AND no, not the type of community service that a judge orders, the other type. The willing type.
PART of our mission here at California Alps Cycling is, after all, to help the communities in which we live, work and ride, and this past weekend presented us with some opportunities to do just that.
A Little Town Decorating
SATURDAY was about decorating our little town. Club-wife, Patricia, had a grand idea to place wine barrels about town and fill them with poinsettias for the holidays. The Markleeville Enhancement Club (formed a few years back by yours truly and our good friend Mary Rawson) donated the funds (which were donated in turn by members of the community) for the barrels and the blooms.
WE prepped and then placed a dozen 1/2 barrels about town. It added a nice bit of color, don’t you think?
We also put a few more decorations about our little hamlet. Club-mother, January, and Mary, even received help from an unsuspecting, but very friendly traveler, who had the necessary height they needed to get those last few decorations up.
Sunday, it was the Watershed’s Turn
THE Markleeville Water Company, which supplies water to our town, and for which I’m the webmaster (that’s a scary thought but I do what I can) and a volunteer board member, began its post-Tamarack Fire recovery in earnest this past weekend.
THAT work started last Friday, and went through Sunday. I helped out with some manual labor on Sunday, and my Mom and wife (January and Patricia) helped out Saturday and Sunday by checking in volunteers and getting waivers signed.
I worked with a gentleman named Jim Dickens, from Reno, who came down to help because he heard about the event while attending a Trout Unlimited webinar in which Kimra McAfee, Exec. Director of the Alpine Watershed Group, was speaking.
DIANE and Steve from Carson City joined on Sunday because they ride their bikes in this area (Steve is a Deathrider) and wanted to give a little something back.
THERE were more volunteers like Jim and Diane and Steve, and locals too. Members of CalFire and the California Conservation Corps helped immensely by felling trees and providing support.
IT was just so Markleeville…all of these people, from different areas, different walks of life, old and young alike, all volunteering their time to help us.
WHAT an awesome feeling! What utterly cool people! It validated my continued faith in my fellow humans.
IF you’d like to learn more about the restoration, by the way, and check out a little video about chinking, here’s a link to that MWC post.
WHAT about you? Did you do, or will you be doing, some giving back of your own? Please share if you did or will be. 😉
IN the meantime…
RIDE well, be safe and stay healthy.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and yours from all of us here at California Alps Cycling!
Great work! And very economical, reusing the same photos and different words to post on two sites;) (I once had a friend who was a journalist who did the same thing – he’d go to a meeting and write slightly different versions of the same story for 3 publications. He could make a living from one evening and one morning of work each week.)
Thanks mucho. I like that idea…would be a fun way indeed to earn a living. I’ll have to see what I can do on that front. 😉