By Topf Wells

… deterred SWTU from having quite possibly its most productive work day ever, really as in ever.

The productivity resulted from the combined efforts of some great local conservation organizations:  the SW WI Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts, the Sauk Empire TPE Chapter, the Harry and Laura Nohr Chapter of TU, the Badger Fly Fishers and SWTU (plus some nice folks who heard about the project and showed up. On the day that started with the weather gods playing a cruel April Fool’s prank, 31 (!!!, WOW) showed up to clear box elders and honeysuckle off the banks of Whitford Creek and what will one day be a lovely wet prairie. The site was TPE’s Sylvan Road Prairie Area, which features Whtiford, the Dodge Branch, oak covered hillsides, one of Wisconsin’s finest sedge meadows, and prairies. Plus, lots of box elders.

We had many experienced sawyers and an ample supply of haulers.  We cut, cut, cut and stacked, stacked, stacked for a solid three hours, with most of the brush piles conforming to Tom Hunt’s standards. Tom is the TPE volunteer steward for the property and he lavishes loving and effective care on the 100 plus acres.

Thirty one hard working folks toiling for three hours accomplish a truly prodigious amount of work. As we were leaving, more than one of us surveyed the sight and muttered, Holy Smokes, we did all that?

The weather even improved a bit. The hardier among us frequently exclaimed, yep, this is a great day to work outside. A few of us remained a bit skeptical. But we all warmed up.

During a short break, Tom provided a great explanation of the landscape and waters.

Two apologies from me. I never dreamed we’d have this great a turnout so didn’t bring enough brownies. I’ll never make that mistake again. Secondly, SWTU had hoped folks would marvel at the beauty of this stretch of the Dodge Branch. The prior night’s two inches of rain confronted us with an imitation of a chocolate milkshake.

Many thanks to share. Jim Hess handled SWTU’s end of the business; he and Tom collaborated on an exceedingly well-organized day. Carol Murphy mustered some great Nohr folks and Jack Kussmaul, the President of the SW WI TPE Chapter, led some great workers. Rich Henderson ran the notice of the workday for several weeks on the TPE announcements, which helped account for a nice showing of those folks. Bob Harrison, President of BFF, wielded his chainsaw to great effect.

Jackie Lathrop was one of the TPE volunteers – she is the daughter of Lowell Gennrich and niece of Bob Gennrich. For the veterans of SWTU at the workday, meeting and working with Jackie was incredibly meaningful. SWTU would not exist with Lowell and Bob. Jackie worked just as hard and well as Lowell and Bob did on all their SWTU activities. Jackie, thank you so much.

We return to Sylvan Road and Whitford Creek on April 15. Let’s hope Dodge Branch is in better form and we have as strong a turnout. Stay tuned for more details.