A New Life for a South Hero Gem: Boardwalk Rebuild at Rec Park Will Improve Access
Folsom students gather to hear the plan for dismantling the board walk.
The first official workday on the boardwalk rebuild at the South Hero Recreation Park was particularly special. It was a sunny September afternoon, just after school got out at Folsom Educational and Community Center. At the entrance of the Park, South Hero Land Trust Director of Programs, Guy Maguire, circled up with our first volunteer crew. Along with five middle schoolers and SHLT board member Bob Buermann, Don Pierson joined us to begin dismantling the existing boardwalk.
Don worked with his son Stefan to build the first half of the boardwalk in 2008, as an Eagle Scout Project (the second half was the Eagle Scout Project of another local teen, Allen Wilder, in 2009). The boardwalk made it possible for Stefan’s brother to access the Park. Stefan passed away only a few years later, but his legacy has lived on as students and families visit the park via the boardwalk every day. This fall, Don and his wife Bernadette have been working side by side with a new generation of Folsom students to rebuild the boardwalk that has meant so much to his family, seeing them use and love the park as their children did. It’s an honor to have them, in many ways, become the heart of this project. As Guy Maguire says,
“This boardwalk has been essential in helping us bring students into the Rec Park to learn about the natural world for years now. But after hearing Don and Bernadette’s story, and the stories of community members who’ve come to help with the rebuild, it’s hard to not come away with a deep reverence for this structure and what it represents to the people of South Hero.”
Since the first day, we’ve made a lot of progress. We removed most of the existing decking and sleepers (the big beams that the boardwalk rests on) and are replacing them with new locust wood. Don and Bernadette are two of many volunteers who’ve shown up to make this project happen; it’s been a real community effort.
A huge thank you to our many volunteers and a special shout out to Bob Buermann and the CIDER ramp crew, Don and Bernadette Pierson, Kathy Magill, the Folsom middle school students who’ve been coming after school each week. Thanks also to the Town of South Hero for allocating ARPA funding for this project, to Lawson’s Finest Liquids’ Sunshine Fund for their contribution, and to Treehouse Hardwoods and Lumber for their support. We have more work parties planned for November, details at shlt.org/events.
Deconstruction begins.
Installation of new footers and repair of the existing joists
The new boardwalk takes shape