A Lover of Haddam Meadows and the Woods

By Sharon Challenger

(August 25, 2022) —Each Spring and Fall, volunteers from our communities gather at Haddam Meadows State Park to remove invasive plants and trash. Their goal: to preserve the Meadows and keep it looking beautiful. Led by Haddam resident Cheryl Czuba, the event is a work of passion and dedication. The work has been ongoing since 2013. With another Fall Cleanup fast approaching HK-News wanted to know more about this generous effort by the volunteers. We hope you will be inspired to join in the effort!

The planned dates are, Saturday, September 24, 2022 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. The rain date is Saturday, October 1st. The second fall clean-up will be Saturday, October 22nd. The rain date is Saturday, October 29th.

The event is promoted annually at the Brainerd Memorial Library.

Q: When did you first get the idea to help clean up Haddam Meadows State Park and why?

Czuba: I retired in June of 2013. After completing a Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) Adopt a Park Volunteer application in the fall of that year, I began picking up trash. When I saw how Oriental bittersweet was killing trees at the Meadows, I asked permission from CT DEEP to organize invasive plant cleanups and trash pickups. It was so sad to see perfectly lovely trees dying because of bittersweet and other invasives. In 2014 we held five invasive plant cleanups. We’ve been doing them ever since; two in the spring and two in the fall. We get anywhere from six to thirty volunteers at each cleanup. They are parents, young kids, kids who want school community service credit, Scouts, Coast Guard cadets, college alumni, seniors, DEEP employees who work one day in a park, and folks from as far away as Hartford, Stamford, and Niantic. We serve refreshments. Several volunteers come almost every time. There is a great spirit of camaraderie.

Q: Which groups do you seek help from?

Czuba: We have promoted cleanups through CT DEEP, Haddam Killingworth News, Haddam Bulletin, faith communities, UCONN Extension, where I worked, and the town’s website. We’ve been partnering with Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) Source to Sea for trash pickups on the last Saturday in September for about 4 years.

Q: How long does the work typically take?

Czuba:  We work about 2.5 to 3 hours at our cleanups. CT DEEP Adopt A Park volunteers pick up trash at the Meadows year round. The DEEP staff really appreciate all that we do. We see ourselves as part of a park team to maintain our beautiful Haddam Meadows. CT DEEP staff welcome our input on projects at the park.

Q: How do you treat the invasive weeds along the river?

Czuba:  We use saws and loppers to pull the invasives off trees and we also remove the roots. Our most recent challenge is Japanese knotweed by the Northern Pike fish dam. We have had great UConn Master Gardeners, and CT DEEP Adopt A Park Volunteers assist us in recognizing invasives. Richard Gill, one of our Adopt a Park Volunteers, who is also a UConn Master Gardener, tagged at least 30 flowering trees.

Q: How can members of our communities be of help?

Czuba:  We welcome people from the community. Sometimes people will come up to me and the other volunteers and tell us how we inspire them to pick up trash. If there is less trash, folks will often think twice before they litter. Anyone interested in volunteering could contact me at cherylczuba@comcast.net and I can include them on our long list of volunteers for the fall and spring cleanups. I would suggest that they contact Wanda Torres, CT DEEP Adopt A Park Volunteer Coordinator, so she can share important information on volunteering.

Q: Are there any plans to establish a non-profit organization to support the work in the future?

Czuba:  No we haven’t. We have had community members interested in donating picnic tables, benches, dog stations and the butterfly garden. They have worked directly with the CT DEEP Supervisor at Cockaponset State Forest Headquarters in the old CCC Camp Filley on Ranger Road, Haddam. This has worked out well.

Q: If there is anything else you would like our readers to know, please feel free to add your thoughts.

Czuba:   Most important are the names of our CT DEEP Adopt A Park Volunteers:

Jamie Burgess, Haddam
Deborah Cooney, Southington
Mary Lou Heger, Higganum
Joanne DelCioppo-McHugh, Higganum
Richard Gill, Higganum
David Stiles, Middletown
Cherry Czuba, Haddam

For more information on the above mentioned groups and invasives:

Haddam Meadows: https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/State-Parks/Parks/Haddam-Meadows-State-Park/Overview

CRC: https://www.ctriver.org/our-work/source-to-sea-cleanup/

UCONN Extension: https://cahnr.uconn.edu/extension/locations/middlesex/

CT DEEP: https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/State-Parks/Adopt-a-Park/

Oriental bittersweet: https://cipwg.uconn.edu/oriental-asiatic-bittersweet/

Japanese knotweed: https://cipwg.uconn.edu/ci-japanese-knotweed/

Photo from hk-now.com Media library