Crews gather to help park

Volunteers young and old, those who have put in countless hours and those new to the George Washington Carver National Monument, gathered for a morning of effort.

Park Ranger Diane Eilenstein said they had a turnout of about 30. About half the volunteers had worked at Carver before, but many were new, lured in by the big signs advertising the event.

“We’re excited to get some new folks involved,” Eilenstein said.

As part of the National Parks America Tour, they tackled the invasive Japanese honeysuckle growing near the Carver birthplace by the entry to the park’s walking trail.

“What we’re trying to do is restore the natural landscape around Carver’s birthplace,” Eilenstein said.

The honeysuckle must be pulled out by the roots or it will return.

“It’s very hard work,” Eilenstein said.

Each volunteer was given a T-shirt and gloves. They spent about three hours pulling honeysuckle out of the green triangle between sections of walking trail.

“This is our first opportunity to host the National Parks America Tour sponsored by Unilever and the National Park Foundation,” Eilenstein said. “Our idea is to get America involved in their
national parks.”

Linda Simmons knows how deadly honeysuckle can be to other vegetation. She lost a peach tree this year to a combination of ice storm damage and honeysuckle growing around the base of the tree. Her hands swirled in a winding motion as she explained how it grows.

“Honeysuckle winds around things and as it gets larger and larger, eventually it gets so tight on the tree that it kills it,” Simmons said.

If the vines are permitted to climb the tree they can also choke off light to the leaves below, in addition to scarring the trunk.

Volunteers were happy with the progress they made.

“It’s good to see it done though,” said Linda Emory, “Every time I’d carry out an armload of stuff I’d think, ‘Oh, that looks so good.’”

Muralist Sherry Pettey was among the volunteers. With so many people working it went fairly fast, she said.

“The day was perfect, everybody came with the attitude of let’s get this done,” Pettey said.

She recommends volunteering, not only for the chance to give back, but for the community she
feels with other like-minded individuals.

“Most people should get out and do it once and a while,” she said.

Amber Bryant isn’t out of her teens yet, but she too prizes working together for a good cause. Bryant picked volunteering at Carver over going to Boomtown Days and she won a raffle basket full of Unilever products as a result.

“This park is so beautiful,” Bryant said. “I don’t know what I would do if this park was gone.”

She walks the trails often, lives nearby, and was at the park nearly every day last summer.

“If there’s nobody that will help, then the area will be trashed and the honeysuckle will kill the other plants,” Bryant said. 

Marion Williams and 3-year-old Hunter Ray Williams come to the park often.

“Every time we see something new,” mom said.

Saturday, she and Hunter discovered a hole with turtle eggs in it and covered them back up so predators wouldn’t eat them.

They saw the sign asking for volunteers on one of their visits and decided to make it a learning experience. 

“We thought we’d get him started early,” she said. “Nowadays you’ve got to teach these kids how to volunteer, how to be a part of the community.”