The contributions that our volunteers make to Canal Shores continues to warm my heart and blow my mind.
In the fall of last year, among various off-season projects, we decided to rework bunkers and clean up around our 12th green. That little project has become something much cooler, and it is all because of our volunteers.
I will get back to the bunker and green surrounds work. First, I want to highlight the contributions of four students from North Shore Country Day School. NSCDS has a senior service requirement. CJ, Sam, Dillon, and AJ came to us and asked if they could do their service hours at Canal Shores. It just so happened that we were hoping to add a native plant and habitat area behind the 12th green. The adjacent sidewalk is heavily trafficked, and we thought the community would appreciate the natural beauty. I asked The Boys (as they have come to be known) if they wanted to see our idea through – planning to fundraising to implementation – and they agreed.
It has been fun to see them work through the steps of the project. Thus far, they have:
- Met with me to learn about the changes to the area from a golf design perspective.
- Met with Steve Neumann from Logic Lawn Care to work on a design, plant list, and budget for the work.
- Done outreach to landscaping companies to try and get free top soil to recondition the area.
- Researched fundraising platforms and provided me with their findings.
- Met with our Superintendent Tom Tully to work through the details of handling the funds.
Making this progress hasn’t been easy because their various points of contact are busy people. They are persistently taking action and making it happen though, and that is what I love about our volunteers.
This is the rough design The Boys worked on with Steve and his designer Ana.
The design includes these native shrubs, flowers, and grasses:
The Boys also produced this video about the project.
And they have launched a fundraising campaign on IndieGogo. Click here to check out their page.
I donated to their campaign and I hope you join me. Not just because their work is helping us to progress in the transformation of Canal Shores, but also because theirs is exactly the kind of volunteerism that we should support. They are role models for how to make a difference, and I believe that they deserve our recognition and donations.
In my next post, I’ll share more about the bunker and green surrounds work that the golf geeks crew did, but for now, support The Boys.
More Journey Along the Shores posts:
- Pt.1 – Introduction
- Pt.2 – The Land
- Pt.3 – Principles for Greatness
- Pt.4 – First Steps
- Pt.5 – Tree Management
- Pt.6 – 4 Course Concept
- Pt.7 – Pilot Projects
- Pt.8 – More Tree Management
- Pt.9 – Inspiration for the New Canal Shores
- Pt.10 – Off-Season Projects
- Pt.11 – Blue Sky Findings
- Pt.12 – Good Geeky Fun
- Pt.13 – 4 Course Concept Revisited
- Pt.14b – More Volunteer Power
- Pt.15 – Metra Corner Makeover
- Pt.15b – Metra Corner Update
- Pt.16 – Super Changes
- Pt.17 – 14th Hole Bunker Rebuild
- Pt.18 – Annual Volunteer Recap
Copyright 2016 – Jason Way, GeekedOnGolf
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