Non-profit organization Friends of Kaercher Creek will host a Make A Difference Day event on Oct. 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to cut grass, clear paths and clean up at Kaercher Creek.
“I’ve been volunteering much time and effort, essentially alone, at Kaercher Creek Park, near Hamburg,” said Tim Mazaika, who established the Friends of Kaercher Creek. “I’ve fished there since my youth.”
Mazaika lives in Tilden Township, about four miles from Kaercher Creek. His favorite time to fish there is in the evening, around and after sunset during the summer.
“I wouldn’t try that after dark in hip high grasses because it creates cast and retrieve problems, let alone critters and ticks being active,” he said. “No one else stepped up to even attempt to tame the overgrowth, so I did.”
Mazaika started mowing grass on the park side of Kaercher Creek in 2014, when Berks County decided not to renew their lease with the PA Fish & Boat Commission.
“The conditions had deteriorated to a point where the grass was overgrown to hip high, with wild weeds and saplings beginning to take over. There was a hazard of stepping on snakes, mice and other shore creatures, along with ticks. Others and myself couldn’t safely and reasonably reach the shoreline areas, so I took matters into my own hands. When I say others, I mean single fishermen or a mother/daughter or father/son looking to share or introduce their young ones to fishing,” he said. “The area is maintained to provide basic safe and reasonable access for fishermen and walkers, some who bring their dogs along for the walk.”
Mazaika created the name Friends of Kaercher Creek, started a GoFundMe page, www.gofundme.com/friends-of-kaercher-creek-park and also a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/FriendsofKaercherCreek/.
Since Berks County discontinued its lease in 2014, there are no more picnic tables, charcoal grills, horseshoe or quoit pits, volleyball courts, kids play area or rest room facilities.
“The only two floating docks have been pulled out of the water and the observation building has been boarded up. Only two benches remain in the park. Both were overgrown until I reached them,” said Mazaika. “Volunteering at Kaercher allows community members to access the area for recreation: fishing, walking, sunbathing, reading, relaxing. I even ran into some picnickers and campers over the summer.”
Unable to do anything during 2016, the same problems were present when he began tending the park side last May.
“The grass was so thick and high, I had to use a scythe to cut it down before I could even use a mower. I would scythe, rake, scythe, rake, mow, rake, mow, rake and mow. That went on for about 200 yards.”
He was then gifted a weed whacker by Chris and Nancy Vollmer who live nearby.
“That allowed me to clear about a 3-foot buffer on each side of the walking path that circles the park,” he said. “While I was clearing off the shoreline bank, I saw many people crossing over to the park side to use the walking path and fish in areas that I still hadn’t reached. After walking it myself to inspect, the grass was so high along the path that it had fallen in towards the middle from both sides, leaving about a one foot area to navigate. Hard for both people and their dogs. Having just been donated that Stihl weed whacker, it was obvious that people using the path for walking, jogging or running should be able to do so without risking ticks, poison ivy or sticker bushes. I was already working my way through the brush, so decided to continue around the park.”
Mazaika has been using a self-propelled push mower to cut the grass.
“I wore a pedometer a few months ago and I’m now walking 7 miles every time I cut the grass there,” he said. “I have essentially been working alone. A tree split and fell back in August and after a friend, Mike Martak, received a wood cutting permit from the state, which took a month, we were able to begin cleaning it up. We were also joined by another volunteer, Nan Harrigle, for that.”
Online and offline donations have raised a little more than $700, with a goal of $3,500.
“I really need a riding mower, new or used, to be more efficient,” he said.
Although a gate has been erected by the Hamburg Soccer Association who is leasing the field area from PA Fish & Boat Commission, blocking access to the park side by vehicle, one may still walk down the bank at the launch lot for access.
Mazaika said he met with a representative of PA Fish & Boat a few months ago and is in the process of an Adopt-An-Access Agreement which will officially recognize him maintaining certain areas.
“One of the provisions of the Adopt-An-Access-Area-Agreement was to post my name as a volunteer caretaker. I’m not very concerned about that, but to have the current sign there that states it’s maintained by Berks County Commissioners is disheartening to say the least.”
The Oct. 28 Make A Difference Day event ties in with the national Make A Difference Day.
“It’s one of the largest single-days-of-service events in the country. Communities nationwide will welcome volunteers for projects of their own. Kaercher Creek is my project and I thought this would bring some attention to the park and possibly additional long-term volunteer interest. I’ve met with the Environmental Action Club from Kutztown University and they are very enthusiastic about becoming involved on Oct. 28 and beyond,” said Mazaika.
The Oct. 28 projects include grass mowing, weed whacking, trimming, blowing and raking leaves, clearing any debris off the walking path and moving any small branches or limbs out of the way and picking up trash. Weather permitting, lettering and placing a couple of trash receptacles (other than up at the soccer field, there are none at Kaercher Creek Park) and putting a fresh coat of paint on the two remaining benches. There will also be a shore lunch provided for volunteers following the work detail.
“Hopefully, the weather will co-operate. We won’t be out there if the conditions are too rainy or nasty. If that happens, much will be delayed until Spring,” he said.
Anyone wishing to participate should meet at the Kaercher Creek boat launch parking lot between 9 and 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 28. Anyone attending should bring work gloves, wear proper footwear and long pants and if they have a bypass pruner, rake or even a power mower or weed whacker they’d like to bring along, they may. For more information, contact Tim Mazaika at 610-562-4261 or friendsofkaerchercreekpark@gmail.com.