Celebrating our Fantastic Volunteers

 

The Friends of Tryon Creek LOVE our fantastic volunteers (we couldn't do what we do without them)! On Sunday, July 29th, we showered them with love and affection - and food! In the early evening volunteers gathered at the Jackson Shelter in the park to be wined and dined by the Friends' staff and board at the annual Volunteer Appreciation BBQ...

Matthew Collins, the Friends' Education Director, and Linda Koser, the Friends' Field Trip Coordinator, on barbecue duty

 Friends' staff, board and volunteers spent the evening socializing, enjoying the barbecue and...

Dynamic duo "Curls and Scruff"

 ...listening and dancing to live music from local favorites Curls and Scruff!

 

As the evening drew to a close Linda Koser shared a real treat for dessert: Voodoo doughnuts!

Volunteers Patty...

...and Keith...

...and Heather and Scott are excited about those doughnuts!

We think it is physically impossible NOT to smile when one is about to enjoy a doughnut!

When you mix in the other highlights of the evening - great company, fun conversation, tasty food, lively music and dancing - well, the end result is joy and pure gratitude for coming together and celebrating the Friends' community. We are grateful for the opportunity to express our appreciation for the hundreds of volunteers whose dedication and hard work throughout the year allows our organization to accomplish all that it does. Thank You for all you do!

The Friends of Tryon Creek's Owl Citizen Science Project

 

From November 2011 through February 2012 Matthew Collins, the Friends’ Education Director, led nineteen participants on seven outings at Tryon Creek. Their mission? To locate and study the owls that call Tryon Creek home.

Collins conceived of the Owl Citizen Science Project as a way to provide people with a chance to learn about scientific monitoring techniques, interact with the park at night, impart intimate knowledge of resident and visiting owls, and inspire a stronger sense of connection to the natural world in general and Tryon Creek in particular.

A typical outing would begin around 6 p.m., when the park started to get dark. Project participants would divide into small groups that would hike to stations along the trails until 8 p.m. As groups reached their different stations they would begin by waiting in silence and then they would proceed to make owl calls starting with the most diminutive, the reason being that if you call the large owls first the smaller ones are very unlikely to respond out of fear. When a team heard an owl call back, the group was careful not to prolong engagement to prevent the owl from being disturbed.

Observing owls and being in the park at night was extremely positive for project participants:

“It was a great experience to learn more about owls. I didn’t realize that there were so many in such a small area! It was exciting to be in the park at night with my group of three or four people, and waiting in the silence was amazing.” – Diane Quivey

“I learned something about owls in general and particularly those in my neighborhood. We live about a half mile from the park and ever since moving here in the late ‘90’s, I've heard owls in the middle of the night. I heard one again a couple nights ago about 2 a.m. It turns out they're screech and barred owls. And, lo and behold, I can tell them apart now!” – Jeff Wiseman

“Although I have hiked in the park countless times I have never done it at night. I wanted to see what it was like…in the safety of a group who knows what they’re doing. For amateurs like me, this was a whole new experience.” – Stephen Goodrich

The Owl Citizen Science Project will return to Tryon Creek this fall with a kick-off event planned for October. Those interested in participating can visit www.tryonfriends.org for more information.

Introducing Tuomas Forsberg, Friends of Tryon Creek's Summer Intern

 

Tuomas Forsberg interning for the Friends of Tryon Creek, Summer 2012

Five weeks ago Tuomas Forsberg and his wife Anna landed at PDX International Airport. Their mission? Experience life in the United States and improve their English-speaking skills.

Tuomas hails from Helsinki, Finland and on this, his flagship journey to Portland, he is spending the summer volunteering as an intern with the Friends of Tryon Creek. He completed his degree on structural engineering and is now working on a Masters of Finance. Environmental studies are new to him but he is adapting quickly, as his internship requires him to spend twenty hours a week doing jobs as varied as stewardship and trail maintenance in the park to acting as a counselor for kids in the Friends’ Adventure Camps and providing childcare at the end of the camp day.

When asked about his connection to nature, Tuomas replies that he has a close relationship to the land, as do Finns in general. He explained that Finland became an independent republic in 1917 and because it is a young country that didn’t experience a great deal of growth until the 1950’s, people maintained their agrarian roots. In the past, the economy was heavily dependent on timber, as Finland has large tracts of forest land. Tuomas enjoys spending time camping, hiking, backpacking, fishing, and unwinding at his family’s summer lake house (Finland has 80,000 lakes!).

Tuomas wanted to come to the Pacific Northwest because of its reputation as a beautiful, pleasant place to live. He is enjoying his time here and says that he “is having a lot of fun. It’s half vacation and half work”. He has been exploring our region, heading north to Seattle and south to Crater Lake. When he is done interning with the Friends, Tuomas and Anna will travel to California where they will spend time in San Diego and Los Angeles, as well as visit the Grand Canyon before returning to Finland via Las Vegas.

