Scotch Plains Volunteers Help Keep Area Parks Clean

Some take off a day from work. Some come the first Saturday of the month.

Some are teens earning community service hours while others, like Boy Scouts, need projects to advance in rank. And then there are the retired, who have the flexibility to turn out whenever the whim strikes.

But what they all share in common is a love for the outdoors and a deep concern for Union County's parks, whether it is ripping invasive plants out of Lenape Park in Cranford or repairing the trails that weave for miles through the 2,060-acre Watchung Reservation.

Nearly 550 people volunteered their time this past year to work in the county's parks, including many Scotch Plains residents. All totaled, they put in nearly 2,700 service hours, according to officials.

The volunteers are an indispensable part of maintaining the county's parks, said Alfred Faella, director of Parks and Community Renewal.

"These volunteers enable us to get to projects that we would never be able to get to because of limited resources and staff," Faella said.

Eighty-three year-old Mae Deas, of Scotch Plains is the oldest volunteer on the trails crews.  A member of the Union County Hiking Club, which she joined in 1975, she cares for a portion of the Yellow Trail, which goes west from the Trailside Nature and Science Center.

"We use the park a lot for our hiking so we thought we'd come out  and help. You give back a little bit," she said. When she leads hikes through the reservation, Deas confesses that she enjoys mixing the hike both with the marked trails and some of the unmarked paths that weave through the preserve.  And she keeps a healthy pace over those 4 1/2 mile jaunts.

"Sometimes I'm accused of walking too fast," she said.

For Scotch Plains resident Surya Rao, working in the parks was a way to collaborate with his colleagues.

Rao is an employee of LexisNexis in New Providence, and a group from the company recently spent the day planting in Lenape Park.

Lenape has had a huge problem combating Japanese Knotweed, so much so that the county requested the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to spray sections of the park for the past three years to bring it under control.  However, once an area has been cleared, then new plantings that include native species, must be planted in order to reclaim the area.

As  Surya Rao worked with his colleagues to plant nearly 600 saplings, the former Summit resident said he takes a great deal of pleasure in volunteering for the days of service in the parks.

 "I like it," said Surya Rao, noting that living in an apartment in Scotch Plains, he rarely has the opportunity to work outside. "I like being in nature. And whatever we plant is going to stay for a long time."

Because the weather can turn pretty nasty over the coming winter months, the group projects will not resume until the spring.  However, many of those who turned out for the last trail day—Adopt A Trail work days are held the first Saturday of the month—will continue to volunteer through the winter, as trail stewards.

Assigned to various stretches of trail across the 2,000-acre Reservation, they check to see that the trails remain passable for hikers.

Some, like Bob Czaja, of Scotch Plains, went to special chain saw training classes.  Now the 72-year-old retiree from Merck and his friend, Bill Wallis, check their section of the Sierra Trail—a 10-mile loop around the reservation—and make sure their section of the trail is in good shape.

Any individuals, corporations or community groups wishing to volunteer for the Adopt-A-Trail or Adopt-A-Park programs can sign up by calling the parks department at 908-789-3683.