By David Klinger, "Friends of Hog Island"
FOHI's yearly donation of volunteer labor on behalf of the camp and its physical plant was highlighted this summer by the addition of eight volunteers from Pennsylvania's Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, who quickly relieved Hog Island trails of numerous obstructions and winter blow-downs in time for the annual cycle of camp sessions. The Keystone State delegation was recruited by Maine camp director Seth Benz, who previously worked at the Hawk Mountain facility.
FOHI volunteers and Hog Island Staff (1 | 2 | 3)
The work week also drew Maine Audubon Society executive director Kevin Carley, former Maine Audubon board of trustees president Jenny Scheu, and staff members Bill Hancock, Bos Savage, and Ginger Jones, all of whom worked alongside FOHI volunteers on projects that ranged from painting five upstairs bedrooms and a stairwell in the "Porthole" dorm to retrofitting tent platform extensions for upcoming kayaking sessions at the
southern end of Hog Island.
FOHI volunteers left behind for this summer's campers a dozen or more chests and dressers freshly-painted in Maine summer colors, a rejuvenated island butterfly garden, and a restored bath house, among other improvements.
During the week, Savage also provided a rundown of significant camp improvements over the past three years, some of which were financed, in part, by FOHI-inspired donations, and an idea of future "wish list" items.
"What a deal this is for Maine Audubon!" Carley observed about the annual volunteer week. "We get to charge you ... and we get you to do the work! But we're committed to this camp, to making it work, and to FOHI as a support group for Hog Island."
FOHI volunteers were joined for an afternoon by former Hog Island camp director Bart Cadbury and his wife Ginny - the founders of the "Friends of Hog Island" organization - who regaled attendees with stories about camp life and privations in the more spartan era of 1950's and early 1960's. Evening presentations by Dr. Stephen Kress on Project Puffin and Dr. Sara Morris on bird migration, and an eventful and productive boat excursion to Eastern Egg Rock, rounded out the week. (More...)
Bart and Ginny Cadbury and Kevin Carley in the Fish House
More about FOHI 2003, including more camper portraits...
