Geography of the James (Earth Lodge)

I have to say, when I arrived at the William Byrd Community House on Saturday, I was very surprised. I thought that we would be working on a much more farm-centric facility, instead it was much more focused on feeding the poor and educating urban youth. It seemed so far from the environmental focus of our course, and when we were set to clearing leaves from the paths and playgrounds, it seemed even less relevant. But then I realized that one of the focuses of the Community House is to teach children about where their food comes from, which would help expand their understanding about their surrounding environment. And since agriculture has such a large effect on the James River, this would hopefully help connect the children of Richmond to their river. Still, I felt very disconnected from the river as I raked a seemingly endless supply of leaves off the concrete. While I was working, I thought a lot about the state of the community house. It was clean, but generally shabby and neglected, probably due to a lack of funds. This reminded me of the trash that I noticed at the James River parks; apparently more attention needs to be paid to our public works programs, after all, these places provide invaluable services to the community as a refuge and source of aid. Realizing this made me feel much better about the small job I was doing, every bit helps when you’re helping your community.

You must love nature before you want to protect it. You must be connected to an area before you’re willing to save it. Small groups and passionate individuals are the ones that make the most impactful, lasting change. These are themes I keep coming across throughout this entire course, each presenting itself in a different way. But each time, instead of sounding repetitive, they make even more sense and have a stronger message as I gain context with the Geography of the James River course.

Walking along the trail on Belle Isle

Yet another way I was able to connect with the James River watershed was through my first set of community service hours a few weeks ago while cleaning trash on Belle Isle with a classmate. (It seems that each trip I make to Belle Isle is a result of our beloved Professor Lookingbill, and this was no exception.) I spent 4 hours walking around Belle Isle picking up trash and recycling. We began near the bridge in the North side of the isle which, by far, had the most amount of trash, specifically cigarette butts. We walked around the perimeter of the isle along the trails which meandered through the forest, by the water, and next to remains of some of the historic industries that once were located on Belle Isle. I tried to recall the Belle Isle Interpretive Guide reading from early in the semester which described the various locations of interest around the isle, as if giving a tour to the reader. Though I don’t exactly remember all of the spots, I can say for sure that it’s more exciting to see these historic remains in person than to read them off of paper. We saw the remains of the mill and the ironworks, along with a few other sites which were hard to discern because they were so overgrown as if they had become permanently part of the landscape.

Remains of the Belle Isle Iron Rolling, Milling, and Slitting Manufactory which opened in 1815

The majority of the trash was empty cigarette cartons, which was actually a surprise to me; I expected to see more plastic water bottles and glass bottles. The isle however was relatively clean and we only collected a few bags of trash and garbage each while walking around most of the isle. This made me happy to think that the isle was relatively unpolluted, though there also could have been other volunteers that cleaned up before us at the end of the tourist season.

Working on Belle Isle to clean up the beautiful landscape further reinforced the idea of knowledge of an area leading to the desire to protect the area. While this community service is a component of my class grade, I still enjoyed the work I did and love having an impact on the health of the James River watershed. This desire is a result of my knowledge and connectivity to the river and my doing community service is a result of taking a class based on the James River watershed. The best part of this service opportunity was definitely the (obvious) locals on foot and on bike who made it a point to thank us for cleaning as they passed us by. I didn’t even know them but it made me feel so good and so connected to them simply because we share a passion of the James River and protecting our Earth.

A view of the James River from the North side of Belle Isle

Last Thursday I headed down to Pony Pasture in hopes of finding trash. After parking, I opened my door and before I stepped out of the car I spotted a few napkins and a water bottle. My first thought was, “well it will be easy to fill up these bags.” As I walked toward the river, I collected a few random pieces of trash just on the gravel parking lot. It seemed almost pathetic that people couldn’t make their way over to the numerous trashcans that surrounding the parking lot. Interestingly enough, the most trash I found was within a five feet radius around each of the trash cans. My initial thought about the visitors was that they were completely destroying the river with the amount of liter. I feared what I might see down on the banks if this is is how the parking lot looked.

 This thought was completely wrong.

I walked the trails and scaled the rocks that were on the bank of the river. Trash was hard to find! Unsurprisingly, the most rubish I found down by the river were 5 beer bottles underneath a flat rock section. More than likely, these visitors thought they collected all of their trash and headed out without looking under the rock. I was thoroughly impressed with how hard it was to fill my massive trash bad, which I thought would be a breeze. After recognizing there was little to be found down by the river side, I headed back to the parking area.

