The Big Event at McCord Park

Follow-up by Donna Legare:

As a follow up to Arbor Day, 5 BHNA neighbors, 2 FSU students and 2 FAMU students volunteered to seek out and destroy invasive plants in the Armistead Woodland (between the Armistead homes and McCord Pond). This woodland is managed by the City of Tallahassee mow crew, mowing between the trees three times per year. This is enough to suppress the growth of invasive plants; however, volunteers are needed to remove young privet, tree ligustrum, camphor, nandina, ardisia, loquat and non-native vines like Asian jasmine, skunk vine and cat’s claw vine from the bases of the trees where the mower cannot go.

In addition, one crew patrolled for litter along the Thomasville, Armistead, Kline and Trescott sidewalks and then around the shoreline of McCord Pond. Their strangest piece of trash was a flat screen television that was dumped in the vegetation at the corner of Thomasville Rd and Armistead Rd.

The best thing about this event was the learning opportunity for the student volunteers. They learned to identify the target species and how to best remove each, as well as learning why it is important to remove invasive species from our properties. And they worked enthusiastically all morning! Thank you – Cole Winonta (FSU), Nicolas Lavin (FSU), Beyonce Taylor (FAMU), Arlene Taylor (FAMU) and BHNA member MJ and Ken Wilkinson, Jim Ward, Donna Legare and Jody Walthall.

Original Announcement:

BHNA is participating in the Florida State University/FAMU Big Event, where FSU students volunteer in the community. We are lucky to have a group of 12 students assigned to McCord Park to help us remove invasive species and to pick up litter along the sidewalks bordering the park and around the pond.

Neighbors, if you were not able to help on Arbor Day (or even if you did!), you are welcome to join us on the 15th. Please bring shovels, mattocks, loppers, work gloves and a water bottle. Tools will be available if you do not have your own.

Garbage bags will be provided for litter pickup. If you have a kayak or canoe, we can help you launch it to remove litter that can’t be reached from the shore.

We will gather at the welcome table near the Armistead Road parking lot to meet and orient our FSU students over coffee and donuts.