By Dylan Morrill
Partner: CSX
Volunteers: 102
Service Partner: Radnor Lake State Park
When: September 16 -18, 2010
TCF: Phillip St. Clair, Dylan Morrill
On September 16th, Care Force Service Manager James Simmons, Phillip St. Clair and I flew to Nashville to lead CSX volunteers in a "Trees for Tracks" event. After dinner at Corky's BBQ, we were joined by Care Force Program Managers Susan Bensen and Huw McDonald.
The five of us headed to the service site at Radnor Lake State Park early Friday morning to prepare. The history of the park dates back to 1913 when the L&N Railroad Company, a predecessor to CSX, purchased the land and constructed a large lake in order to operate their steam engines. After ten years, L&N executives banned all hunting and fishing on the lake and it became a preserved area. Today, it is a large state park with miles of trailes leading through untouched wildlife. However, one patch of land near the edge of the park has almost no trees. Why? Well up until recently, the land was just outside of the park property line, but close to several park paths. The owner of the land had begun demolishing many trees to clear land for new houses. After much fundraising, Radnor Lake successfully raised enough money necessary to buy the land and stop the development. Unfortunately, a lot of trees had already been bulldozed. Our job on Saturday was to lead CSX volunteers in reforesting the area and restoring it to what it once looked like.
The preparation for the event went well. Our team got all the tools and materials set up and had all the trees delivered in adequate time for us to have dinner in downtown Nashville and experience Broadway Street, a famous street in Nashville known for its large country music scene. The amount of live music on the street was amazing, I now know why they call it "The Music City." The night ended early though, because the best service days are the ones run by a well rested Care Force Team.
On Saturday, 102 CSX volunteers arrived ready to serve. Kimberly Ferguson, a member of Team Care Force 2010 who lives in Tennessee, also joined us to help during the day. After Physical Training and Opening Ceremony at the Radnor Lake Visitor's Center, the volunteers were shuttled a few blocks away to the service site and the tree planting began immediately. The CSX volunteers dug 88 holes and planted all 88 trees in just a few hours. The staff at Radnor Lake was very pleased that the CSX employees decided to take time out of their day to come make the park a better place. During the closing ceremony, a park ranger spoke from the heart about what a difference CSX had made and how much life they had given the area in such a short amount of time.
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