- We got donations of two trees to replace trees that didn't make it in the grassy areas of the park.
- We got six dog hooks, like the ones at Pilot Butte, donated to Tumalo State Park. What does this have to do with Pilot Butte. Everything. A local company is selling these hooks to parks all over the country and we'll get a small percentage of their sales to use at the Butte.
- Other projects are in the works including refinishing the benches on the nature trail and various restoration projects throughout the park.
Monday, January 12, 2015
More projects completed
We've not been keeping this blog up-to-date because things have just gotten so busy. We'll try to do better. Here are some more projects that have been completed or nearly completed:
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Past Projects
This is a new blog. I'll try to get you caught up without boring you.
We raised over $3,000 at SMB 2013 with plans to get going on projects right away. Then it became clear that trying to get projects done during the summer was a mistake. State Parks tend to put all projects on hold during their busy season. Still, we fixed the lock on the restroom up top and helped with the trees Denny Sullivan planted at the base of the Butte. We soon realized we needed an efficient process for getting projects approved by the park and began working towards that goal. The park was great and extremely helpful.
Gradually, we discovered that the park has many busy times (not just Summer). Through much discussion, an outstanding game plan was created. The concept of putting process ahead of projects this year was a winner. We're in a much better position to use the money we raise at SMB 2014 which should be three times or more what was raised in 2013. We'll also haves some carryover from 2013.
Two projects are ready to go. We purchased a new dog bag dispenser and bags for the top of the Butte. Last we heard, frozen ground was holding up the installation. We also purchased dog hooks that dog owners use to secure their dogs while visiting the restroom. There are still a couple of details to be worked out there, but we have approval and they should be installed soon.
We also put on a Winter Trail Safety Workshop in December. Wouldn't you know that winter weather hit hard that night and got in the way of attendance. We scrambled and put the workshop content online (many people watched the whole thing), Then we partnered with Cascadia Vehicle Tents to make the Icetrekkers available at a deep discount. People love them.
Along the way, we became an Oregon Nonprofit Corporation, launched a membership campaign that raised over $1,000 to help cover the costs associated with SMB 2014, and found many ways to raise big money for the Butte beyond what is raised by SMB. Most important, we are gradually getting loose ends tied up. One of the things we aren't proud of is the fact that things often get started with great enthusiasm and speed. But there is so much going on that the finer details tend to get set aside in the shuffle. Now, with more year-round volunteers involved, everything seems to be coming together nicely and that will be obvious if it isn't already.
Finally, maybe our greatest accomplishment was just noticing something. There are a lot of groups and individuals helping the Butte on a regular basis. We realized they're doing amazing things and often with little help. We decided to help and made that a priority. Symbolically, we made that our first written policy. All of this is rolling out as we speak and you'll soon see how it works. The goal is to connect everyone caring for the Butte so that everyone is supporting everyone else. Our hope is that, in this type of environment, more people and groups will get involved in ways that make sense to them. Some will join existing efforts while others will start their own efforts. In fact, that's already happening. Recently, a new MeetUp group called Pilot Butte Movers & Shakers came on the scene. They make it possible for Butte users to connect for a wide variety of purposes. PBSS has already used them twice to publicize things we were doing.
It all seems to be working and why wouldn't it? This is Pilot Butte where amazing things happen each and every day.
We raised over $3,000 at SMB 2013 with plans to get going on projects right away. Then it became clear that trying to get projects done during the summer was a mistake. State Parks tend to put all projects on hold during their busy season. Still, we fixed the lock on the restroom up top and helped with the trees Denny Sullivan planted at the base of the Butte. We soon realized we needed an efficient process for getting projects approved by the park and began working towards that goal. The park was great and extremely helpful.
Gradually, we discovered that the park has many busy times (not just Summer). Through much discussion, an outstanding game plan was created. The concept of putting process ahead of projects this year was a winner. We're in a much better position to use the money we raise at SMB 2014 which should be three times or more what was raised in 2013. We'll also haves some carryover from 2013.
Two projects are ready to go. We purchased a new dog bag dispenser and bags for the top of the Butte. Last we heard, frozen ground was holding up the installation. We also purchased dog hooks that dog owners use to secure their dogs while visiting the restroom. There are still a couple of details to be worked out there, but we have approval and they should be installed soon.
We also put on a Winter Trail Safety Workshop in December. Wouldn't you know that winter weather hit hard that night and got in the way of attendance. We scrambled and put the workshop content online (many people watched the whole thing), Then we partnered with Cascadia Vehicle Tents to make the Icetrekkers available at a deep discount. People love them.
Along the way, we became an Oregon Nonprofit Corporation, launched a membership campaign that raised over $1,000 to help cover the costs associated with SMB 2014, and found many ways to raise big money for the Butte beyond what is raised by SMB. Most important, we are gradually getting loose ends tied up. One of the things we aren't proud of is the fact that things often get started with great enthusiasm and speed. But there is so much going on that the finer details tend to get set aside in the shuffle. Now, with more year-round volunteers involved, everything seems to be coming together nicely and that will be obvious if it isn't already.
Finally, maybe our greatest accomplishment was just noticing something. There are a lot of groups and individuals helping the Butte on a regular basis. We realized they're doing amazing things and often with little help. We decided to help and made that a priority. Symbolically, we made that our first written policy. All of this is rolling out as we speak and you'll soon see how it works. The goal is to connect everyone caring for the Butte so that everyone is supporting everyone else. Our hope is that, in this type of environment, more people and groups will get involved in ways that make sense to them. Some will join existing efforts while others will start their own efforts. In fact, that's already happening. Recently, a new MeetUp group called Pilot Butte Movers & Shakers came on the scene. They make it possible for Butte users to connect for a wide variety of purposes. PBSS has already used them twice to publicize things we were doing.
It all seems to be working and why wouldn't it? This is Pilot Butte where amazing things happen each and every day.
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