FILE PHOTO — Deer hang out on Seminary Hill in April 2018.
Deer take a stroll at Seminary Hill Wednesday afternoon.
The woods above downtown Centralia will be humming with activity Saturday as volunteers turn out to get the trails of Seminary Hill ready for spring.
“Everybody who feels a sense of possession or connection to this hill comes together and works alongside each other,” said Brian Mittge, president of the Friends of the Seminary Hill Natural Area non-profit group.
The group’s annual trail work event is timed to coincide with Earth Day weekend and geared toward volunteers of all ages. Youngsters and senior citizens can pick up trash and pull out invasive English ivy. Those who are up to more robust jobs will have plenty of work as well, fixing potholes in the parking area, adding gravel to the trail and replacing old railroad ties that stairstep the paths up the hill. The group is asking volunteers to gather at 10 a.m.
“It's my favorite event of the year, because you get all different ages coming out,” Mittge said. “We'll have a bunch of jobs for people to do.”
The Friends group is urging the community to come out and pitch in, noting that volunteer work is necessary to maintain the 72-acre property. Seminary Hill Natural Area is owned by the city of Centralia, which often provides resources to help with upkeep, but it falls to the nonprofit to organize the necessary manpower. The many hours that an army of volunteers can contribute in a day allows the trail to be maintained without a financial burden that the city would be unable to meet.
“The way that this natural area remains open to the public is this neat partnership between the city as the owner and the Friends group as the caretaker, the boots on the ground,” Mittge said. “The cities don’t have enough manpower (to maintain trails), and Joe Citizen doesn’t feel like he can go out and just do whatever.”
The Natural Area was created when local residents banded together to protect it from logging in the late 1970s. The city allowed it to be preserved, and the Friends non-profit was established to ensure it would be maintained.
The trail work will get Seminary Hill in shape for the group’s many planned activities throughout the year, with two of them just around the corner. On May 2, the group is hosting a wildflower walk, led by Dr. Lisa Carlson, a Centralia College botany professor.
“You just learn so much with her walk,” Mittge said.
That event will be followed with a bird walk on May 12, led by Henry Wegener. The May walks will kick off a summer of events, including outings on edible plants, art and geology.
