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.

Lots of news this summer. . .

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

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 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.

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.

On Saturday, December 12, Santa Paws once again visited our park.  He posed for pictures with our dogs and gave a biscuit and a tennis ball to each good pup.  Hot cocoa, cookies, and doughnuts were available for the humans, and a good time was had by all.  Most important of all, the event raised well over $500 for the Pennsylvania S.P.C.A.  Thanks to all who participated for your enthusiasm and generosity!

P.S. you will be glad to know that Santa Paws got a well-earned vacation and is now believed to be cruising the Caribbean.  THANKS  SANTA PAWS for appearing at WMC Park!

Karen waters, with Rocket looking on

Our hardy garden volunteers worked hard to keep the garden going in a drought-filled summer and fall season.  We had a great watering team that sprang into action every time Mother Nature fell down on the job, and the fact that almost every one of our 5 trees, 48 shrubs, and 650 newly planted perennials not only lived but flourished shows the success of their efforts.  Thank you Watermeister Mark Wassmansdorf, and team Chris Bushnell, Michelle Detwiler, Bobby Harmelin, Karen Hinckley, Toba Spector, and Ellen Briggs.  

Ellen Reese weeds

Also thanks to our planters and weeders who came out for our three late summer and fall work days and donated a total of 31 hours of work, not to mention their expertise and good humor:  Paula Burns, Celeste DeBeese, Michelle Detwiler, Mary Field, Meredith Greenbaum, Karen Hinckley, Martha Lombardo, Ellen Reese, Ellen Briggs, Peter Briggs, and Stephen Briggs.

Mary Field, Ellen Briggs and Peter Briggs with garden tools