The Tippecanoe River State Park is gearing up for their annual Christmas in July event, with events planned for the whole weekend. On Friday, the park will celebrate the “Night Before Christmas” at the family campground center fire ring from 7 to 8 p.m. ET with s’mores and a campfire.
Portions of Tippecanoe River State Park Closed Due to Flooding
The water level at the Tippecanoe River State Park is still a bit high, according to Property Manager Vernon Gillum. Gillum said parts of the park remain closed following the rains two weeks ago that caused a bit of flooding throughout the area, and the water level is dropping very slowly.
He explained that while flooding doesn’t usually impact the property too much, there are a few problems that they’ll need to address.
Crew Completes Panhandle Pathway Paving
Outdoor enthusiasts now have 22 miles of paved trail to enjoy between Winamac and Kenneth. Crews completed the paving of the Panhandle Pathway on Friday. The newly paved portion ends in a spur onto Superior Street on the south end of downtown Winamac which was previously surfaced with crushed limestone. The Panhandle Pathway lies in the former railroad bed that runs parallel to U.S. 35 through Pulaski and Cass Counties. The town of Winamac received a Safe Routes to School Grant to pave the trail to the depot at the corner of Main and Logan Streets. Environmental impact studies are under way for that project, which will be done next year. From there, plans call for a northward extension to Tippecanoe River State Park. Rails-to-trails advocates eventually want to connect the Panhandle and the Erie-Monon Trail, which runs southeast out of North Judson to U.S. 35. A small portion of that trail is paved in downtown Monterey. The challenge will be crossing the double-span railroad trestle across the Tippecanoe River between Monterey and U.S. 35.
DNR Encourages Participation in National Volunteer Week
Hoosiers are invited to participate in National Volunteer Week by helping Indiana’s State Parks & Reservoirs. Jody Heaston, volunteer coordinator for the DNR Division of State Parks & Reservoirs, says there are many opportunities from maintaining trails to entering computer data. Heaston hopes many volunteers from National Volunteer Week will “catch the giving-back spirit” and continue to volunteer throughout the year. The Tippecanoe River State Park north of Winamac is always in need of volunteers. Park management and the nonprofit Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park are teaming up on Saturday, May 4 to host a volunteer day and spring clean the nature center, work on the new scenic overlooks and get the horse campground ready for the park’s busy season. Give the park office a call at 574-946-3213 if you would like to help out or like the Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park page on Facebook for more information
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Inmate Work Crew Lends a Hand at Tippecanoe River State Park
Inmates from the state prison in Westville have proven to be an invaluable asset to the management at Tippecanoe River State Park north of Winamac. Property manager Vernon Gillum says the work crew comes out a few days a week and assists with big jobs like cutting trees down and hauling them off so they can be split for firewood and raking acres of leaves at the family campground.
Tippecanoe River State Park Schedules Volunteer Day
Volunteers are needed to give Tippecanoe River State Park on U.S. 35, four miles north of Winamac, a good spring cleaning for the season. The annual volunteer day is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, which is also the “Welcome Back Weekend” at the park. Volunteers will meet at the nature center and work in several areas of the park, including the horseman’s campground and the nature center. Construction of the two new Tippecanoe River overlooks will also take place that day. Materials to replace them were donated by two local families and Plymouth Tube provided the steel for the supports. Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park volunteers tore out the old overlooks and have done the prep work for the replacement structures. If you would like to help out with these or any of the other projects at the park, call the office at (574) 946-3213.
Emerald Ash Borer Confirmed at Tippecanoe River State Park
An invasive insect that is potentially deadly to ash trees has been confirmed at Tippecanoe River State Park. The emerald ash borer is one of the most destructive wood-boring pests in the United States. Insects can fly a short distance but are more commonly spread to new areas when people move infected trees, logs and firewood. Tippecanoe River State Park Manager Vernon Gillum says the park continues to maintain strong restrictions with regard to firewood that is brought onto the property.
“We’ve already had where we have to be cognizant of what firewood we let into the property. For the most part it has to be de-barked or have a sticker that it comes from an approved vendor,” said Gillum.
Gillum says Tippecanoe River State Park has very few ash trees. Still, he says strict firewood restrictions are necessary to prevent the spread of other pests that may attack the oak, hickory and other trees at the park.
Tippecanoe River State Park Manager to Share “State of the Park”
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.
Tippecanoe River State Park to Be Closed to Allow Hunting Operation
Over a dozen state parks in Indiana will be temporarily closing their gates to visitors in November to allow hunters to take out deer threatening native plant life. Every year, state wildlife biologists evaluate state parks and determine which of them are in need of a deer population reduction, based on previous deer-killing rates and each park’s habitat.
Volunteer Recognition Day This Weekend At Tippecanoe River State Park
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.
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