The Friends of Tryon Creek are so pleased that Tuomas is spending his summer with us! We wish him well and appreciate his service.  

"Thanks. Please bring us back!"

Cascade Academy student finds a friend

In May the Friends of Tryon Creek welcomed students from Beaverton's Cascade Academy to the park. The students participated in an Environmental Education and Stewardship pilot program that included instruction on Ethnobotany and Forest Ecology. 

Preparing for Tryon Creek trail maintenance

In addition to learning about the environment students also focused on trail maintenance and plant propagation...

Cascade Academy students working hard on the trail

Twelve Cascade Academy students and a few adults potted 450 native trees in less than two hours, an achievement that is testament to their dedication and teamwork.  Carl Axelsen, a Friends volunteer who worked closely with the students, noted the heartfelt request made by a student as they left the park: "Thanks. Please bring us back!" Happily, the Cascade Academy hopes to expand the program when school starts again in the fall. The Friends of Tryon Creek look forward to working with these young people in the future and applaud their past efforts. 

   

To learn more about Cascade Academy please visit: http://www.nwresd.k12.or.us/Schools/CascadeAcademy.html

The Friends attend CSC Nonprofit Fair

The Friends participate in CSC's Nonprofit Fair, June 2012

On Thursday, June 14^th, the Friends of Tryon Creek were invited to participate in Columbia Sportswear Company’s (CSC) Nonprofit Fair.

The Fair was an excellent outreach opportunity for the Friends and other local nonprofits. We were able to introduce our organization to CSC employees and share our mission – to connect people to the natural world and cultivate passion for nature – in a relaxed, friendly environment.

CSC employees unfamiliar to the park wanted to know its location (near Lewis & Clark college, bordering Southwest Portland and Lake Oswego), as well as how we go about connecting people to the natural world (through our many outdoor education, volunteer, and stewardship opportunities for children and adults) and how they can get involved.

Those CSC employees who are familiar with the park shared stories about bringing their families here and experiencing such wonderful nature sightings as a beaver dam, a mother owl feeding her owlets, children chasing butterflies in the meadow and watching leaves float by at the stone bridge… the tales were many and varied but all underscored the importance of protecting our natural spaces and providing as many opportunities as possible for people to connect with nature.

The Friends thank Columbia Sportswear Company for inviting us to connect with their employees and share our volunteer, stewardship and environmental education opportunities with them.      

Friends tour Tryon Life Community Farm

Tryon Life Community Farm tour

On Saturday, May 26th, volunteers with the Friends of Tryon Creek were treated to an engaging and inspiring tour of Tryon Life Community Farm (TLC).

TLC occupies seven acres of land with rolling meadows, gardens, wooded cliffs, homes and naturally-built structures that is adjacent to Tryon Creek State Natural Area. Families work together and live together in an intentional community called Cedar Moon. Residents volunteer ten hours a week assisting with projects (such as building and events) and six hours a week contributing support to the community (cooking, gardening, etc).

TLC's mission, to "grow community learning while preserving common green space, restoring native ecosystems, and demonstrating sustainable urban density living", is a perfect compliment for the Friends of Tryon Creek, who share our passion for environmental education, and the preservation and conservation of nature, with the goal of instilling that value in others. As neighbors of TLC, touring the property with Friends' volunteers, was informative and rewarding. 

The Friends extend our sincere thanks to TLC (their ovens make the tastiest wood-fired pizzas on the planet!) and appreciate their hospitality and vision. We encourage the public to support Tryon Life Community Farm in their efforts to create a Sustainable Community Building that will house events for both TLC members and interested members of the public. For more information please visit: http://tryonfarm.org/share/

Stories from the forest

Spring robin at Tryon Creek

Today is an absolutely beautiful spring day at Tryon Creek, perfect for a hike in the woods. It is impossible not to notice how peaceful and glowing green everything is. The songs of what seem like a million different varieties of birds mingle with peals of laughter from the groups of young school children who are visiting the park and learning about the forest.

There is a surging feeling in one's heart and mind on a day like this, a sense of the sacredness of all living things.

Perhaps that feeling arises from our interconnectedness (lest one think that a mole and a robin exist in wholly separate spheres): a few moments ago robins were spotted flocking to a patch of moist dirt in the park where a mole was burrowing, and as the mole tunneled along the earth moved and rose to form a mound. Earthworms made their way to the surface much to the delight of the robins, who were snapping up the worms as fast they could. It is quite a thing to see the earth move from unseen forces, and to see countless earthworms escaping to the surface only to find themselves lunch for the waiting robins who likely brought some home share with their babies.

The natural world truly delights.