Viewpoint Park Ivy-Pull

It's hard to believe another year has gone by and the Red Apple is pretty much where it was (of course it hasn't moved--but you know what I mean...it's still empty, and more businesses have joined it)  But I want to start out the new year on a positive note because we did so much in the last half of 2010, and really I was just too busy to write about it, so here's to 2011.  More blog posts, a lively community and who knows?  Maybe this is the year that we see the Red Apple rise once more.

One of the cool things we did last fall was pull invasive ivy from Viewpoint Park in the north Bellevue neighborhood of Bridle Trails. Stephen Johnson, a young man on a mission, had attended a number of Sustainable Bellevue meetings and before long had roped us into this project. With a lot of support from City of Bellevue's Parks Department in the form of tools, doughnuts and a dumpster, we spent an enjoyable morning freeing the trees from their ivy "chains". Preston Glidden, Claire Waltman and I represented Sustainable Bellevue's labor contribution while Stephen enlisted lots of friends, family and neighbors. A great workout, if you stayed away from the doughnuts! Preston has since taken his battle on invasives to ever greater heights, now serving on the board of the Newcastle Weed Warriors in addition to his role as co-founder of Sustainable Bellevue.

Our method, though crude, was effective: each pair of volunteers pick a group of trees, clip, yank, pile, and move on. Very satisfying work indeed. The piles of ivy were then pulled to the dumpster waiting on the street.

Countless loads later, the dumpster began to fill up...

And victory was ours!