Tandy Hills Brush Bash 3 Is A Successful Wrap

I can not remember the last time I worked as hard as I worked on Saturday.

This afternoon I got Don Young's report with all the specific stats about Saturday's Tandy Hills Brush Bash.....

The Third Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash is a wrap. On a beautiful clear, blue-sky day, a dedicated army of volunteers wrangled a mountain of brush up the steep Tandy Hills to the waiting trucks that hauled it away for composting. City of FW Parks & Community Services Department staffers led by, Michelle Villafranca and Dale Taylor, had cut the brush the previous week and assisted in the Bash.

The Tandy Hills Brush Bash Army came from all over the Metroplex. There were Boy Scouts, Master Naturalists, neighborhood folks, high school kids, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, a few PhD.'s and CEO's from all walks of life and all dedicated to getting the job done. And we did.

Wide open prairie vistas have been restored. The landscape looks measurably different and the prairie is much healthier thanks to our hard work. Here's the stats:

60+ volunteers

40+ community service workers

10+ dogs

36 large truck-fulls of brush

24 dozen donuts*

5 gallons of coffee, tea and hot chocolate*

1,000's of megabytes of digital photos which can be viewed on the Tandy Hills Facebook page, flicker and on our website.

Thanks to all who participated. For everyone else, pictures can't tell the story adequately. Don't wait until Prairie Fest. Come on out to Tandy Hills today and enjoy the new views.

Don Young

* Many thanks to Green Mountain Energy for providing coffee and donuts.

The Dawn Of The 4th Saturday Of 2011 In Cold Texas

Does it look cold looking out my viewing portal to the great outdoors this 4th Saturday of 2011?

It is only 4 degrees below freezing right now. Does this mean we are in a warming trend? I hope so.

Since the picture from my viewing portal was taken the sun has continued its illumination duty to a level where I can now clearly see the sky over my zone of North Texas is currently cloud free and a very nice shade of blue.

In a couple hours the Tandy Hills Brush Bash will be under way. I have a complication this morning that renders it impossible for me to bash brush. I may be able to do some afternoon brush bashing though.

I am not certain, as one can never be certain what Elsie Hotpepper is going to do, but I think the Hotpepper may be bashing brush today. Something to do with the lure of free donuts. I may have misrepresented the donuts as Krispy Kremes.

I skipped swimming yesterday. I never skip anything two days in a row.

Talk to you later.

Saturday January 22 Is The First Tandy Hills Brush Bash Of 2011

Tomorrow Mother Nature will be providing some extreme air conditioning to the Tandy Hills to help facilitate a lot of brush bashing without causing the brush bashers to overheat on the 3rd Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash.

Below is the latest Brush Bash Memo from the #1 Brush Basher, Don Young....

Greetings, Prairie Keepers, Nature Mystics and Grass Huggers-

Grab you gloves and jump into your boots. Saturday is our big day of the year to fulfill our stated mission at the Tandy Hills prairie, in situ. The weather forecast calls for blue sky and chilly temps, perfect conditions for brush-bashing. Wear layers. You'll shed them quickly. 

Green Mountain Energy is providing coffee and donuts for the volunteers. Hot tea and cocoa will also be available. Green Mountain will also donate $20. to Friends of Tandy Hills NA for every new account they sign up at Brush Bash. The only energy cleaner than Green Mountain is the kind you will burn bashing brush.

> > > BTW: You are welcome to take home any wood that has been cut. There is Ash, Mesquite, Hackberry and Eastern Red Cedar cut and ready for you. Bring your garden carts, wheel barrows and wagons. 

See you Saturday morning!

DY

The 3rd Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash

It seems like the Manly Men and Wild Women have barely been cleared from the Tandy Hills. And now it is time to clear some brush, according to the following message from the Tandy Hills Brushmaster, Don Young...

The annual Brush Bash gets to the core of what Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area is all about. Removing invasive and unwanted woody plant species is a cornerstone of the Master Plan for restoring Tandy Hills. The Master Plan was prepared for the City of Fort Worth in July 2008 to address community concerns about the preservation of this one-of-a-kind green space. The end result will be a more natural prairie ecosystem full of wildflowers and native grasses. One that is not overrun and shaded out by trees and shrubs.

That's where FOTHNA comes in. We ask you to help us help the City which benefits all. Here's how it works.

City crews have been busy the past two weeks cutting unwanted trees and other woody species. That material is now on the ground. Volunteers drag the material to designated locations where City crews load it into trucks and haul away to be composted.

We need you. Please see details below and make a commitment to help us care for our beautiful prairie.

DY

WHO:
Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area. That means YOU!

WHAT:
3rd Annual Tandy Hills Brush Bash

WHEN:
Saturday, January 22, 2011
9 am - Noon
1 pm - 3 pm
Work one or both shifts
(rain date is February 5.)

WHERE:
Tandy Hills Natural Area
3400 View Street
Fort Worth, TX 76103

BRING:
Gloves, work clothes, sturdy shoes, hat, sunscreen, picnic lunch

CONTACT - RSVP:
Don Young
donyoungglass@earthlink.net
817-731-2787

Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area

P.O. Box 470041
Fort Worth, TX 76147
817-731-2787
http://www.tandyhills.org