Author Archives: Ellen Briggs

2017 Donations

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATIONS TO FRIENDS OF WEST MILL CREEK PARK!

Four Paws ($150 or more)

Anne & Matt Hamilton

Bobby & Randie Harmelin

Jay & Marya Margolis

Marsha Perelman

Ellen Reese & Gary Stein

Peter & Ellen Briggs

Three Paws ($100 to $149)

Anonymous

Judith & Yair Argon

Brenman Family

Karen Hinckley

Michael & Selina Hoessly

Sharon McGinley

Hazel Murphy

Shelly Phillips

Maria Pollack

David Preefer & Karen Zimmerman

Eileen Rosenau

Karl & Dori Middleman

Kay Sude

Two Paws ($50 to $99)

Judy & Art Axelrod

John & Barbara Barr

Mary & Iain Black

John Cassimitis

Glenn & Jennifer Cooper

Michelle Detwiler & Lars Pace

Linda Fairstone

Karen & Joan Garbeil

Susan Lichtman

Joan Logue

Karyn Lush

Marilyn Steiner

Helen Feinberg Walker & Kent Walker

Sherri & Lewis Wexler

Rich & Karen Wilson

The Yody Family

One Paw (up to $49)

Janice Asher

Amy Cohen & Tom Waniewski

Lee Dante

Mary Field

Martha Lombardo

John Newhall

Christel Urmenyhaz

Flaura Winston

Knotweed Day #2

Knotweed Day, June 2016

Knotweed is a noxious invasive plant that vigorously self-plants itself in moist areas, degrades the ecosystem, and ultimately promotes soil erosion on stream banks.  At this annual event, we cut the plants to the ground and dispose of the stems, giving the “good guy” plants a better chance to take over the territory.  Wear long pants and long sleeves, and bring gloves!  Come and go as you please.  Water and Kind bars will be available.

Santa Paws Came To Town

Santa Paws with Brownie and Baxter

Santa Paws once again took time from his busy schedule to visit all the good dogs at West Mill Creek on Sunday, December 18!   It may have been a little overcast and a lot muddy, but the dogs enjoyed the dog biscuit and the chance to give Santa their wish lists, and the people enjoyed some hot cocoa and doughnuts to keep out the damp.  Moreover, we raised $435 for the Pennsylvania S.P.C.A!  Thanks to all who participated–including Giant supermarket which generously donated the doughnuts.

Park News, October 2016

A couple of news items:

p1000219Tree Safety.  A number of our members have expressed concern  about the erosion under the large tree across the stream at the beach area.  We asked the Township to take a look, and the Township Arborist and Parks Supervisor evaluated the tree.  The Arborist says the tree has enough healthy root system so that it does not present an immediate danger.  The township will continue to monitor the situation and will deal with the tree if it becomes hazardous.

New Kiosk October 2016

New Kiosk October 2016

New Kiosk.  The Township kindly offered us a new kiosk paid for from special Township funds dedicated to park improvements.  In addition to Township postings relevant to our Park, we will be permitted to use part of the space for Friends of West Mill Creek postings.  The new kiosk also has space for brochures, off-leash permit application forms, and other useful information.  Thanks as always to Lower Merion Department of Parks & Recreation!!!

Fencing Across the Creek by Old Gulph Road.  No picture because  it’s hard to see, but fyi the safety fence across the creek on Old Gulph Road is complete and doing its job!  Thanks to the gracious cooperation of our neighbor, The Courts, we were able to install this fence to keep our dogs from running onto the Courts parking lot or the busy street.  (More info about the safety fence appears in the previous What’s New post, if you missed it.)

Park News, Summer 2016

Lots of news this summer. . .

New Safety Fence!  Our biggest news item is the soon-to-be-installed s

canstockphoto thank you

afety fence that will run along Old Gulph Road and along the bank of the creek opposite the beach area.  This  black wire fence  should be almost invisible to preserve the natural aesthetics of our park. It is intended to stop dogs who cross the creek in the beach area from running directly out onto Old Gulph Road.  (Sorry, we cannot fence the entire park, but we believe the placement of the new fence will provide a significant safety improvement.)  Thanks to your generous donations, Friends of West Mill Creek Park will pay for the 100% of the fence.   Another big thank you is due to our neighbor, The Courts, the tennis club that owns the property on the other side of the creek.  The Courts graciously cooperated in this project by allowing the fence to be placed on their property.

