#SOBDads #F3Dads Community Service Day – Anne Springs

#SOBDads #F3Dads Community Service Day – Anne Springs

14 men and 19 2.0’s showed up this morning for the first ever #SOBDads / Area 51 #F3Dads Community Service Day event. The goal was to help clear brush along the historic Great Philadelphia Wagon road, repair a washed out gravel road, and clean signage/lights on the way to the Dairy Barn. With 33 strong, we put a large dent in that project. Read on for some highlights.

Caitlin Anderson (Anne Springs Volunteer Coordinator) greeted us and gave us our assignments. She had arranged a truck load of tools and a large flat bed trailer for our task. We were divided strategically into 4 groups, the brush clearing in two directions (2 groups), dirt shoveling, and sign cleaning. Ready…Break.

The tools were put to good use and a flurry of activity began. In fact, the trailer turned out not to be sufficient for the quantity of debris we were producing in the clearing operation. We soon spilled over into the adjacent field to pile debris. Caitlin reassured us there is a crew coming Monday who can pickup where we left off there.

Strange Brew, Wingman, Market Timer, and Paper Jam organized a crew moving North from the trailer clearing brush along the fence line with many small hands furiously clipping brush with them and dragging it back to the trailer/field. At times it looked like it could be Christmas time with all the evergreen shrubbery these guys were producing.

Mr. Brady, Teddy, Frasier, Turkey Leg, and one other (sorry didn’t get your name – Q-fail) headed South along the Philadelphia Wagon Road clearing underbrush along the way. The piles of brush this team produced were impressive. They were well organized with brush dragging operations to complement the aggressive cutting activities.

Soft Pretzel and Tuck first started the dirt removal and redeposit task at the central road. There was a large washed out area on the gravel road which had deposited on the concrete in a low area below. The task was to return the dirt to its rightful place on the hill. SP and Tuck were eventually surrounded by an army of 2.0’s who seemed to enjoy the hard labor’esque feel of this task. By the end, the concrete road was visible and the gravel road smooth thanks to the effort of these many hands.

Wild Turkey led a team to clean every sign on the way back to the Dairy Barn. After seeing the little hands swarming a few of those signs, I am sure the signs are now sparkling all over that campus.

Bratwurst was a bit of a floater out there working some on the South team and then contributing greatly to the dirt shoveling. He was then conscripted into using his metal bladed weed eater to clear out along the fence which worked like a charm.

It was also lucky that Eagle Eye (Teddy) was with us today. When “the one other” (sorry again) got ready to leave, he found that he had lost his keys somewhere in the woods he had just been clearing. Realizing it was a needle in a haystack situation, several PAX began combing the woods to find them. Not more than 2 minutes later Teddy exclaims, oh here they are… What are the odds? Just glad that ended so quickly.

Probably the best thing of the day was that there was not one idle hand in the group. All Dads and 2.0’s took on these jobs with determination. Work continued the full 1.5 hrs with no complaints (it even extended a bit past with no uprising). Caitlin was surprised at the end when all her tools were neatly packed back in the truck the way they started. Just plain awesome guys! Proud to be part of this group even more.

After the work was complete, Caitlin brought her horse, Star, from the adjacent pasture for the kids to pet and sit on. This was a nice treat for all the hard work. She stayed around after for a while to ensure everyone got to sit if they wanted to.

After a COT, the crew was disbanded. Those that had time traveled over to the Nature Center for a picnic lunch with the M’s. Those that had other engagements were thanked profusely.

The picnic was complete with soccer, football, crafts in the Nature Center, wading in the Lake, and walking on the swinging bridge. After the hard work, the kids were still going strong at the picnic and seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Thanks to all of you for making this Community Service project a success. Not only did we make a big difference in that section of the Wagon Road, we had a great time, and showed our kids how we can help the community. These are some of the things it takes to be an #F3Dad. #proud