b'Tacklers,incharge of recruiting school, scoutingandcom- This is wheremunitygroupstosnow dayspickuplitter.Hisare celebrated.co-chairorganizes individualstohelp, andtogethertheTHIS ISvolunteersdevote morethan1000 hours(aboutoneHOME.andahalfmonths) to the task annually, haulingawaymore than 300 bags of re- City to SuburbsBuyingSelling RelocationsFirst Time Buyersfuse from the trails. The reservation is home to all sorts of critters, including thisI didnt want to pileated woodpecker, captured by Jill Weiss for the Conser- sitinfrontofmy vancys fall photo contest.computer or TV all funding from the state.day,Barrysaid,whenaskedabout Buttheconservancyhasdonehis involvement. A longtime resident much more.of Maplewood, he too, is a reservationSusan Blodgett, ABRLuke Blodgett Ginny Spiegel In20years,ithasbecomeindis- hikersense a pattern emerging?andBroker / Sales Associate Sales Associate Sales Associatepensabletokeepingthereservationsince his retirement, walks about five973-214-4636860-942-2207973-219-8865 Susan.BlodgettLuke.BlodgettVirginia.Spiegel open and functioning. In addition tomiles every day on reservation trails.@cbmoves.com@cbrealty.com @cbmoves.commaintainingmorethan60milesofHe makes a point of using them all.SERVICE KNOWLEDGE EXPERTISE trails and the maps and kiosks alongIt takes me about a month, he said. them, as well as offering hikes to in- In addition to losing 45 pounds, the troducethegloriesofthewoodstodaily walks help keep him apprised of145 Maplewood Ave |Maplewood, NJ | 973-378-8300newdevotees,theconservancyman- problems. I enjoy the walking, but I agesandoverseestheregenerationenjoy doing things, too, so I see things plots that the county was able to buildthat need to be done and I get them with Green Acres funding but has nei- done, he said matter-of-factly.ther the money nor the bandwidth toOthervolunteersandvolunteer maintain. In recent years, the conser- groupscreateandblazetrails,helpS o u r c i n g y o u r f a v o r i t evancy also has created the Wildflowerplant trees in the regeneration sites, and Sculpture Garden, the Fairy Trail, thedogeneralmaintenance.EagleScoutp r o v i s i o n s f r o m t h e U n i o nfamily campout, and a bundle of Citi- projects have focused on building nec- S q u a r e G r e e n m a r k e t e a c h w e e kzen Science projects. essary bridges, repairing picnic tables, Except for those years when it gets aand other large endeavors. Overall, in state grant, it does all of this for about2022, more than 1,300 volunteers de-$60,000 a year, and with a mountainvoted more than 3,000 hours (about 4 of volunteer labor overseen by mem- months) to the reservation. bersoftheconservancy board. Dave Barry, who retiredNOW OPENfrom his job as Director of Youth and Wellness at the SouthMountainYMCAW/F 1:00-6:00four years ago, was recruit- SA/SU 10:30-3:30ed by Percher to head up communityoutreach,but108 W. SOUTH ORANGE AVENUElike other board members,(NEXT TO RESEVOIR RESTAURANT) quickly found himself do- Hot Soft Pretzels All Local Groceryingmore.Thesedays,he alsooverseestheChain- Game-day snacks Weekly Organic CSAsaw Gang, which annually clearsbetween150and 300 trees off the trails. HeThe Conservancy relies on volunteers to clean the973-327-4075 or @MartinsPretzels for more infoalso is co-chair of the Trashtrails, plant trees, and perform general maintenance.feature story /13'