Fifth graders made the day

The boys are from left to right: Luke McCabe, Jude Pollard, Sidney Pollard, Brian Benner, and Wyatt Stevens.

To the Editor:

It’s not easy to select a day for volunteer work in Little Crum Creek Park, what with many competing events, and questionable weather. However, aside from trash pickup and mowing by Public Works employees, the park depends on volunteers to weed and mulch trees and remove invasive growth — in so many words, to maintain the park. To do this, we need to coordinate with the Public Works staff to deliver mulch and wood chips and pick up the debris we remove. I’ve been organizing work days in the park for 20 years and as people get busier, there is less community involvement. 

The other week, we scheduled a work day for Sunday afternoon and announced it via our usual social media resources. As the week wore on, however, we realized that Sunday was going to be a washout because of the rainy forecast, and an Eagles game, so we moved the event to Saturday afternoon, October 26. About 1 p.m., three of us met at the park and waited for volunteers to appear. We wondered, were we the only ones who were going to complete the unfinished work needed to put the park to bed for the winter? Suddenly, five boys, all 5th graders at SRS, showed up, eager to help! Then a few adults arrived, and we got to work. The boys turned out to know where all the spotted lantern flies hung out and as we completed our work, these invasive pests provided ample targets for a new sport in the park!

Thank you to adults Alex, Beth, Christine, Larry, Matt, and Shawn, and the five young boys from the neighborhood, Ben, Jude, Luke, Sidney, and Wyatt (see photo), for making this a productive and fun afternoon. To the parents of these delightful boys, you should be proud — you have raised giving, sharing, polite children who not only jumped in to help in any way they could, but provided levity to our afternoon.  

If you are interested in helping in the park in any way, please contact me at susankelly339@gmail.com.

Susan Kelly
Swarthmore