Hey gang,
Again, another great work session! Not only did we complete all of the primary projects but also several secondary ones. Pearlie and Merlinda are well aware of how we work and at the first of the week when I told them that we had 20 signed up, panic. Both got together and luckily came up with additional projects. Everything looked great and could only have gotten this way by your hard work and pride in what you do. Thanks.
The new path from the restroom to the viewing deck at the Neches Bluff is ready for use. It meets ADA specs. The viewing deck has had a lot of use. It is our hope that with this path and the new restroom, it will get more. Thanks to Mike Rodgers and his crew for that project. Those working on that project besides Mike were, Raylene Welch, Bob Weglarz, Martha Spetseris, Derly Rivera, Vick Hines, and Pearlie Green, ranger. Looks great!
Hurricane Ike managed to take out the Forest Service portal sign on Highway 7. Steve Baker and Earl Connors rebuilt, and painted the base. They then attached the new sign which really looked good and should be there for years to come. They also managed to build several boat racks at the lake, and rebuild a table that was destroyed by the storm. Merle Monroe, Merlinda's Dad, also helped on this project Sunday. Good job guys.
The ADA trail within the lake proper was also damaged by Ike. George Boemerman and Jim Britt repaired the trail by replacing all the landscape timbers that needed replacing and repacking road base in the holes left when trees on the trail fell. The trail still meets ADA specs. Good job you two.
There are 7 bridges on the northern part of the 4 C Trail that receives a lot of damage from Ike. The bridge crew of Ivan and Judy McGowan, Chuck Lundstedt, Andy Waters, Dwight Riley, Merlinda Schory and Dad Merle, and Raymond Fore made up the Saturday crew. We rebuilt over 100 feet of bridge and replaced almost half of the foot treads in the 400 feet of the seven bridges. The Sunday crew of Riley(just Riley), Andy, Terence, Derly, Mike, and Pearlie added hand rails over the 200 or so feet of the bridges. The most difficult part of this task was getting the materials to the job site which was a half to three quarters of a mile from the nearest road. The completed project looked good and should provide safe crossing to hikers for years to come.
Sunday morning, Chuck Lundstedt and crew began updating the pads within the RV loop. They pulled up the leading edge of each camp pad and put in road base to build a ramp. The leading edge of the sites were made of concrete blocks approximately 4 " x 12 " x 36 ". Heavy work but with the aide of a tractor, most of the sites were completed. This will make getting in the campsites with RVs easier. Good job, crew.
Since we couldn't run off all members Sunday, a Monday morning crew of Steve, Earl, Jim, Terence, Derly, Chuck, Pearlie, Merlinda, Merle, and Raymond completed the task started the day before. We completed restructuring the campsites within the RV loop. This crew finished off the work session with bar-b-que sandwiches from a local stand in Ratcliff. Good eating. Good job.
I'd like to thank all of you for the hard work each of you did. There was a lot of good fellowship in the evenings and even during the workday, a lot of joking and bull. That makes for good work and good memories. The campfire helped. So did the good food, beer, wine, and crazy stories from storytellers George Boemerman and Earl Connors. We'll see all of you next year. Again thanks for making my job easy.
Ray Fore
