The biggest thank you of the season….

..goes to the “Fantastic Five”.  We were lucky enough to have 5 strong, energetic, enthusiastic and willing students from John Burroughs select Malcolm Terrace Park as their senior community service project.  Since May 12th they have cleared trails and drug honeysuckle branches to the end of the streets (including St. Paul, Elzey and Eugenia).  Several neighbors (especially Tom and Linda Edwards) have helped supervise or offer encouragement and snacks to the crew.  We have gained so much by having them here.  It has truly been a privilege to work beside them.   A huge Thank You and shout out to Jack, Michael, Abe, Greg and Scott.

 Spring  Highlights

•   Linda Smith Edwards (St. Paul), took up the charge and applied for a special allocation of trees from the Forest Releaf Project (MoReleaf.com).  She got all the necessary approvals, picked up, delivered and shared 50 beautiful trees and shrubs that were approximately 3-5 feet tall.   There were several varieties, including redwoods, Witchhazel and tulip trees.  Many neighbors shared in planting the trees around Serenity Grove and at the end of Elzey and Eugenia.  Thanks to Linda for her leadership and perseverance as well as sharing.
•  The City of Creve Coeur provided more than 50 trees to fill in space that  was cleared last year by park patrons.  The trees were planted at the trailhead of St. Paul. Jim Lammers  (Elzey) and Fran Cantor did the lions’ share of planting, undaunted by the drizzle and April showers.  There are stakes next to trees which  display the name (including Nannyberry, Chinopin Oak, Red Cedar,  Chokecherry, etc).  Claire Closid and others from the Recycling, Environment and Beautification (REB) committee plotted the stakes and brought us the trees.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!
• Carol Mock is responsible for the planting of precious Daylillies around certain trees in the playground area.  She provided the flowers and labor for this beautiful addition to the park.
• The end of Elzey has been groomed and has several new plantings.  Sally Breck has planted seeds  at the head of the trail which hopefully will emerge soon in all their flowering glory. 
• Since early May, the City of Creve Coeur has sent chain-saw crews to continue cutting and spraying honeysuckle along the paved trail.  We appreciate seeing the City follow-through with their promise to provide this service during the month of May.

We will plant on Saturday April 23rd at 10 a.m.  We have 3 varieties of trees and stakes marking the planting sites for each tree.  It will be like an Easter Egg hunt to match the tree with the right flag!  And, while we’re at it,  we just might dig some regrowth of honeysuckle from the trailhead area.  Feel free to come out and help or just cheer on the workers and take a tour of the park.  Questions?  Contact Debby at dmose56@gmail.com.   Thanks for visiting our site!

Who says work can't be fun?

April 16th  —  Save the Date!!!  MTP has been chosen by the City of Creve Coeur as the host site for Creve Coeur’s Arbor Day Celebration. You should all be proud!!!  We need MTP residents to help with park tours.  See details below.  There will be a short meeting with Claire Closid on April 6th to review the site for the plantings.  Let me know if you are interested in joining this meeting.

The Arbor Day Celebration will be held on Saturday morning, April 16 at Malcolm Terrace Park. This year’s Arbor Day Extravaganza will feature the traditional essay reading and tree give-a-ways and also an educational session on honeysuckle, including a hands-on honeysuckle removal demonstration! We are asking participants to help us re-forest Malcolm Terrace Park by planting a tree sapling into the forest.  We’ll have about 50 trees for planting in the park.  The varieties include:
gray dogwood, eastern red cedar, nannyberry, choke cherry and chinkapin oak.

Schedule
10am School aged children will read their winning essays
10:30 am Honeysuckle education session & removal demonstration
11 am Plant trees in Malcolm Terrace Park Forest
11:30 am Tours of Malcolm Terrace Park  (we  need volunteers to lead tours!!)

We will also have a boy scout troop on hand to help with the tree planting and giveaways.
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May workdays –  We have a crew of students from John Burroughs school working on their May community service projects.  We need some resident (adult) supervision on weekends and especially May 14-22nd.   Any 2 hour blocks would be appreciated!  The appointed residents will distribute gloves, shovels to student volunteers as well as refreshments (we will provide these).  The residents will work alongside the volunteers at least part of the time and will be available to sign the timesheet for the boys at the end of the shift.  Nothing too difficult!!!  Even 1 two-hour shift would help a great deal.  Please help if you can.  We’ll all share the benefit of putting these eager young men to work.  Call 314 413-3511 or email Debby at dmose56@gmail.com.  Thank you!

(More photos will be uploaded after Thanksgiving – stay tuned!)

It was a fantastic day, all around, starting with the incredible weather!    The City of Creve Coeur was true to their word and gave us several man hours of cutting honeysuckle at the end of Eugenia St and also along the path at the end of Townsend (across the bridge).   We thank Jim Heines, Doug Seely and the crew for fitting in this project during the very busy ‘leaf collection’ season.  This got us in prime shape for the work day.

We want to recognize Claire Closid, who took time off from leading the Tappmeyer House (Millenium Park) renovation to instruct and assist MTP residents with planting native flower seeds.   It makes us anxious for spring ALREADY!

Tom and Linda Edwards were in charge of refreshments and kept us hydrated and energized.  Jim Lammers took the lead and directed workcrews throughout the day while hauling and clipping along the entire path.  Fran Cantor graciously accepted the assignment as resident photographer.  Thanks to you and all the residents who showed up ready to work.

The spotlight of this workday, however,  shines on the tireless, enthusiastic students of John Burroughs School, under the direction of teachers Scott Deken and Deena Goran.   If we hadn’t seen it with our own eyes, we wouldn’t have believed so much could get done so quickly.  Our hats are off to you!  The City of Creve Coeur was so impressed with the work that they accelerated pick-up of the limbs so EVERYTHING was hauled away and chipped on Monday.  Now the only thing left to do is win the football state championship this Friday.  Go Bombers!!!

