Volunteer View (A newsletter for IDNR State Park and Reservoirs Volunteers who have dedicated 50 + hours and are still active. Thank You!)

Summer 2013– Special Edition Highlighting Friends Groups

2012 Partnership Award Goes to... Friends of State Park and Friends of McCormick’s Creek State Park

The Friends of Indiana Dunes Submitted by Brad Bumgardner, Interpretive Naturalist,

The Friends of Indiana Dunes have continued to maintain a dynamic and vital partnership with Indiana Dunes State Park. Throughout the history of the organization, they have provided an incredible amount of support in several different disciplines, in- cluding the programmatic, fiscal & opera- tional arenas. They were the first Friends group for an Indiana State Park, and they should be commended for their longevity and dedication. The Friends of Indiana Dunes cele- brated their 30 th anniversary in 2012; this is a significant milestone that could be recog- nized and celebrated solely on the merits of their lengthy existence. However, they have Dan Bortner, Director of State Parks and Reservoirs; Roy Olson, Friends of chosen to not only continue their enthusiastic Indiana Dunes Treasurer; Doug Stukey, IDSP Asst. Manager; Zella Olson, support, but to expand and increase it as well. Friends of Indiana Dunes Board Chair; Brandt Baughman, IDSP Property The Friends have traditionally covered Manager an array of expenses for the park that we would not have been able to pursue without their assistance. In the past four years alone, they have purchased a Honda ATV, a Zeiss spotting scope, a telescope, 2 kayaks, 3 mountain bikes, wildlife mounts and a sound system for the nature cen- ter, a laptop computer, a portable P.A. and property signage, to name only a few items. Their budgetary expenditures have not only been equipment-related, though. Since 2009, they have funded a unique and very successful position at Indiana Dunes State Park: the Outreach Coordinator. Their generosity fully funds this position, including salary, FICA and expenses. This program allows us to conduct a series of three week- long Day Camps that are based out of the Nature Center and these have become wildly popular with local children and their parents. The Friends have also provided more than $5,000 in donations to local schools, enabling them to conduct field trips at the state park when they could not otherwise afford to do so. Other programs that they fund for Indiana Dunes include paying to bring in storytellers and musicians for our special events, paying for supplies for the Leopold Bench workshops, funding the procurement of materials for our Beach Glass Jewelry programs, providing judges and prizes for the Sand Castle and Campsite Decorating contests and covering all of our birdseed and animal-feed expenses each year. Continued to page 2...

Friends of Dunes continued… The organization has also went above and beyond by providing the avenue for us to keep all of the Bird Observa- tion Platform donations and grants in a dedicated account, and when it came time for the park to access those funds, they kicked in an additional amount which provided enough funding to purchase an interpretive sign for the platform. The Friends support ‘direct’ stewardship activities as well. Their annual Native Plant Sale, held each April at the beach pavilion, is not only one of their primary sources of income but also promotes and makes available the utilization of local plant species, and people come from many miles around to take part in this sale. 2012 was a high-water mark for the Friends. The combination of an active board, generous donors, wise invest- ments and sound fiscal management has led to a phenomenal year. The Board recently approached the park due to the fact that they needed to quickly spend $5,000 before the end of the calendar year for 501©3 compliance purposes. The park presented several ‘wish list’ options, including a new Sand Wheelchair and a new ATV, each of which exceeded the specified amount. The Friends, in their generosity and wisdom, recognized the value of each of these requests and not only approved both the Wheelchair and the ATV, but threw in an extra ATV to boot. These purchases totaled over $24,000, and all of the equipment was on-hand in less than a week from the time of the request! This generous donation brought the Friends total expenditures for Indiana Dunes to an amount in excess of $100,000 since 2006. The staff of Indiana Dunes State Park is eternally grateful for the immeasurable support and partnership that the Friends of Indiana Dunes have provided, not only this year but in the 29 years that preceded it.

The Friends of McCormick’s Creek Submitted by Samuel R. Arthur, Interpretive Naturalist, McCormick’s Creek State Park

The Peden Springhouse Restoration Project was a collaborative effort between McCormick’s Creek State Park, the Division of Forestry and Mike Kilbride & Sons to restore a historic structure on the old Peden Farm Site. This project was a major undertaking that wouldn’t have been possible without the joint efforts of all parties involved. The Friends helped to raise money to hire Mike Kilbride & Sons (who worked at a reduced rate) as the skilled labor to oversee the re- construction efforts, they purchased the gate for the doorway and funded the interpretive panel designed to relate the im- portance of a springhouse to a rural farm site. The park provided the construction materials, labor, site remediation and will provide all future maintenance. The Division of Forestry, through a cooperative agreement with SPR, provided the on -site archaeologist as required by the DHPA certificate of approval. The Peden Farm Site is located in the Deer Run picnic area of the property. It is culturally significant not only because of the structural remnants of the buildings but because of the family relationship to the original settler of the land that now comprises the park, John McCormick. His daughter Nancy married Jesse Peden and together they farmed the area that now en- compasses Deer Run, the public swimming pool and Redbud shelter. It is because of this relationship that the Pedens are commonly referred to as the “First Family” of McCor- mick’s Creek. The project began in earnest in late March of 2012 when initial meetings were held to discuss the full extent of the project and to con- duct a preliminary site assessment with archaeologist A.J. Ariens and the Kilbride’s. Actual earth moving Continued on page 3 … Dan Bortner, Director of State Parks and Reservoirs; Dwight Brooks, McCormick’s Creek Property Man- ager; Al Tinsley Friends of McCormick’s Creek president; Rob Babbs, Fund Raising Coordinator; Brady Givens, McCormick’s Creek Asst. Manager; Sam Arthur, McCormick’s Creek Interpretive Naturalist

