More than a dozen people came to a volunteer service event at the Botanical Gardens in Shore Acres State Park on Friday, Aug. 16. The volunteer events are held on the third Friday of the month, April through Sept.
Photos by Bree Laughlin
Rugged seascapes aren’t the only crown jewel at Shore Acres State Park. The park also features an artfully constructed formal garden with plants and flowers from all over the world.
Visitors come year-round to view the gardens. But the maintenance of the garden is a lot for park rangers to tackle on their own.
That’s why Shore Acres State Park rangers decided to start holding volunteer service events throughout the summer to help them care for the garden.
“It’s been a huge help because without those volunteers the last three years, we’d be really hurting here in the garden to try to maintain it,” said Shore Acres park ranger Jess Hayward.
Shore Acres State Park Ranger Jess Hayward
Prior to the volunteer events, a crew from Shutter Creek Correctional Institution would provide almost 5,000 hours in service at the garden. But that ceased when the facility was permanently shut down.
There are multiple opportunities for individuals to get involved with volunteering at the garden throughout the summer, including cleaning out the pond, pruning roses, trimming shrubs, pulling weeds, mulching, planting, and helping to remove invasive species.
Hayward said she was pleasantly surprised that a good number of people have been showing up to the volunteer events happy to get involved.
More than a dozen people came to the Botanical Gardens on Friday, Aug. 16. Some were first time volunteers. Others were longtime volunteers who jumped in where they knew they were needed.
“We have several people who have been coming for the last three years who have been out for every single event,” Hayward said.
“It was very positive to see people returning that were interested in not just doing it once but coming out every month,” she said.
Volunteers have learned gardening tips from rangers and from each other, including how to trim dahlias, roses and shrubbery. Hayward said she has also learned new things from the volunteers who come out.
At the end of the day, the volunteer events are about more than picking weeds, she said.
There’s an opportunity to meet people with like-minded interests, to learn from each other and to know that they are doing something good for the state parks.
“It’s huge what we can accomplish during these volunteer days – and everybody seems really excited to be here. That makes a huge difference,” Hayward said.
The Park Ranger said she grew up coming to the garden as a child with her mother.
“My mother had cancer, and this was a place of peace for her,” Hayward said.
“So, to be able to work in this place and preserve it is awesome. I’m very dedicated to this garden and it is so great to see there are other people who have the same dedication coming here,” she said.
There is one more volunteer opportunity to help care for the gardens before the end of summer.
The theme of the Sept. 20 volunteer event is ‘Preparing for Fall.’ Each volunteer garden events are held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information, and to sign up to volunteer, go to stateparks.oregon.gov and type in Shore Acres State Park. Volunteer opportunities are listed under the ‘join us’ tab.
Shore Acres State Park is located at 89526 Cape Arago Hwy, Coos Bay.
Mario Bautista