I walked a lap around the entire perimeter of the parking lot and restroom building. I began to play a game of I Spy Trash edition with my fellow Earthlodger to make time pass. It was refreshing to see that our bags never actually did get full. While it seemed almost agitating to never fill the bag, there was an incredible realization. Perhaps visitors to Pony Pasture really do try to utilize the park in a healthy manner. They respect it for its beauty and recognize it will only be destroyed if they liter it.

I did my service this past week, at the William Byrd Community House. Unfortunately, I doubt I will be able to say that much about it. Mostly because all we did was rake leaves. And sweep leaves. And bag piles of leaves. I mean, I’m all for being useful, but I’ve been raking leaves at home since I could hold the rake. I wish we had gotten to work on the farmlet itself, or at gotten the chance to interact with the guys in military attire who were also there to volunteer for the morning.That would’ve been interesting. It’s not a huge deal, because I’m sure we were useful. But I did not get much out of that. I got way more out of my first set of volunteer hours at the JRA Splash and Dash, on the James. That was great.

The William Byrd Community House itself was pretty cool. It’s purpose is to essentially feed the hungry, educate children, and take care of the community. It made me a little sad to see, to be perfectly honest, that an entity with those intentions didn’t have nicer equipment and facilities, especially considering all we have here at Richmond. The house was quaint, but with a distinctly neglected air to it. I’m sure this is because lack of funds/time/man power. So I’m glad to have been some help in that area.

The use of a community garden was probably my favorite aspect I saw. They have community plots, their own plots used for growing food and for educating children on where their food actually comes from, as well as running a farmer’s market from May to October. It’s pretty startling to think that some kids don’t know what a piece of produce actually looks like when it’s fresh, or where food products come from. It’s also wonderful to just remind people that every portion of man’s bounty came from the Earth and comes from the Earth. As for the farmers’ market, I cannot rave enough about farmers’ markets. Besides doing that reminding thing I mentioned, they are also community builders and provide fresh food accessibility. I don’t know what this one is like, but if it’s anything like the ones we have back at home, then I’m sure it fulfills its purposed beautifully.

There’s not much else I can say about that volunteering, because we just didn’t have the chance to interact with that many people. What I know about the William Byrd house now, I know because of a brief orientation to the place all the volunteers were given prior to performing the actual service. Ideally, from a volunteer experience, I’d like to be helpful while also interacting with people and things in ways I haven’t had the chance to before. This experience was basically just chores.

However, the final project is service, in a way. It is performing a service, if done correctly. Since we are working on the proposals for it, I can’t help but think of it when given the prompt of community-based service learning. What’s more interactive than making a map for the community? This year has really opened my eyes to all the wonderfulness that is the James River, and now I can’t wait to open the eyes of the greater community of Richmond, if possible. As Ralph White said, people need to have a sense of their roots. In this day and age, few people will go out of their way to find these roots without some sort of facilitating factor. Having something that can tell you exactly where to go if you want to swim, or have a picnic, or hike, or kayak can be that facilitating factor, I believe. I’m picturing it as an app for smartphones, and if it were to become that, there could even be a notification system for events, like the JRA Splash and Dash, or the mens’ clothing festival thing we ran into on our field trip to Belle Isle, along with how to be a part of them. There have been so many times I’ve just not bothered to do something because it was way too much effort to figure out the logistics, or didn’t know it was happening until it was too late. That’s even happened with going to the James with friends. We didn’t know where to park, or where we could rent boats, or where there was a place to swim, so we just skipped the whole excursion. If we, Earth Lodge and the GIS class, can manage to figure out those logistics for people, I think that would be a great service.

Ralph White told our class that the James River parks system is made possible by volunteers. After my experience with the William Byrd Community House I feel confident that staying active by volunteering helps raise awareness and connectivity.

After arriving at the William Byrd Community House, our group shuffled through the Community House into the library and were given a short orientation. The speech briefly covered the main aspects of the William Byrd Community House and the various programs that provide assistance to young students, family support, and make it a strong community center.

