16 March 2020 update: Due to the March 15th announcement regarding the cancellation of Peoria Parks events through March 30th, this event has been rescheduled!
I've worked with claystalker and the Peoria Parks District to plan CITO events in the Peoria area this spring. Future events might include:
- Trash removal along Grandview Drive
- Trail maintenance at a Peoria Parks District property
Donovan Park used to be a golf course, managed by the Peoria Parks District. Several years ago the golf course was closed and this location was re-purposed as an excellent city park. The park is at the center of a vibrant part of town with excellent shops and restaurants nearby. Keller Station, located along the northeast edge of the park, is being developed with/for additional businesses. PAC placed many caches in the park in 2015, including the excellent night cache, Caddyshack.
The purpose of our CITO event will be to remove invasive/aggressive species (silver maples, honeysuckle, oriental bittersweet, black locust, etc.) in an area that was seeded into priarie years ago. An employee of the Peoria Parks District will be present to help direct our work. Since additional training is required in order to use power tools as a PPD volunteer, our team will wield hand tools such as loppers, hand pruners, and pruning saws to remove plants, bushes, and small trees. We'll cut these down flush with ground level (or as close as reasonably possible) and help dispose of them properly. Peoria Parks will provide the tools and will also treat the stumps chemically to prevent further spread of the invasive species. They will also mark plants that we should not remove!
Please meet in the southwest corner of the Donovan Park parking lot at 2PM. If you have work/gardening gloves, please bring them along. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to post on the cache page or send me a message!