New park sign 2016New Sign.  If you’ve been to the park recently, you will have noticed our spiffy new “Welcome to West Mill Creek” sign.  It has received lots of positive feedback.  Thanks Lower Merion Department of Parks & Rec!  You may be interested to know that the sign results from a  job skills training program in our Montgomery County prison system.  The prisoners designed and manufactured the sign and we think it shows that they have a lot of artistic talent and know-how.  Great job guys!

Trash can corral made by Paul Lewis, Eagle Scout candidate, for our park

New Trash Can Corrals.  Many thanks, once again, to the Boy Scouts for our handsome new trash can corrals.  The corrals will keep the cans from tipping over and also provide an aesthetic upgrade.  They come to us courtesy of Paul Lewis of Boy Scout Troop 71 (Merion Liberty Troop).  Paul worked with Parks Supervisor Dave Deangelis to design, build and install the corrals as his Eagle Scout project.  Thanks Paul and Dave!

We Love Your Input.  If you have an idea for a future project or event, please let us know.  You can either speak to someone on the Steering Committee or send us an email via the Contact Us tab on the website.  Our projects have frequently originated from member suggestions, or received a boost up the priority list based on your feedback, so please participate!

Want to Support the Friends of WMC?  We hope that you are pleased with all our progress this year.  If you would like to support the new safety fence and  future projects, it’s not too late to make a donation and become an official 2016 Contributing Member of Friends of West Mill Creek Park.   See the “Get Involved!” tab on this website for  information.

Spring 2016 Park News

We have lots of news, big and small, since our last newsletter.

Trail improvements under construction

Trail improvements under construction

TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS!  The most exciting news is, improvements to the final muddy section of our trail are under way.  Soon we will have dry footing on the entire loop trail.  Many, many thanks to Lower Merion’s Dept of Parks & Recreation for addressing the Number One project on our members’ wish list.

Our Little Herb Garden -- Help yourself to some leaves on your way home!

Our Little Herb Garden — Help yourself to some leaves on your way home!

FREE FRESH HERBS.  If, as you head home from the park to fix dinner, you’d like a bit of basil, parsley, dill, or oregano, help yourself from the herb pot in the Wildlife Garden, just inside the garden gate.  Just remember to leave enough on the plant so it can keep on growing through the summer.  And there are gallon jugs of water next to it, so if the pot is looking dry, feel free to water it.

KNOTWEED WORK DAY REPORT.  During 3 work days in early June (two scheduled and one ad hoc to finish up), 11 Friends of WMC members spent 58 hours pulling out Japanese Knotweed, an invasive plant that increases stream erosion and crowds out wildlife friendly plants.  A big thank you to Julian and Paul Brenman, Ellen and Stephen Briggs, Paula Burns, Michelle Detwiler, Mary Field, Karen Hinckley, Hazel Murphy, Ellen Reese, and Elaine Stern.  We cleared the fenced off riparian area from the park gate all the way down to the second stream access point.  There’s more to do in the final fenced section from the second stream access trail to the end of the park (and elsewhere).  Email us (use the Contact Us tab on this website)  for instructions if you would like to continue this work.

The Ellens, with Lizzie, victorious on a knotweed pile

WEEDING WEDNESDAYS.  We scheduled three garden workdays to weed and cut back overgrown sedge.  We got lots of work done at the first one but there are two more, on June 22 and June 29,  if you’d like to help.  We are sending notices about this only to those who have expressed interest in working as a garden volunteer.  If you would like to be included on that list, just shoot us an email.  Also, garden workdays are always listed on the website so you can check for details there if you’d like to join in.

