MOUNT VERNON — An enthusiastic group of volunteers got an early start to beat the heat and tackled a number of improvements and housekeeping chores Saturday morning at Foundation Park.
The work crews were organized by the Foundation Park Conservancy and included local park representatives, members of the conservancy and City Council, a group from the Lowe’s Heroes Program, high school athletes and individual park supporters. Tasks undertaken included placing mulch on existing trails and clearing a new trail, improving two piers and a general clean-up from any lingering effects of July’s violent “derecho” storm.
Foundation Park’s three main lakes are magnets for fishermen, canoeists and kayakers, and the 145-acre site offers trails for hikers, runners and mountain bikers as well as plenty of ideal picnic sites.
Mount Vernon High School juniors Tori Waters and Aubrey Wiest wielded rakes and spread mulch on one of the park’s lakefront trails. They will put that work to good use later this month as competitors in the Eighth Annual Mount Vernon Kiwanis Cross Country Invitational meet.
“This is our home course and it will be our first meet of the season,” Aubrey said. The event is set for Saturday, Aug. 25. Last year’s edition of the popular invitational race attracted a large field of 690 high school and middle school runners representing 19 boys teams and 18 girls teams.
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