Reflection Essay: Katherine Sales

Friends of Warner Parks

During my time with Friends of Warner Parks, I was able to develop a deeper understanding of the nature around us and everything it does for us. Before I volunteered with Friends of Warner Parks, I was unaware of all the challenges that surround our parks today. One of the things that surprised me the most was the number of hours and care workers put into simple things in the parks. One of these experiences was watering the new trees at the Alae. Due to the Emerald Ash Borer, new trees are being planted to replace the trees that have to come down. Lots of care must be taken with these new trees. Over the summer I would go on watering runs once a week to help take care of these trees. Each tree needs to have a deer guard to make sure that the animals are not eating the budding branches. Along with ensuring the deer did not eat the budding branches, dead and tangled branches had to be pruned to ensure that the tree would continue to grow healthily. Not only do these trees have to have deer guards, but each tree requires five minutes of water. Trips like these could take up to two hours per area and had to be done once to twice a week. Not only did I become aware of the maintenance of the parks’ new trees, but also the maintenance required by human destruction. One experience I had during the summer was cleaning graffiti out of a local cave system. Trying to clean the graffiti was extremely difficult and time-consuming. It shocked me that people would actively try to harm parts of our parks system, but situations like this are not abnormal. I went on multiple trash cleanups to pick up garbage bags full of trash people had left scattered around the parks. Working with Friends of Warner Parks opened my eyes to the importance of nature around us. I learned that we must take care of our parks because they provide a variety of recreational services. The Warner Parks has been open since 1927 and provides a multitude of services for the Nashville community. One of the other pleasures I had was working at the Warner Parks’ Nature Center. The Nature Center hosts community outreach events to educate the public on nature. One of these events I got to help with was the Hummingbird Day event. To help with this event, I helped put out tables and stitch hummingbird stuffed animals. Hummingbird day was a way for Warner Parks to reach out to the community to explain the importance of Hummingbirds in the food chain and the enrichment of flowers. It is clear that Friends of Warner Parks is not just an important part of our community because of their contribution to the conservation of the parks around us, but also the educational opportunities and outreach they provide to the wider Nashville community.