Our job was to pick up leaves that had fallen to the ground in front of the building. They posed a safety hazard to children who could slip and fall. It seemed trivial but I convinced myself it was contributing to the community. As I was shoveling leaves off of the road and into a pile, a car full of people pulled up beside me and offered bottles of water to myself and my fellow volunteers. At that point I began to feel a strong sense of belonging, developing a bond with the community I was working in.

The city of Richmond community is similar to the James River. The more connected and active I am in the community the more I can relate to the issues effecting it. The University of Richmond feels segregated from the city of Richmond. The many programs the William Byrd Community House has are not focused on University of Richmond students as their focus demographic so a bond between community and person is never created. The same could be said about the James River. Going to the James River allows visitors to experience the various sights and sounds the James has to offer, leaving a lasting impression and creating a bond between the James and its visitors. Being active on the James will raise awareness for issues effecting the ecology of the river. The more I visit the James the more invested I feel into its preservation, making volunteering a worthwhile activity.

My aching back, neck, arms, and quads are evidence to the above statement originally made by Ralph White, former director of the James River Park System. The Earth Lodge and Intro GIS classes met this environmental leader earlier today in the same place that I began working on my first 4 service hours — Pony Pasture, currently an orange and yellow wonderland with a biting, frigid wind coming up from the waters. When I came to volunteer, it was much warmer. Surprinsingly little trash was found on the trails, so I got to enjoy the views as I climbed over rocks to check every nook and cranny. My service partner for that day, Andrew, and I quickly moved onto Huguenot Flatwaters for more work.

The situation in Huguenot Flatwaters was much different. Several suitable vistas were ruined by rusted out and tipped garbage cans, not to mention tons of fishing line. We made a visisble difference in the beauty of the park and other people noticed. One couple walking along a trail saw our nitrile gloves and black trash bags and asked what we were up to. They thanked us for our service and it seemed like they would consider doing similar volunteer work themselves.

Fast forward to today — the muscle pain I feel is from raking leaves for about 3 hours straight this past Saturday with many other people in Earth Lodge. Originally, we thought we would be working on a farmlet at the William Byrd Community House. However, we raked and swept leaves off the front path, playground area, and two parking lots with the reasoning that the children who frequent the Community House might slip on wet leaves. The leaves are later tilled into the soil on the farmlet to increase the organic matter in the soil and improve soil quality. All that raking and collecting of leaves in trash bags reminded me of my childhood. My father, brother and I would go into the yard and collect most of the leaves. Some we would leave to decompose naturally and help out soil. My favorite part of the whole job was sitting on trash bags, letting all of my weight squish the leaves, so that more room would be available for the next pile. I taught this technique to Kerry, a fellow classmate who helped clear the parking lots with me.

So what has this trash collecting and leaf raking done for me, my class, and my community? It brought my classmates and I to the river and to other areas in Richmond that are related to the community as a whole. We made these areas more safe and sanitary for other community users. In my case, I got to interact with community leaders like Cheryl Kosakowski, the volunteer coordinator at William Byrd Community House, in addition to community members like the couple iat Huguenot Flatwater.

Who knows? Maybe I’m becoming an environmental leader myself.

This week was the second time I was able to do community service that involved the James River. It was a self directed clean up that took me and one of me fellow Earth Lodgers down to pony pasture to clean up the James River. When we first parked in front of the river, I did notice some big-ticket items to clean up. There were some bottles, cigarette cartons, and large candy bar wrappers scattered around where cars had been and so naturally, my first thought was, why don’t people just clean up after themselves? It would have been so easy to walk an extra couple of feet to the trashcan and throw the trash away. And no one could possibly say they couldn’t find a trashcan, because the lot was full of them. However, as my friend and I ventured further down the trails of the river and on its banks, my perception changed. The reality was that it was extremely hard to find trash to pick up. It was so hard, in fact, that it slowly became something like a competition to see who could actually manage to find trash at all. And what we did end up finding was either extremely random (I found a single flip flop), or extremely predictable (my friend found beer bottles in a spot that was flat and ideal for fishing). Frankly, the most common piece of trash we found were cigarette butts and even then, most of those were centered around the main road that followed the bank of the river and then further in near the parking lot.

Cleaning the river made me proud of Richmond. A lot of people have talked about how dirty the river is and how things aren’t in the best shape. This is true- the river could use some help. But from what I saw yesterday, people seem to understand that there are easy ways to slowly help the quality of the river increase. If the most we saw were some bottles and some paper cartons, I’d say we’re going down a pretty good path.