The volunteer spirit keeps Maine’s only national park looking beautiful.
By Peter Mullen
Staff Writer

BAR HARBOR – Nabou (pronounced Na-BOO), a college student from Japan, looked out the window of the van filled with Friends of Acadia volunteers as it wound its way through the Park Loop Road of Acadia National Park.

While Nabou spoke English well, he carried a little notebook for New England words he likely never encountered before. He added Eagle Lake to his list as the parade of vans and private cars passed by it. After Bubble Rock, more water came into view on the right.

“That’s Jordan Pond,” someone explained. He could be seen trying to process “Jordan” as he looked out the window. It took a few more pronunciations from the group before he smiled and his eyes lit up.

“Ahhh, like Michael Jordan,” he said.

Thirty-five people had gathered at the flag pole at Acadia National Park headquarters on that perfect Tuesday morning in late July, and by all accounts, it was the largest turnout this year. Nine states and two foreign countries were represented.

Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning from June to November, volunteers meet to take on whatever task handed to them by the staff of the Park or by Friends’ crew leaders Mike Alley or Cliff Olson.

On this day, a majority of the group ventured to Jordan Pond, where significant trail work has been going on for some time.

“The trails in the Jordan Pond area are some of the oldest and most historical in the Park,” the gathered workers were told. “Some of these trails are a hundred years old or more.”

The chore for the day? Fill in approximately 250 feet of reconstructed trail with gravel to not only rebuild and reopen the trail, but make it handicap-accessible so all visitors to Acadia can enjoy what the Park offers. With such a large turnout, others trimmed and hauled brush from area trails. In three hours the job was done.

It was a diverse crowd that moved the gravel via a half-dozen wheelbarrows from the spot where it was dumped to where it needed to be. The family of five from Pennsylvania was there (including three teenagers) because Al and Marilyn Weberley from across the road at the campground they were staying are both regulars.

There was a mother and a daughter from Switzerland. A couple from Mississippi and another from Oklahoma.

As people come and go on vacation, the crowd changes. What doesn’t change is the camaraderie you see as the group gathers in the morning. Hugs are exchanged, stories told, and family updates given.

Of course, this being volunteer work, no one is expected to do more than they can handle, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t work. That load of gravel had to be pushed over all kinds of terrain before it was dumped onto the trail so someone else could level it.

Jobs vary from day-to-day. On an earlier crew this summer, the job was building a “bog-walk” on the trail that goes around the pond. Another time, weeds and plants were cleared from the coping stones that line the carriage roads.

The bog-walk project involved carrying cedar slabs well along the shore to the contruction point. Parts of the trail will use the raised slabs to prevent damage to the wet ground underneath.

Two of the regulars, Anna and George Buck of Bucksport, have been doing this since the beginning of the volunteer program and Friends of Acadia, close to 20 years ago. They were also there hauling those slabs a couple thousand feet down the trail. Not such a big deal until you find out that George is 85 years old.

“We were part of an outing group in 1982-83,” said Anna. “That was back when (the federal government) eliminated all the funding and some people in our group decided to start volunteering here at the park.”

That proved to be one of the original seeds that became Friends of Acadia.

“It was bad,” said Acadia’s Volunteer Coordinator Jonathan Gormley. “We were down to two people on our trail crew, and I don’t even think they were year round.”

The Weberleys, from Alcoa, Tenn., come to Acadia every summer and volunteer for both Friends of Acadia and the Park itself.

“The Seawall Campground doesn’t see a lot of Park presence,” said Al. “So I work as a Park Ambassador at the campground. I am affectionately known as the ‘Rock Nazi.’ “

Seawall is one of two National Park Service campgrounds on Mount Desert Island and it is located on the west side of the island, away from most of the Park’s facilities. It is named after a natural rock seawall that is environmentally sensitive.

“Over the years the rocks have disappeared,” said Weberley. “Even though it is posted, people take them. I try to stop that. I saved six rocks the other day. I work to educate people on the ‘Leave No Trace’ ethic that is so important to the survival of the park.”

“This park would be a very different park if it wasn’t for the volunteers,” said Gormley. “The trails, the carriage road network, virtually every part of the park people use wouldn’t look the same. People see it the way it is and not what it takes to keep it that way.”

That feeling goes right to the top of the Acadia staff.

“The people that give of their time to help the park are truly wonderful people,” said Acadia’s Deputy Superintendent, Len Bobinchock. “The work they have done on the carriage roads and the trails is very valuable.”

“The variety of people that come through here is amazing,” said Anna Buck. “Some people coming looking to help and some see us working and ask about it and get involved.”

“It’s just plain fun,” said Al Weberley. “I’m a gregarious type, anyway, and I enjoy the socialization.”

Weberley volunteers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park when at home in Tennessee.

“National Parks always benefit with volunteer help,” said Friends of Acadia President W. Kent Olson. “They are the hardest working peopl,e and it is such a generous act. They give far more than the labor they put into it.”

The three days that Friends sponsors the volunteer work each week isn’t the only time people donate their time. High school, colleges, and other groups fill many days helping in the Park to build teamwork on athletic teams or to fulfil service requirements.

“People’s motives vary,” said Gormley. “Some feel the need to give something back to a beautiful place, and others say it makes their park experience better after giving to it.”

The program continues to grow with over 7,600 hours donated in 2002.

“We used to end the Friends program on Columbus Day weekend,” said Gormley. “But the people just keep coming. Now we go to the first Saturday in November.”

The volunteer program kicks off every year with an Earth Day project in the spring. This year, volunteers filled bag after bag with junk after patrolling close to 75 miles of island roads.

Conversely, the season closes in November with the Take Pride in Acadia Day. Scheduled this year for Nov. 1, people gather to prepare the carriage roads for winter. To register for this day, call Friends of Acadia by October 25th.

pmullen@sunjournal.com

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