On Friday, November 3, a visitor to Port Jefferson History & Nature Center reported a water leak near the Live Hive honeybee house below the trail a few feet from the base of the levee. Once the City crew went into action on Monday, the 6 inch leaking culprit was exposed for patching. As the repair process proceeded, a large gully was cut between the pipe and the bayou by the high pressure water stream. The resulting cut reached the depth of the 1872 public wharf just above the current water line.
The large wooden plank from Jefferson’s 1872 wharf which was exposed by the water leak
The John Judd built 1872 wharf replaced and extended the dilapidated 1854 wharf from Walnut Street to the east side of the alley between Soda and Washington streets. It was 590 feet long and 20 feet wide with a slope of 1.5 – 2 inches per foot. This wharf was only used for a couple of years because of the coming of the railroad to the immediate area. Both sediment from floods and fill from City hired contractors covered the wharf.
The wind was high and the temperature was dropping, but it didn’t stop a group of determined East Texans from gathering at the Brushy Creek area of Lake O’the Pines to celebrate National Make a Difference Day. Staff members of the US Army Corps of Engineers, Collin’s Academy, Cypress Basin Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists, and Jefferson High School students from the Horticulture Class partnered in a day of native seed planting on a four acre plot prepared by the Corps staff. The seeds included over 40 plant species that will bloom throughout the growing season beginning in spring. The blooms will serve as a food source for pollinators and other wildlife species, plus make for an attractive area for visitors to the lake to view.
Ryne Sikes, Agriculture instructor at Jefferson High School brought 13 members of the Horticulture Class to cast about fifty pounds of native seeds, along with seed balls made by the Jefferson Primary and Queen City Middle School students. The Horticulture students, no strangers to working on community service projects with Sikes, were excited to be helping cast the seeds, and all agreed that they would return to see the area when the seeds sprout. Dee Hill, a junior, was complimentary of all the people involved, especially the Corps members. Comparing the plot they were working on, with the overgrown fields beside them, he said, “They really did a lot of work, and I want to thank them for all they did to prepare the plot for us to work on. He said he would be bringing his family to Brushy Creek Campground to see the flowers when they bloom. C.J. Woods, a sophomore said “that he and his class members appreciate Mr. Sikes. Because of his dedication, and the help of Collins Academy, our community looks better, and instead of being strangers, we are more like a family. We are giving back to our planet through natural resources. We are helping the bees, butterflies and our environment and we are making a difference”.
Phyllis Wilson, a member of the Texas Master Naturalist of Cypress Basin made the drive from her home in Longview to help rehabilitate the pollinator garden at the Jefferson Primary School. While Diane Mabus and Kay Lowery, both Master Gardeners, made the drive from Linden, garden gloves and clippers in hand. All determined to help make a difference in the overgrown butterfly garden at the Jefferson Primary School campus.
And, the students were involved. Members of the Jefferson High School Horticulture Class, guided by Agriculture Instructor Ryne Sikes went to work at the school, pulling weeds, digging and pruning the overgrown garden. But it didn’t stop there. The students, as they do throughout the school year, had grown and tended the plants that would be planted after the prep work was completed. The plants, fresh from the high school greenhouse included, verbena, mealy blue sage and milkweed, all certain to attract butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds to the area.
for dispersal at Brushy Creek at Lake O’the Pines as part of a habitat remediation project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In this way, the younger children can participate with the high school students in a larger, remote project.
responsibility. It is great being here with the kids today to help reclaim the pollinator garden for them.”
Madilyn Singleton, also a 10th grader said she loves the Horticulture Class. “It is a great experience for us to be able to go to other locations and help them with their gardens.” While Yannira Gonzales, said, “This project is pretty cool, coming out to help the kids is great”. Of the Horticulture Class, “we are like family, we have each other’s backs, and we enjoy helping with community projects, she said.”
