Trail work on Mike Janecek trail

Here is a message from those who have been doing the trail work at PHS. Please come and pitch in if you can!

Dear Athletes and All Other Supporters of the Trail,

The trail is looking pretty great! If you have not been out there to see the changes, take the time. There will be some fun races on it this fall! Saturday, July 25, from 9AM to Noon we will need LOTS of rakers and root cutters!!

The new hill has been seeded and got its first mowing yesterday thanks to Ron Mangelsdorf. All the stumps left from the 50 plus trees that were cut, I lost count, have been pulled and piled in 5 berms along the trail. (We found one BIG nasty yellow jack hive under one tree that took two days to remove all the bees and hive.) The dirt hill at the end of the practice field is now gone and all the dirt has been used somewhere on the trail filling stump holes, filling dips in the new loop that Mark Strabel called Wylie's Way (Wylie cut a bunch of trees and spent quite a bit of time cutting, moving, and stacking logs on that new corner), and to cover the root, brush, and stump piles we have along the trail. Berms were used rather than digging holes which turn into sink holes, which we didn't want, and then we compacted them, put dirt of them, compacted them again, and planted willows so they will blend into the woods. Dan Moore and Mike Hautte did a fantastic job with the backhoes! Yesterday and today Mark Strabel is dozing sections of the trail where the trees were removed to widen it and where the trail has sunk and been rounded out over the years of use. The entrance to the racing trail at the end of Machentanz Field has been widened to allow more space for runners during our large meets. We have only needed to bring in two loads of dirt for the trail. Yeh!! The trail was dragged by Russ Dunlap yesterday and will need to be done again. The sides of the trail will be brushed today. Wednesday a trail setter will come in to mulch up the roots from the dozer work. Then we need to rake, rake, rake. And that is where you come in.

SATURDAY, July 25, 9 AM, TRAIL WORK: Everyone needs to bring a rake and/or loppers or an axe to cut roots and rake the entire trail. If we have at least 20 people we can get the work done in 2 or 3 hours. (We do not have rakes to give people, so please bring a rake and if you have two bring it along, also. Make sure your name is on the rake.) We would like the work to be done by noon. Spread the word. The more people the less time we will have to work. Also, make sure your name gets on the volunteer list on the clipboard.

SEE YOU ON THE TRAIL!! We really need all your help!!

The Michael Janecek Trail Committee