What’s next, you ask?  Well, Saturday Nov 20th we will have a work group of students from John Burroughs to help with some trailblazing and clearing.  We’re excited to have them join us!  If you would like to help with drinks (soda, hot chocolate, water), snacks (cookies, sandwiches, chips, etc) or anything else for this hungry crew, please let me know.  We plan on a short session from 10:30 to 12:30. 

We’re really gaining momentum, thanks to the community spirit and effort being put forth.    Stay tuned in the next week or so for an update from the City of Creve Coeur.

Melissa C. Weiss
Public Information Officer & Management Analyst
City of Creve Coeur
300 N New Ballas Rd
Creve Coeur, MO 63141
Email: mweiss@ci.creve-coeur.mo.us
Phone: (314) 442-2081
Fax: (314) 872-2539

Note: Don’t forget your name, address and contact info along with your perspective on what the grant (and our neighborhood) means to you.

2) This Saturday, Oct 16th, we will be having a light work session starting at 10 am. At noon we will break for a potluck meal and comaraderie (not quite debauchery). Meat, drinks and paper goods will be provided. Bring your happy self and a side dish. (a shovel would also be nice if you can swing it.) Please RSVP to Debby at 997-3511. It will be a good time!

Before we get on with notes from our meeting, here’s a little fun fact from our work day on 9/11:      How much brush was chipped and hauled away after we labored on Saturday?  Approximatley 40 cubic yards!!!  (that’s a lot of chips!!))

Here are the highlights from the residents meeting on Saturday, September 25^th with Jim Heines:

1. The MTP Community Grant is being written and should be submitted by the end of October.  Melissa Weiss, who heads up the City of Creve Coeur Communications, is gathering information. 
2. The City of Creve Coeur has chosen MTP as the site of the annual Arbor Day celebration next spring.
3. According to Mr. Heines, there are some work projects planned for MTP over the winter.  These include: repairing bridges, cutting a new trail where erosion has affected the footpath (end of Townsend) and cutting up the dead trees in the creek that affect the aesthetics of the area and present a drainage problem.
4. Residents discussed overall priorites and beautification plan for MTP.  The first priority is to  start at the trailheads (end of St. Paul, Elzey, Townsend and Mosley) and clear honeysuckle.  Next is to open up the trails and widen the paths.  Next step is to mulch the trails.  Jim indicated there is more than enough mulch for our trails.  Finally, we want to reestablish native grass, flowers, shrubs and trees.
5. The City has agreed to order a sign to put near the pavilion to highlight the progress of the beautification project.  Linda Smith-Edwards has agreed to help keep the sign current by putting up information related to work days, current photos, etc.  (yeah, Linda!)
6. Over the next 2 weeks, the city will put down mulch over the Serenity Grove trail.  On Oct 16^th, residents  will spread the mulch as part of our “light” workday (before lunch is served).
7. If possible, the city may be able to provide a few hours of ‘chainsaw’ labor at the trailheads between now and mid-October.  We will be notified afterwards so we can gather brush and take it to the curb for chipping.
8. It was agreed that only employees of the city or trained volunteers should spray round-up or use chainsaws to cut Park property.

Quite a lot for a short meeting!  Thanks for taking the time to read this and let us know if you have questions.  Please feel free to share your comments, too.  We hope to see you on 10/16!!!!  Thanks for your interest and contribution to the MTP project.

A picture is worth a thousand words….the event was fantastic, wasn’t it?!  Everyone did more than their share and it’s hard to believe what a difference a day makes.   Take a minute to enjoy the pictures (click on the Photos tab above) and revel in the satisfaction of a job well done!  You should all be proud of your efforts.  A special thanks to our photographers:  Linda Smith and Fran Cantor.   You really captured the moment for posterity.

There will be a SHORT meeting on Saturday, 9/25 at 9 am at the park entrance.  We will meet with Jim Heines, Director of Public works, to discuss progress and next steps.  We hope you can join us and give us your input.  You can also send a message and we will pass along your comments.    We will be scheuling our next work day in October (it will be brief and work will NOT be strenuous).  The work session will be followed by a neighborhood potluck at the park pavillion.  It will be fun to visit with neighbors and enjoy our park. 

Please take a moment to review a note from a park resident and fellow volunteer.  We really appreciate everyone’s input.

 
To All Involved in Malcolm Terrace Volunteer Group,
 
    It was great to meet and work with everyone on Sat. We are fortunate to live in such a diverse park setting and share a love of nature.
    Malcolm Terrace encompasses a variety of habitats including bottom land forest, prairie, woodlands, wetlands, and an urban creek that flows through several municipalities.
     Keeping that in mind, we need to remember that the creek is monitored and protected at many points throughout the St.Louis area.
Jim Heines, Creve Coeur Public Works Director, stated that only Creve Coeur employees and horticulture professionals should do any spraying of weed killer in the public park. The loss of ground cover near the creek would result in erosion, pollution and have detrimental consequences for the entire forest canopy in this natural community.
    The good news is that the Mo. Botanical Garden ecology center has very knowledgeable instructors who can guide us as we rebuild the portion of the park that was just cleared. In addition, they have offered to advise us on the best practices for restoring and protecting the entire area.
Remember, removing the honeysuckle is only part of the job. Replacing it with more desirable native plants is the mission to accomplish!  John and I are looking forward to a volunteer planting day!
Warm Regards,
Sally Breck, Malcolm Terrace Resident