On May 8th the Win-Cres Chapter of T.U. worked hard along side over 45 students from Winona Senior High School and Rushford-Peterson High to clean up a stretch of Garvin Brook downstream from Farmer’s Park between Stockon and Lewiston, MN. Volunteers began arriving as early as 7am to begin organizing the day event. Students arrived and were fed then divided into groups to begin work for the day. At 9am work began with groups of students removing trash from HWY 14, pulling flood debris and trash from the stream corridor along with a large woody debris removal effort.

Win-Cres paid for the rental of a T300 Bobcat and Operator from Potter Construction to help with the woody debris removal task, this involved chainsaw crews preparing downed trees and debris from the 07′ flood for the bobcat to then pile into large burn sites. Students then gathered as much of the remaining debris as possible to contribute to the burn sites. At 11:30am students and volunteers had cleared the entire section of work for the day and were ready to head downstream further than initially planned.

Students worked both banks of the stream to remove all trash and debris including tires, bottles, trash, and metal. At the same time other groups of students were helping to pull the invasive specie Garlic Mustard from the stream banks. Students learned about invasive species and what their affect can be on an eco-system. After the day of pulling was concluded several hundred pounds of Garlic Mustard plants had been removed and bagged, they were then transported to Miller’s Scrap in Winona, MN to be disposed of.

Lunch was provided by Win-Cres and a portion of it was donated by the Hi-Vee in Winona, MN. Four six foot long subs disappearedrather quickly with a large group of hungry kids. After lunch Steve Klotz from the Lanesboro Fisheries Office helped a group of students turn a small rock dam into a small rock wier to explain a bit about the stream flow and what kind of habitat trout thrive in. As the rocks were shifted the sediment in the pool began to wash downstream exposing a deeper rock bottom. Steve also showed students what macro-invertebrates were on the rocks they were moving and explained a bit about the relationship between the bugs in the water and the trout. Once finished Steve gave an electro-fishing demonstration to volunteers, working upstream he pulled out several Brown trout to show students the reason why we were putting so much effort into the stream. Afterwards volunteers were released and a few stuck around for a fly casting lesson thanks to Guide and Win-Cres Member Mark Reisetter.

Win-Cres T.U. would like to thank all volunteers who participated in the event, this day would not have been so prodcutive without the support and determination of all the wonderful volunteers. We had many hardworking students helping us and without any issue or complication all the goals and tasks for the day were accomplished.

Thank You to our Adult Volunteers:  Jim Clark, Mike Jeresek, Mark Reisetter, Joe Lepely, Justin Carroll, Ken Patzner, Johnny Micheel, Bruce Harem, Mike Drazowski, Cindy Donahue, Mark Winkle, Peter Weess, Craig Colbenson, Elizabeth Oliver, and Mike Oliver.

A very big Thank You to Steve Klotz of the Lanesboro Fisheries Office, we simply could not have done today without your support and effort. Thank you for all you do for our resource in Southeast Minnesota. To Dave Svein of the Foresty Office in Lewiston for all the help, advice and time spent planning this event. To Potter Construction who provided an excellent service for our day.
The following students worked for six hours and are to be highly commended for their hard work, Thank you very much, your effort made the day the success it was.

Michael Aldritch, Peter Baudhuin, Michael Burt, Tony Christenson, Amanda Drazkowski, Olivia Eckhoff, Alexandra Eddy, Will Eddy, Zach Erickson, Meghan Fakler, Jose Farardo, Isaac Hitz Graff, Kaitlyn Hamann, Elizabeth Hammer, Tasha Hanson, Aaron Haupt, Tim Herbert, Luke Highum, Kyle Honsey, Kaecey Jertson, Andrea Jurkovic, Kyle Kastello, Karissa Kluzik, Damian Kreidermacher, Niraali Lad, Gretchen Larson, Emma Larson, Matthew Larson, Thomas Lueck, Shane Kokinos, Jeremy Eggert, Landon Feine, Brad Ebner, Justin Larson, Lucas Gravos, Logan Brand, Riley Anderson, Justin Boyum, Mercedes Martin, Bethany Modjeski, Tanner Olson, Cody Otto, Ryan Residence, Lizzy Roque, Melinda Schmitz, Jonathan Schwab, Suzanne Schwab, Alex Servais, Jill Smith, Jessie Sorvaag, Kaitlyn Victor, Katie Wedul, Sammy Wineski, and Danielle Wottenborg.

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