Voluntary service

Thanks to FOHI Campers

FOHI volunteers and Hog Island Staff (1 of 3)

Submitted by David Klinger

Dear Friends,

I want to thank each of you for your investment of time, energy, good humor, and fellowship during our recently completed “Friends of Hog Island” work-and-learn week.

We accomplished a great deal during four days, didn’t we?

From the expanded tent platforms to the mainland gardens to the Porthole bedroom painting to much-needed trail maintenance, we undertook and successfully completed many projects that the Audubon Camp staff simply wouldn’t have had the time and money to complete without us.

Each of you can take a great measure of pride in your lasting contributions to the camp. For you FOHI veterans, well done! For you FOHI newcomers, well done … and we hope to have you back with us next year! For you Hawk Mountain volunteers, well done, as well — your generosity in helping us is sincerely appreciated, and we hope we’ll be able to return the favor at Hawk Mountain very soon!

I hope each of you had a safe return trip, carrying some very pleasant Hog Island memories with you. Let’s do it again next year, for we make a good team!

Bob, Victor, and Naomi in front of the Fish House

Special thanks to volunteers Margaret, Carolyn, Patricia, Barbara, Virginia, Terri, Susan, Joanne, Charlotte, Greg, Jurga, Steve, Linda, Larry, Bob, Naomi, John, Rudy, Jay, Jean, Dorothy, Blanche, Victor, Dolores, David, and Helen for coming to Hog Island and helping get the camp ready for the 2003 summer season.

Thanks to Camp Island and Maine Audubon staff for making our time on the island so enjoyable: Seth, Laura, Anthony, Sara, Beezie, Janii, Sue, Tom, Cally, Emily, Ian, Monica, Emilie, Heather, Alison, Chris, and Leonard.

From David Klinger

FOHI’s yearly donation of volunteer labor on behalf of the camp and its physical plant was highlighted this summer by the addition of eight volunteers from Pennsylvania’s Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, who quickly relieved Hog Island trails of numerous obstructions and winter blow-downs in time for the annual cycle of camp sessions. The Keystone State delegation was recruited by Maine camp director Seth Benz, who previously worked at the Hawk Mountain facility.

FOHI volunteers and Hog Island Staff (2 of 3)

The work week also drew Maine Audubon Society executive director Kevin Carley, former Maine Audubon board of trustees president Jenny Scheu, and staff members Bill Hancock, Bos Savage, and Ginger Jones, all of whom worked alongside FOHI volunteers on projects that ranged from painting five upstairs bedrooms and a stairwell in the “Porthole” dorm to retrofitting tent platform extensions for upcoming kayaking sessions at the southern end of Hog Island.

FOHI volunteers left behind for this summer’s campers a dozen or more chests and dressers freshly-painted in Maine summer colors, a rejuvenated island butterfly garden, and a restored bath house, among other improvements.

During the week, Savage also provided a rundown of significant camp improvements over the past three years, some of which were financed, in part, by FOHI-inspired donations, and an idea of future “wish list” items.

“What a deal this is for Maine Audubon!” Carley observed about the annual volunteer week. “We get to charge you … and we get you to do the work! But we’re committed to this camp, to making it work, and to FOHI as a support group for Hog Island.”

Bart and Ginny Cadbury and Kevin Carley in the Fish House

FOHI volunteers were joined for an afternoon by former Hog Island camp director Bart Cadbury and his wife Ginny – the founders of the “Friends of Hog Island” organization – who regaled attendees with stories about camp life and privations in the more spartan era of 1950’s and early 1960’s. Evening presentations by Dr. Stephen Kress on Project Puffin and Dr. Sara Morris on bird migration, and an eventful and productive boat excursion to Eastern Egg Rock, rounded out the week.

FOHI volunteers and Hog Island Staff (3 of 3)

Completed Work Projects

Landscaping and Gardening

  • Mainland Visitor Center bird observation area
  • Mainland caretaker’s residence
  • Island hummingbird and bell gardens

Buildings

  • Paint Port Hole walls and furniture
  • Improve washroom bathroom facility

Grounds

  • Clear mainland and island trails of windfalls, hazards

Waterfront/Boats

  • Assist with boat painting

“Learn” Activities

  • Half-day boat trip around Eastern Egg Rock
  • Intertidal exploration
  • Birding Hog Island
  • Naturalist’s foray to the Bingham Cottages
  • Evening slide presentation on the Puffin Project and Bird Migration

Friends of Hog Island

  • Hog Island in the 30s, 40s, and 50s by FOHI co-founder Bart Cadbury
  • FOHI Committee Strategy and Planning Session