Another week complete! This week, I’m excited to have finished up a few tasks that have been on my agenda since the beginning. Even though they are small tasks in the grand scheme of things, it feels good to hear positive feedback and feel that I have had an impact on the organization. As I’ve mentioned before, I was tasked with contacting homeowners residing on the tributary Fisher Run to see if FLOW can come out and take a look at the stream. The letters are all written and in the mail, so hopefully we hear back in the coming weeks! Another project I finished up this week was collecting data from a recent tree giveaway FLOW hosted in March. After sending out an email blast to all attendees, I was able to gather some information about neighborhoods served, types of trees received, and the survivability of the trees given out. My supervisor was excited to receive this information, so I’m happy I could make it happen!

Wednesday morning, I travelled to one of the many pollinator gardens we maintain called Hudson Prairie. It’s located right next to the Aldi off of Hudson, so you may have driven by it before! Recently, we have received a few emails about the litter and invasive species in the area, so I went to check it out. They were right! The prominent invasive species in the garden were Purple Crownvetch and Canadian Thistle. These species have to be removed or they may take over and choke out the native species. Unfortunately, the invasives were too widespread for me to get control of, so we’ve planned a volunteer event in August to remove them. This is a common way that FLOW decides where and when events are necessary!

This weekend, we have more workdays planned. The Slyh Run Bridge project is coming along, and we’ll be building the bridge this weekend! Working with FLOW has been exciting at every turn. I can see how the Board and volunteers are so passionate because the projects really draw you in. Once you see where a project started, you can’t help but stick it out to see how it ends. I can’t wait to see what next week brings! -Shelly