Saturday October 24th was
Make a Difference Day. It happens annually on the 4th Saturday of October. The day was started to help promote volunteerism and the power of community. Our family chose to work on a project close to home, helping to clean up the leaves and weed the nature scape at Bush Elementary School. This is our second year working on this project. Last year the group planted trees, shrubs and plants that are native to Oregon. It was fun to get our hands dirty, and then for the months afterward, to see "our" plants maturing and changing with the seasons. Here are pictures of the volunteers from this year's garden cleanup.
Deven enjoyed raking long lines into the leaves.
Olivia did a great job raking, but really preferred using a broom later on as the leaves were wet and "sticky."
This is Ashleigh, the creator and visionary for the naturescape project at Bush. She's also an excellent source for plant information. Here she is showing some of the students from the Nature Club how to properly weed.
"ArtTeacherJill" (as Deven calls her), taking a break from her little patch of leaves to tell me about the art exhibits she saw during her recent trip to Switzerland.
Willamette students, making a difference with their sunny smiles.
Bush' 5th grade teacher Terry, trying to hide from the camera (but not doing a very good job, as I'm a stealthy photographer!)
Another helpful Willamette student.
Ashleigh's husband Tom, who is also the President of the Parent Club at Bush. He arrived to help after a morning of coaching his soccer team to victory.
And of course, Champ was there working along side me. Here he is showing his two-rake technique which really gets the leaves up.
I promise I sweated alongside all of these great volunteers...it was only a little break to take pictures.
This was a picture that Olivia and I took. She pointed out that once you raked away the wet leaves that had fallen on the ground, they left a "shadow" on the wet concrete. Really cool looking layers from the cracks in the cement, the shadows left by the leaves, and the remnant leaves. Very inspiring...now the question: how to replicate this on canvas? Nature is definitely the ultimate artist!
Saturday October 24th was Make a Difference Day. It happens annually on the 4th Saturday of October. The day was started to help promote volunteerism and the power of community. Our family chose to work on a project close to home, helping to clean up the leaves and weed the nature scape at Bush Elementary School. This is our second year working on this project. Last year the group planted trees, shrubs and plants that are native to Oregon. It was fun to get our hands dirty, and then for the months afterward, to see "our" plants maturing and changing with the seasons. Here are pictures of the volunteers from this year's garden cleanup.
Deven enjoyed raking long lines into the leaves.
Olivia did a great job raking, but really preferred using a broom later on as the leaves were wet and "sticky."
This is Ashleigh, the creator and visionary for the naturescape project at Bush. She's also an excellent source for plant information. Here she is showing some of the students from the Nature Club how to properly weed.
"ArtTeacherJill" (as Deven calls her), taking a break from her little patch of leaves to tell me about the art exhibits she saw during her recent trip to Switzerland.
Willamette students, making a difference with their sunny smiles.
Bush' 5th grade teacher Terry, trying to hide from the camera (but not doing a very good job, as I'm a stealthy photographer!)
Another helpful Willamette student.
Ashleigh's husband Tom, who is also the President of the Parent Club at Bush. He arrived to help after a morning of coaching his soccer team to victory.
And of course, Champ was there working along side me. Here he is showing his two-rake technique which really gets the leaves up.
I promise I sweated alongside all of these great volunteers...it was only a little break to take pictures.
This was a picture that Olivia and I took. She pointed out that once you raked away the wet leaves that had fallen on the ground, they left a "shadow" on the wet concrete. Really cool looking layers from the cracks in the cement, the shadows left by the leaves, and the remnant leaves. Very inspiring...now the question: how to replicate this on canvas? Nature is definitely the ultimate artist!