2 Friends of McCormick’s continued... did not begin until April, with the archaeologist present for all ground disturbances. The structure was tore down to its last row of foundational stone and then rebuilt, with care to place each stone back as close to its original location as possible. The Springhouse was completed in October of 2012 and now features a fully enclosed and functionally rehabilitated structure. In addition to the building, the park has enhanced a spur leading hikers to the site and installed a new way-side bench for visitors to rest on. Future plans in- clude installation of an interpretive panel detailing what a springhouse was used for and how it works as well as a formal dedication. The Friends of McCormick’s Creek State Park were responsible for contacting local businesses and individuals to solicit donations dedicated to this project. To date they have been able to raise, through this fund drive alone, $9,045 of their obligated expenses of $10,236.03. That leaves a balance of $1,191.03 that came from their existing discretionary spending account. This was the first time the group has taken on active fund raising for a dedicated project and are now confident in themselves that should another wor- thy initiative come up they will be able to raise the funds necessary for the project.

Great Job! Submitted by James P. Eagleman, Interpretive Naturalist,

It was a busy day on Saturday, May 4 with the 7 th annual Morel Mushroom Festival at the park.

The Friends of Brown County State Park once again had an outstanding float entry in the Nashville Spring Blossom pa- rade. (photos left)

The Friends got a white ribbon this year after several years of a blue ribbon. Thanks for making the property proud! Great job!

3 Friends of Harmonie has been busy busy busy! By Ed Knapp, president of FOH

We had two trail work days this spring and had 6 volunteers and 6 park employees working to clear two . (Pictures left and below)

Our Luau is July 20 th . We will need volunteers to help prepare food and set up.

We will have a booth at the Kuntsfest in New Harmony September 22 nd and 23 rd – we need workers for working the booth.

In the spring, we built a new shade structure for the kiddie pool. (picture below) It is a 16’ x 32’ and will have a fabric cover on it by summer. We had 13 volunteers working on this project. This was a $3,000 investment by the Friends group!

Lastly, we had three volunteers run a smoked chicken sale raising $1,600!

What a year so far! Thanks to every- one for making Friends of a success!

4 Friends of on the move By: Steve Thompson, Interpretive Naturalist, Mounds State Park

The Friends of Mounds State Park have been working hard to complete the Bronnenberg House, which is the His- toric house built by Fredrick Bronnenberg II in the 1840's. The house which is a fed- eral style "I" house, was originally built consisting of five rooms with the fifth room making up the "L" part of the house. The house has seen many uses over the years, including different genera- tions of Bronnenbergs, additions, park personnel usage, and served as the park's nature center. Mounds State Park built a new Nature Center Early 2003 and the Bronnenberg house set empty. The Friends of Mounds State park came together and decided to restore the Bronnenberg home back to the date of its last addition in 1897. The house is im- portant historically for Madison County be- cause the Bronnenberg family, who were some Ted Tapp, property manager of Mounds State Park, of the earliest settlers to the area, were respon- admiring the stove that went into the house. sible for preserving the Native American earth works now located on the property. The house currently has eight rooms, one room and a stair well added in the 1870's above the "L" and a new kitchen and a bedroom added above the kitchen in 1897. The Friends Group formed a committee, consisting of the board members, to come together with the Naturalist to decide how the house would be interpreted. The group went even further and gave each room an official name and purpose according to the history and restructuring of the house due to the addi- tions added and the input from the Naturalist.

Since the project first began, the Friends Group has worked tirelessly to complete their goal of restoring the home. The house is built of brick with the original facade still showing. The Friends Group have worked with many different Naturalists and Park Manage- ment staff to get projects approved for completion. Currently the house is ninety percent restored with one room and stair well left to complete. Through raising funds and donations, the Friends Group has been able to complete the majority of the projects to date. The house had some damage that was a re- sult of a leaky roof, which halted the Group's progress, until the State was able to fund its replacement. As of fall Friends members, Bob and Sharon Daily, posing behind another added 2012 the roof was replaced. The group item. Continued on page 6...

5 Friends of Mounds continued... came together shortly after the completion of the roof to repair the damage sections of the house. This past fall, the group came together to discuss furnishing the house with period accurate furniture. Through contacting Settlement they arranged for the donation and loan of items needed to help fulfill this need. The Friends of Mounds State Park organized pickup and set up of many items through this venture which included: a full sized cooking stove, dinning room furniture, bedroom furniture, dishes, and many other items. They are still in need of other items Conner Prairie Settlement could not provide, such as an oriental rug for the parlor, coverlets, curtains, and monies necessary for the completion of the final room and connecting stairway.

