As part of NC Litter Sweep, we held a cleanup at McGalliard Falls. In addition to cleaning, we also spread pine straw around the Girl Scout planting area that was added as part of the Bird Sanctuary. We also spotted irises coming up from past planting sessions.
You may recall, a Bird Sanctuary was created at McGalliard Falls park during the summer of 2016. The sanctuary was a group effort between Friends of the Valdese Rec, Councilman Gary Delp and his wife Phyllis and girl scouts Gunnar Hudson and Rachel Watts, of Troop 10645. As a part of their Silver Project, the girls set up a booth at the Valdese Festival selling sponsorships for the birdhouses. With the sponsorship money (and a donation of wood from Lowes Hardware of Morganton) they built and painted 50 birdhouses. They also landscaped 2 areas of the park with bird friendly plants (berries for eating, coverage, etc) – around the sign created for the space – Every Birdy Welcome and near the park entrance. Plants were provided by Settlemyre Nursery, Northwest Landscaping Inc. and the community. The project was unveiled on Saturday, Sept 17 with the ribbon cutting of the Grist Mill. Friends of the Valdese Rec had a BBQ Lunch that day.