Friends of Sedge is Underway!!

While we may not have an official Friends of Sedge (FOS) yet, we are certainly on our way!

On April Fools Day, a group of people who unofficially call themselves the friends of Sedge met on the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s dock to paddle or motor over to Sedge Island NREC.

Once on the Island our discussions involved crafting a mission statement, planning for future work projects, affiliating with CWF, developing an advisory board, enhancing communication, integrating a healthy eating lifestyle into the curriculum and many other things. I feel that the most important thing that happened is that a group of people who love Sedge got together and talked about how they could help make the facility and program better - at no cost to the NJ Division of F&W.

Not only did the group talk, they acted! Two of us started on Friday when we brought some water and other supplies to the island in a borrowed 12' aluminum boat. Although Saturday was windy and stormy seventeen people showed up to help. Most paddled their own kayaks to Sedge including two strong kayakers who towed out a canoe full of lanterns, Coleman stoves, food, tools, and lots of other gear.

By the end of the weekend we had: reassembled the bunk beds, moved furniture back into the house, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned and tested the propane grill, swept a year's worth of clam shells of the porches and decks, scrubbed the front porch, installed the screens, put up purple martin houses, cut phragmites behind the boat house, swept the boat house, inventoried fishing equipment, tested and replaced batteries in smoke detectors, replace an osprey perch pole, placed sticks in two other osprey nest platforms and many other things. By my calculations this effort represents 289 hours of work! (It should be noted that with the exception of our student interns all members of this work crew are professionals who include: a DEP manager, a DEP scientist, a NJ Dept. of Community Affairs manager, a district court judge, two private corporate managers, one school administrator, three teachers, two accountants, a retired police officer and a state health program administrator.) Many of these individuals were already members of WWC and those who were not filled out the forms.

This was not strictly a work weekend. Tom (who is working on his PhD in Ecology) trapped an American Oyster Catcher and our intern Carley got to help band it. We ate like kings thanks to the delicious soup, stew for dinner followed by birthday cake for desert. Lyssa, our new college intern, could not stay overnight. But, she proved herself by baking chocolate covered birthday brownies, and TWO huge pans of cinnamon buns. Delicious food is definitely a must on Sedge.

I spoke with Katina last night just before I crashed. We were both on a super high. We are so thankful to have a group of wonderful people to help us at Sedge. Sure, we got lots of work done. But most importantly, we started what we hope will be the beginning of a wonderful relationship with a group of incredible volunteers who will help us move forward in the future.

Thank you so very, very, much. Jim