If the brutal winter has you itching to get outdoors, head to Tippecanoe River State Park this weekend for the third annual volunteer day. Assistant manager Jason Hickman says gate fees will be waived for anyone who comes out to lend a hand. Volunteer activities will start at 10 a.m. EDT at the Nature Center. The big goal is to build a second scenic overlook. The Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park nonprofit organization replaced one last year after securing donations and volunteers to do so. Hickman says they’ve secured money for the other one. Weather permitting he says the goal is to get it framed and decked out. That’s the main project for the weekend, but Hickman says it’s not the only one. Volunteers are also needed to clean and spruce up the Nature Center and remove invasive plants and some small trees from the waterfowl dam. Bird feeders also need to be hung up. Volunteers are asked to bring gloves and cordless drills, if possible, and wear long pants and sturdy shoes.
Tippecanoe River State Park Assistant Manager Jason Hickman, Jon Chapman, John Wheeler and Park Manager Vernon GillumManagement and volunteers at Tippecanoe River State Park were honored recently by the state Department of Natural Resources for the effort they’ve put into the property north of Winamac on U.S. 35. Manager Vernon Gillum, assistant manager Jason Hickman and the rest of the park staff were recognized with a Natural Resource Management Award for promoting, managing and protecting natural resources through prescribed fires and the removal of invasive plants. State officials also honored two members of the Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park volunteer organization for their dedication to the park. Jon Chapman and John Wheeler, both of Winamac, were recognized with Volunteer of the Year awards for their leadership in building a river overlook and other projects at Tippecanoe River State Park. Work on a second river overlook will be done later this year.
Join Tippecanoe River State Park officials for a special “state of the park” address tomorrow evening. Park Manager Vernon Gillum and assistant Jason Hickman have worked closely over the past year with the volunteer Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park group on several projects at the park, and have more in the works for this summer. Highlights of the past year include the addition of manure pits in the horseman’s campground, the placement of bird boxes around the property and the ongoing replacement of the overlooks behind the nature center. The Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park also hosted several successful events at the park, including a volunteer day last spring, a Halloween event in October and a Christmas at the Park in December. Plans are under way for a 70th anniversary celebration later this year. Gillum will highlight some goals for the upcoming year as well. The public is welcome to attend his presentation Wednesday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. EDT at the Pulaski County Highway Garage on U.S. 35 on the north side of Winamac. The Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park will also conduct a brief business meeting.
In honor of the many volunteers who have made the Tippecanoe River State Park what it is today, the Friends of the Tippecanoe River State Park will be holding a Volunteer Recognition Day at the park on Saturday.
The Friends are a new organization formed in June consisting of a group of community volunteers who work with Park Assistant Property Manager Jason Hickman and Park Manager Vernon Gillum. The group provides support to the two and volunteers for activities, even performing cleanups and other services to benefit the park.
Hickman said the recognition day is a small way to show how appreciative the organization is to those who have helped the park.
“We’re recognizing volunteers that have helped throughout the year. We’ve had close to 60 volunteers donate close to 1000 hours this summer and spring, and this is just the park’s chance to say, ‘Hey, thank you, we appreciate what you did.’ So we got a variety of events going on that should be enjoyable for a lot of people,” said Hickman. Mary Perren, the secretary of Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park, said helping this organization is just one way to polish the jewel that is the park.
“This is a way for us in the community to say, ‘This is one of our crown jewels. We want to make it nice. We want to make it enjoyable for everybody to come out here and what can we do to do that?’” said Perren. (10-12-12 – Perren – What Can We Do)
One of the first tasks the volunteer organization did this year was organize a cleanup at the nature center. The group gave the building a floor-to-ceiling detailed clean, and Perren said volunteers helped out where the park’s limited staff was unable to get to, and without these volunteers, the park wouldn’t be what it is today.
One of the first things they did this year was a cleanup at the nature center, pulled everything out, gave it a floor to ceiling cleaning. Volunteers helped where the limited staff was unable to get to, so its beneficial to the park to have them.
To become a member of the Friends of the Tippecanoe River State Park, call (574) 946-3213 for more information.