Organizational Supporters 2016

Many thanks to the organizations that have supported us this year:

Beth David Reform Congregation for providing facilities and other support for our Third Annual Meeting and annual newsletter.

Ricklins Hardware, Narberth PA for donating supplies and advice for the the construction of our Knotweed Penitentiary.

Giant supermarket for generously donating the doughnuts for our Santa Paws event that raises funds for the Pennsylvania S.P.C.A.

Garden Award and Volunteer Opportunity

The Ellens accept the Friends of West Mill Creek Park "Go for the Green" award from Brian Hoppy of EAC

The Ellens accept the Friends of West Mill Creek Park “Go for the Green” award from Brian Hoppy of EAC

The Friends of West Mill Creek Park has won a Go for the Green Award!  Lower Merion Township’s Environmental Advisory Council has given us this award to recognize the ecological and educational benefits of our Wildlife and Respite Garden to the Township and our work in creating and maintaining the garden.  The Go for the Green Awards program will be held on Thursday, May 12, 2016 at the Appleford Estate, located at 770 Mt. Moro Road in
Villanova, beginning at 6 p.m. If you haven’t seen Appleford, it’s a lovely historic house and garden, well worth a visit in its own right.  Anyone who would like to attend is welcome to come and cheer us on.

And that brings to mind that gardening season is here!  If you are interested in being on the Wildlife Garden watering team or garden team, please send an email to briggs505@verizon.net and  specify watering, gardening, or both.  This will not commit you to anything—it will just put you on the list of people who will receive email regarding appeals for watering, weeding or planting help in the garden.  This way, we will not be bothering people who don’t want to participate in ongoing maintenance with garden-related email.

Note:  When the need arises for a big work day, such as an invasive plant removal project on the stream bank, we will notify the entire membership.

2016 Donations

Thank  you for your generous donation to Friends of West Mill Creek Park!

Four Paws ($150 or more)canstockphoto thank you

Ellen Briggs

Fran Bryan

Marsha Perelman

Ellen Reese & Gary Stein

Three Paws ($100-$149)

Judith and Yair Argon

Duncan Busser

Scott & Kristin Edwards

Robert & Randie Harmelin

Nora & Barry Kramer

Susan Lichtman

Selina Luger

Jay & Marya Margolis

Karl & Dori Middleman

Hazel Murphy

Craig Oliner

David Preefer & Karen Zimmerman

Eileen Rosenau

Leslie & Neil Stone

Two Paws ($50-$99)

Judy & Art Axelrod

Jill Cooper

Karen & Joan Garbeil

Jon Goodman

Pinkie & Rick Hamilton

Stacey & Sergio Sauchuk

Kay Sude

Jill Sussman

Rick & Karen Wilson

One Paw (up to $49)

Linda Dorey-Stein

John Newhall

Tessa Lamont Siegel

Cary Sellers

Helene Feinberg Walker & Kent Walker

Volunteer Information

May 2014--Ellen Reese works on weeding and digging out invasive vine roots

 Work days will be announced by email to the membership and listed in the Events section of our website.

Garden Maintenance.  If you are interested in joining us in routine garden maintenance, contact us to sign up for an email sub-group so you will be advised of days we will be doing routine weeding and planting.

Watering Volunteers:  In summer and fall, sometimes Mother Nature doesn’t take care of our plants the way she should, so annually we recruit a Watering Team.  In  Spring, we  send out an email to get a crew of people interested in volunteering to sign up for the Watering Team email list.  And of course, you can contact us any time if you’re interested in helping with the watering effort.  You will be added to our watering volunteer list at any time during the season!

Here’s our watering M.O. ::  We usually appoint a Watermeister to check the rain gauge, let the township know if our tank needs water, and determine when it is time to water.  If there’s a need for watering, we send out an email to everyone in the pool of Watering Team volunteers.  The first 4 people to respond each get assigned a quarter section of the garden. Each volunteer commits to water their section of the garden within a few days of their assignment.  It takes about half an hour to do the job (i.e. empty one quarter of the tank.)

Click this link for a map to remind you which section is your assigned quarter of the garden:    WMC Watering Zone Map