planning the happy hour and continued to reach out to me with coordination after I sending the tavern owner's contact information
Lessons Learned: We had increased the number of volunteers for this project specifically. We increased volunteer numbers to 100. The scope of work Bob created for us was too small for 100 people. Thankfully (and unfortunately) we had a lot of attrition for the project. With so much attrition we were had just the right amount of people per crew.
Special Notes:
Stewardship Education:
Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: It was COLD when we arrived Saturday morning to set up the kitchen. It was in the high 30s. Weather got a little warmer throughout the day, but good to note.
Super important to work/coordinate with Noble earlier in the process. When I got in contact with my Noble contact (Patsy) she asked me to pick a place, contact the manager, see what deals I could make for happy hour. It seemed as though the task of planning the happy hour was put on my plate.
Description of Accidents/Incidents: no accidents or incidents.
Description of Work Completed:
Details
| 14 and older |
