The past two weeks have been very transitional for the Waco team and they both kicked off to a great start. The crew managed to attract a small fan base. They received big thanks for picking up trash at the survey sites from a few of the visitors at Temple’s Lake Park. Let’s all give Big ups, to team Waco for doing their part and kudos to Stacy for the big idea. Annie and Stacy transitioned back and forth as hitch leaders. Annie started her second conservation project for the season. Josh finished out group C of surveying for the season. Annie and Stacy completed group 2 survey rotation. The end of the current week marked our mid-season point which meant we would be expecting a visit from Alex Olsen, our program coordinator. Lastly, to ensure our visit with Alex went A ’okay! We made final revisions to our projects for the current and upcoming week.
4/15-4/18 Getting over the hump
The survey traffic has picked up quite a bit now that summer is around the corner. This week the team continues survey group 2. Stacy stayed at Waco Lake, where the park attendants offer you cold beverages, they’re always friendly. The animals are never too scared to show their faces. You can always count on the squirrels to wrestle with each other. The birds are always singing and the deer are never standing too far away. Josh surveyed at Stillhouse Hollow Lake. There is always and occasional hoopla going on, but for the most Part it is nice and quiet. Annie surveyed at Stillhouse and Belton lakes. The Lake view at Belton is very beautiful. It’s really cool to see the sunset over the lake during site break down on your late days.
4/19 Legacy River Foundation
Today the team drove to Arlington, Texas to work on a service project planned by Annie. They finished two seating benches that were donated to the Legacy River living Science center and they cut and removed green briar from the walking trail. The team members also received a history lesson on the foundation and learned how they use education to provide children and adults a way to explore the land around them.
4/20-4/23 Back down the hill!
As this week ended and the next week starts things slowly start to wine down a bit. Annie and Stacy finished out group 2 survey rotation and transitioned back into the original survey groups. Josh finished out survey group C. for the season. This gave him plenty of time to catch-up on paperwork for the team and run errands for the house.
We welcomed Alex Olsen, Ace Vus Program Coordinator. He was a nice addition to the team. Also we couldn’t wait to put him to work. When Alex arrived at the house, he was greeted by josh and Stacy. Annie met with them later that night. She got stuck in traffic on her way back from Arlington, Texas. The following day the crew had the opportunity to enjoy some great eats at Georges bar. They fed their bellies with some good southern cooking. Annie and Alex tried the famous chicken fried steak with all the fixins. Josh had a big ole juicy steak and Stacy mixed it up a bit with the veggie platter. After eating the team engaged in friendly conversations and headed home for the night.
4/24 Waco Wetlands here we come!
This project was a collaboration between Stacy stone and Annie Armstrong. The team headed to the wetlands for some good old fashioned lopping, weeding and berm repair. Stacy and Annie put Josh and Alex right to work, but not before explaining what to do first. The guys got a little lesson in ecology and tool safety before starting the projects. We all enjoyed the tour of the facility that Nora gave. She really knows her stuff. The team worked together to weed and lop all along the walking platforms throughout the wetlands. Alex got a game going that intrigued their imaginations. The name of the game they played is called, “Would you rather.” It’s a pretty cool game if you let your imagination run wild. The game is also great for playing in a working environment. We started off lopping and weeding with Stacy ended with the berm repair project. Today was a fun filled day even though it was a work day.
4/25-28 Current events, Dr. pepper Museum and The Mammoth Site!
Throughout the past two weeks we had couple of serious events take place. There was a terrible explosion in West, Texas, a city a few miles outside of Waco. A fertilizer plant blew up and lives were lost. Barack Obama, President of the United States of American visited Waco for that very reason. Baylor University held a memorial service on campus. The memorial was in honor of the 12 first responders who died while battling the fire that caused the explosion last week in West, Texas.
Even though there had been a lot of things going on in around the city of Waco, Texas. We ended our hitch on a good note. The entire team including Alex Olsen enjoyed some much needed down time. We checked out some of Waco’s cool tourist attractions. First we stopped by the Dr. Pepper Museum where we learned about Dr. Wade Morrison and Free Enterprise. We also quenched our thirsts with pepper shakes and soft drinks. After visiting at the Dr. Pepper Museum a few of the crew members Josh, Annie and Alex headed to the Waco Mammoth Site. They explored the fossils and engaged in a healthy conversation about man vs. nature. After visiting at the Mammoth site we said goodbye to Alex. He headed back to Boise, Idaho for leadership training stuff. The team also said goodbye to Josh, but not for good. He needed to take care of a few things in Tulsa, Oklahoma .He will return this coming Monday. All in all, the last two weeks have been pretty interesting and the crew looks forward to the weeks to come. Good job Team Waco, keep up the good work!