In recent years the group has built a privy, wood shed, and plan to build a smoke house on site in a con- tinued effort to convey the Bronnenberg family story. One might even encounter Fredrick Bronnenberg II and Ransom Bronnenberg during the course of the day. All are welcome to join in and experience this won- derful piece of Madison County History and get involved in the on going restoration of this farmstead site.

Special Thanks

Friends of recently received a special thanks for their dedication at keeping the CCC legacy alive. The group is actively raising money to purchase a CCC statue like the one pic- tured to the right to be placed on the property. They just complete their first 5K and brought in $2500 plus a matching grant from Modern Woods- man. So now the group has $5000 toward the statue! Great Job!

“CCC Supporters,

I don't usually send a message based on a mailing list from another organization, but I would like to make an exception.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your interest in telling the CCC story. Many of us have had first hand experi- ence and understand the difficulty of nurturing a volunteer organization so a special thanks to Rocky and Myra for their dedication, energy and creativity. It is very much appreciated.

Thanks for your service, Joan Sharpe, President CCC Legacy www.ccclegacy.org ”

6 S’more Volunteers Please! Lynnanne Fager, Interpretive Naturalist, Upper Wabash Interpre- tive Services

Our theme for our annual Volunteer Awards Dinner was based around the campground. There were miniature campfires, constructed from toilet paper tubes and tissue pa- per, as table centerpieces. Their goodie bags were filled with the makings of S'mores. Dessert was a S'more-based treat. And, what's camping without an outhouse? (See it in the photo of Paul Chapman. Check out the shoes sticking out under the door, and the catalog!) Entertainment was in the icebreaker itself. After hear- ing of my (now) fond memories of my great-grandmother's outhouse (afraid I would fall in that hole, and being afraid of something crawling up and biting my behind), and how my dad limited me to two squares of toilet paper (when I was young), we passed around a basket filled with leaves and corncobs. Everyone was instructed to take as many as they would need to properly wipe, since we didn't have any Sears catalogs. Little did they know, the number of leaves and corn- cobs they held equaled the number of things they had to share about themselves. This activity took up much of the time and turned into the entertainment of the evening. One volunteer commented, "I didn't think it possible to be entertained by talking about outhouses, but it happened tonight." UWIS volunteer Paul Chapman stands "out back" near We have a great bunch of volunteers and we appreciate the outhouse each and every one of them!

Congratulations to the Friends of Upper Wabash Interpretive Services for raising $30,536.94 for the Raptor Center Project. It is now opened and looks great!

!! SAVE THE DATE !! 2013 Annual Friends Gathering November 2 At

Are you a member of a Friends Group? Do you want to get some new ideas or share some great ideas? Well, this is the day to do that and much more. The Friends of Turkey Run and are busy planning a wonderful day. The day will have time for idea swamping, organizational issues, networking, pro- grams provided by host Friends group and more. Please email Jody Heaston, [email protected], for more information or if you can make it or provide us with additional ideas for the day. We hope to see everyone there!

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8 Volunteers Needed for Hoosier Outdoor Experience, September 21-22

Plan now to volunteer to help with Indiana’s largest, hands-on outdoor recreation event, the Hoosier Out- door Experience, Sept. 21-22. Held at in , the free event of the Indi- ana DNR features more than 50 activities, such as fishing, mock dig, mountain biking and many more ac- tivities. The 2012 Hoosier Outdoor Experience was a success with more than 25,000 people enjoying the activities.

Each day the event opens to the public at 10 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m.

Starting July 8, sign up to volunteer at http://2013experiencevolunteers.eventbrite.com .

Questions? Contact volunteer coordinator Cheryl Hampton, (317)233-1002, [email protected] or Leah Kopp, (317)234-1064, [email protected] . More at www.hoosieroutdoorexpereince.IN.gov .

Bus Host needed for Hoosier Outdoor Experience

The Hoosier Outdoor Experience at Fort Harrison State Park will need Bus Hosts for all shifts. This posi- tion is one of the easiest out there.

You will ride on the bus and answer any questions our guests may have. We will provide you with all the information. The buses are air conditioned and there will be no reason to stand for extended periods of time. There are several morning and afternoon shifts for Saturday and Sunday. The morning shifts are 8am- 2pm and the afternoon shifts are from 1:30-7pm. Please contact Shelley Reeves, [email protected] 317-234-1072 or Cheryl Hampton, (317)233-1002, [email protected] to sign up for bus host.

9 DNR The mission of Indiana’s State Parks and Reservoirs is to manage and interpret our properties’ unique natural, wildlife and cultural resources using principles of multiple use and preservation, while sustaining the integrity of these resources for current and future generations.

Thanks to ALL the State Park and Reservoir Friends Groups. We appreciate every member’s support, dedication, creativity and accomplishments. Keep up the great work. It is because of people like you that the visitor’s experience is enhanced and the fu- ture of the State Parks and Reservoirs looks bright.

Interested in more information about a Friends group near you? The groups are always looking for energetic individuals. Visit the website www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/2442.htm to find a Friends Group at a property near you .