Tag Archives: Wood Preservers

The Northern Neck and Beyond

Dominion Volunteers Energize Menokin

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Recently we told you about the generous grant from Dominion Energizing Communities that was shared with Menokin through the Friends of the Rappahannock.

img_4168At 7:30 on Tuesday morning of this week, their trucks rolled in and the volunteers went to work. To say that Menokin was buzzing is not an exaggeration. Table saws, power tools and happy, hard working people made quick work of the prearranged list of projects to benefit Menokin and our visitors.

I was thrilled to find that – upon my arrival at 8:30 – the transformation of a dog kennel into a covered pavilion was already completed. Later in the day one of the newly constructed benches made its way into the space and is ready for use.

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Over by the house, a team was busy at work re-roofing our storage shed. Others were steadily cutting lumber (generously donated by Wood Preservers of Warsaw) into patterns for tables and benches, while the next group assembled the pieces into furniture.
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After all of their hard work was completed the team leaders brought in pizza and homemade desserts and invited the Menokin staff and trustees to share. Most of the volunteers joined me for a tour of the house and learned more about the history and rehabilitation of Menokin.

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So next time you’re walking the trail to Cat Point Creek and pause to rest on a bench; or have a picnic lunch by the house or the water; or sit to reflect on the on the lives of theimg_8069-jpg enslaved people who worked the land; thank the volunteers of the Dominion Foundation for making your visit to Menokin a little more comfortable.

We would also like to thank our Menokin volunteers Kirwan King and Ben Rennolds for picking up and hauling all of the lumber and building supplies for the project. Thanks, guys!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Northern Neck and Beyond

Dominion Energizing Communities at Menokin

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The Menokin Foundation would like to extend our thanks to the Dominion Foundation, Friends of the Rappahannock, and Wood Preservers, for their support to make Menokin a more engaging learning center.

The Menokin Foundation and Friends of the Rappahannock recently received a grant of $2,500 from Dominion as part of their Energizing Communities initiative. This grant will go towards improving the experience for school groups and visitors to Menokin through the addition of benches and picnic tables and grounds maintenance. On Tuesday, October 25th, the Dominion team will be on site at Menokin:

  • building 4 new picnic tables;
  • building 6 new benches;
  • re-roofing a shed in need by the Menokin house; and
  • cleaning up a picnic shelter for visitors to enjoy

In addition to the support from Friends of the Rappahannock and Dominion to make this community project possible, we are grateful for the support of Wood Preservers who will be donating supplies towards the project. Please visit Menokin on October 25th to see this project and community support in action!  Hike the trails, enjoy a picnic outdoors, and call ahead to the Menokin Visitor’s Center to schedule a hard hat tour of the house while you’re here!

Energizing Communities is a grassroots effort driven by Dominion volunteers across the many states and communities served by Dominion. Each year, hundreds of employee volunteers put their talent, time and efforts into improving their home towns in many different ways during a fall project blitz. Local employee volunteer councils work with parks, zoos, schools, shelters and other organizations to choose projects.

We can’t wait to share with you these improvements taking place to make your experience at Menokin more enjoyable!

The Landscape, The People

Trim and Tidy

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What do you do when a staff member’s father-in-law is coming to Menokin to haul kayaks down to the waterfront? Ask him to bring his weed eater and trim around the picnic table and launch area, of course!

Last Thursday, Richmond County resident Luke French came to the rescue of the Intrepid Ladies of Menokin when he agreed to stack one volunteer opportunity on top of another. It is friends like these that help us keep our grounds trim and tidy.

Luke French trims the waterfront.
Luke French comes to the rescue.

 

 

You can now see the picnic table. Thanks, Luke!
You can now see the picnic table. Thanks, Luke!

And they do it for free! Which is a good thing when you are a non-profit raising every dollar that is spent.

Speaking of good deeds and generosity, the Menokin grounds will get another face lift soon through a partnership and volunteer project with the Friends of the Rappahannock and Dominion Energizing Communities, which will result in the addition of benches along the river trail, picnic tables and benches at the education shelter, with a generous donation from Wood Preservers.

The volunteers will also provide assistance with grounds maintenance and restoration of some of the facilities used by Menokin for our programs.