Volunteers help with "The Plunge"

My guess is that you may have heard about Saturday's "Polar Bear Plunge," a fundraiser for Special Olympics held at Stephens Lake Park on February 14. This was the second year for this event in Columbia and it is highly popular. You can read more about it in the Missourian.

There were 285 participants in this year's Plunge. In addition to the many others who came to watch, this made for a big crowd at the park!

Fortunately, Park Ranger Rosanna Arens wasn't the only one trying to direct the crowd. If you've been to Stephens Lake Park, you may know that parking is sometimes challenging with lots scattered about and some not big enough for the number of visitors.

On Saturday, Rosanna had the help of several Park Patrol volunteers: Tom Masters, Rick Eyler, Mark Lee, Mary Newby and Jean Haislip. They assisted in directing traffic and answer questions.

The main role of Park Patrol volunteers is to serve as ambassadors in our trail and parks. They are asked to keep a look out for suspicious activity and maintenance issues and report what they see to staff. They are also asked to have a cell phone with them in case they need to call for emergency services.

Many thanks to our Park Patrol volunteers for their help on Saturday and for the work they do year round to support our parks!

Many hands at work at Kiwanis Park on Feb. 7

Saturday was a beautiful day - 70 degrees which is unusual for early February. Forty-five TreeKeepers, Boy Scouts and neighbors came out to Kiwanis Park on Saturday to take advantage of the beautiful day and remove honeysuckle that was taking over the woods.

This was one of our largest TreeKeepers projects - at least with the number of volunteers - in the history of TreeKeepers. Many of those who just completed their coursework as well several seasoned volunteers came out. Steve Johnson, a resident of the nearby College Park neighborhood, stopped by to share his appreciation to the group and lend a hand, too.

Thanks, volunteers, for joining forces to make a huge difference at Kiwanis Park!

See Brenda and Cheryl on CATV

Each month, various community groups come together to tape "Making A Difference," a program featuring volunteer opportunities on CAT3 TV. Last night was our monthly taping and one segment was an interview with two of our CARP volunteers, Cheryl Hardy and Brenda Peculis.

Cheryl and Brenda were in the first CARP class in 2007 and are also TreeKeepers and involved with many other volunteer efforts throughout the community.

I really enjoyed listening to their interview with our host, Dhomonique Ricks. They shared so much enthusiasm and satisfaction from participating in the projects held along streams and lakes in our city parks.

Here's how I see these projects: we ask volunteers to come early on a Saturday morning on days that are sometimes hot and sometimes cold. We ask them to do really hard work digging, weeding, lifting heavy plant material many times working in water. Doesn't always sound so fun, although the results are long-lasting and important to the community.

After hearing Cheryl and Brenda I got a different perspective. These projects are a lot of fun because they are much different than what they and other volunteers do in their daily jobs. They really do enjoy working in the water (in all temperatures!) and getting to interact with other people who are of like-mind. They don't see this as work at all but as a great opportunity to help the community and gain a great feeling of pride.

Thanks, Brenda and Cheryl, for sharing your story! Their episode will begin airing in the next week. You can see the schedule online.