Last week I wrote about our ice storm and this week I will describe cleaning up after the ice storm.  The ice storm happened on Wednesday, January 22.  Wednesday we weren’t allowed to do anything because of safety issues.  Thursday the safety officer, Ranger Chad, and Ranger Margot did a safety assessment.  Then Ranger Margot wrote a plan for cleaning up which had to be approved by the park superintendent.  This happened about 5 p.m.

The next day, Friday, the team assembled at Headquarters at 10 a.m.  We had ten RV volunteers, six rangers who are on staff here at Fort Frederica, two staff from Cumberland Island, and two arborists on loan from Andersonville.  After going over some safety regulations, we divided up into four teams and went to work.

Tom and I worked with the “Interp team” under the direction of Ranger Bob.  Our job was to get the Visitor Center area cleaned up.  It took a little while to get all of the equipment together.  We had hand saws for sawing up small limbs.  Debbie and Ed were great at sawing and then the resto of us would drag the limbs away.  Ranger Bob drove a pickup truck and, as soon as we could get it loaded, he and Tom would drive away to unload it in the waste pile.

After an hour of working, we had the biggest limbs cleared away.  Then Marty and Kathy came along and raked up piles of the live oak leaves and picked them up to go into the waste pile.  Occasionally someone with a pole saw would come by and saw up the limbs that were too big to get with the hand saws.  We piled up limbs into the truck until noon when it was time for lunch.  Ranger Margot had ordered pizza for all of us.  The volunteers all showed up first for the pizza because we know if you don’t get it first thing, it might be gone.  Ranger Margot ordered more after we were done for the rest of the workers.

I needed to do something besides heavy lifting in the afternoon, so I got a shovel and started chipping ice off the bridges.  It was thawing just enough that if I could break up the ice on top, it slid easily off the bridges.  Diana soon came by to help me and the two of us had the bridges cleared off by 2 p.m.  At that point I needed to sit and rest a little while.  I took the opportunity to watch the arborists at work.  The female arborist was up on the lift using a chain saw.  Adam, the other arborist, was climbing up in the live oaks to saw off branches and assess which way the limbs should fall.  All of the volunteers enjoyed watching the two of them display their acrobatic expertise.

At 3:30 we quit for the day and had another assessment meeting.  Ranger Margot decided, based on the amount we had accomplished, that we could reopen the park at noon on Saturday.  The waste pile had completely filled the area given to it and there were still plenty of limbs to pick up, but the townsite was hazard-free, if not debris-free.

Saturday morning we continued cleaning up.  Most of the volunteers assisted with picking up limbs, just as they had the day before.  I got the job of deep cleaning the Visitor Center.  I vacuumed, scrubbed the displays and theater seats, and mopped the wooden floor.  Then I dusted and cleaned the windows.  The Visitor Center was as clean as it has been for a long time.

At noon we opened the Visitor Center and that was the end of my part in the cleaning up.  We will be cleaning up the grounds for a long time to come.  Today I have heard the chipper running continuously.  When the waste pile is completely full, it is time to chip up the branches.  All the ice has melted, finally, and it is supposed to be a beautiful week.

All of the volunteers are very proud of the job we have done helping to get the park ready for visitors.  We worked hard and worked together, doing whatever needed to be done.  The park would not have been open Saturday or Sunday without us.