THE FWCCSP RECORD with known dates for the first 6 months

VOLUME 2 NO.4 of the year.

:TAHlAlll2'f .)OOD
Friends of White Clay Creek State Park Note: Executive Committee Meeting

dates are provided so that members may

Officers: be able to propose ideas or voice

concerns by contacting an executive

President: Andrew Urquhart 239-2471 committee member prior to the meeting.

Vice-Pres: Frank Rawling 738-0913

Treasurer: Kyle Bottorff, 239-9828 January 10 - Exec Comm. Mtg.

Secretary: Mark Keese, 455-1076 February 7 - Exec Comm. Mtg.

February 26 - Trail Work

Current Project Leaders: March 6 - Exec Comm. Mtg.

March 11 - Adopt-a-Highway Cleanup

Trail Watch: Christa Stefanisko March 16 - Annual Membership Mtg.

Adopt-a-Highway: Dee & Dick Benson March 18 - Adopt-a-Hghwy Rain Date

Park Benches: Andy Urquhart March 19 - Trail Work

Land Acquisition Advocacy: Andy April 10 - Exec Comm. Mtg.

Urquhart April 15 - Christina River Clean-Up /

501 C-3 Tax-Exempt Status: Frank - Trail Work

Rawling May 6-7 - Migratory Birding Festival
Reforestation: AI Zverina and Christa May 8 - Exec Comm. Mtg.
Stefanisko May 20 - Trail Work
Birder's Guide: Mark Keese, Gene Hess June 3? - National Trails Day
Birding Festival: Frank Rawling June 5 - Advisory Board Mtg.
Trail Improvement Work: Wendel Cassel June 5 - Exec Comm. Mtg.
June 18 - Trail Work
MEETING SCHEDULE REMINDER June 15 - Quarterly Membership Mtg.
July 4 - Liberty Day
The next meeting of the Friends will
be our 3rd annual meeting on March MEMBERSHlP RENEWAL
16, 2000 at 7:00 PM at the Judge
Morris Estate on Polly Drummond WOW! A whole year has flown by, and
Rd. Join us for desserts, tours of the now it's time again to ask you to renew
building, and listen to our guest your memberships in FWCCSP. Last
speaker Charles Salkin, Director of year we were blessed with a 98+%
Parks and Recreation for the State of renewal rate. Let's go for 100% this
Delaware update us on what projects year! We'll be sending out a separate
are being implemented and/or mailing with a renewal form and a
planned for our park. stamped return envelope for your
converuence.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS

New with this edition of the newsletter is

a calendar of events that lists activities

1
ANNUAL REPORT by Andy Urquhart expenses included projects, mailing,
publicity and corporation fees. A
By all measures, 1999 was an summary of the finances can be found at
outstanding year for the Friends of White the end of the newsletter.
Clay Creek State Park. Read all about it
in our Annual Report, which will be REFORESTATION by AI Zverina
included with your membership renewal
forms (or sent separately if your A flurry of activity has occurred since the
membership is not up for renewal ­ last newsletter with regards to our
joined after 9/30/99). reforestation initiative. A site has been
selected for our initial efforts to promote
MEMBERSHIP REPORT by Kyle forest regeneration in a few of the fields
Bottorff in the park. The field we will
concentrate on initially is on Possum Hill.
The FWCCSP continued to grow at a We plan to plant approximately 1000
healthy rate in the fourth quarter of 1999 trees of various native species on half of
with the addition of 18 new members (a the field, with the other half to be planted
15% increase), This brings the in 2001. This year's planting will take
membership total to 136 at year's end. place in the spring. It will be a
Sixty-four new members joined during tremendously labor intensive effort. We
1999 for an 89% increase in membership will be contacting you when we have a
since the end of 1998. This rapid growth specific planting time scheduled to solicit
is a testament to the strong support in the your help in this very important project.
community for a Friends group, and an
indication of the strong organization that FWCCSP TO CO-SPONSOR BIRDING
we have put together in the last 2 years. FESTIVAL by Frank Rawling
We are looking forward to continued
growth, both in membership and in The FWCCSP, in partnership with the
activities in the coming year. Friends of Bombay Hook National
Wildlife Refuge, will offer a weekend
TREASURER'S REPORT by Kyle birding festival on May 6-7, 2000. The
Bottorff theme of the festival is migrating
songbirds. The festival will begin on
For the fourth quarter of 1999, revenues May 6 at Bombay Hook NWR and move
were $468 and expenditures were $300 to White Clay Creek State Park on May
for a net surplus of$168. Revenue was 7. Have you ever seen a Cerulean
derived mainly from new member dues Warbler? White Clay Creek State Park is
and contributions for the park bench the only reliable breeding location for
project. Major expenses were for bench this species in Delaware. Have you ever
making supplies and an application to seen a Black-and-White warbler? Or a
receive SOI-C3 status (tax exemption for Canada Warbler? Here is your chance.
donations). For the fiscal year 1999, Join us for a fun-filled and informative
revenues were $2087 and expenses were two days of searching for these and other
$1332. Major sources of revenue were wonderful, colorful songbirds during the
those already listed above, while peak period of spring migration. Bird

2
walks at both locations will be led by
experienced birder's (Ed. Note: Most of We hope soon to hear an announcement
the White Clay Creek SP walks will be of final agreements to add an additional
led by members of the FWCCSP). Also, 378 acres to the park. This is partially
there will be lectures on the how and due to the efforts of members Bob
why of bird migration. Bombay Hook Bennett, Dorothy Miller, and myself who
NWR and White Clay Creek are famous have advocated the appropriation of
as stopover points for migrating birds funding for open space preservation as
and this festival will likely draw birders part of a broad coalition of
from 200 or more miles away. Mark environmental and civic groups.
your calendar! We will provide more
details closer to the event. KESTREL BOXES PLANNED FOR
PARK
LOOP TRAIL REPAIR
We are planning in the coming year to
A dedicated group of volunteers install some nesting boxes for kestrels in
completed most of the repair and the park. Kestrels are absolutely
renovation work to the popular and gorgeous small falcons. We feel the park
heavily used Preserve Loop Trail on will be enhanced by providing them more
November 14, 1999. This trail follows opportunities to nest within the park
the west side of the creek from the where they can be seen and enjoyed by
Nature Center up to the PA state line. all visitors.
One remaining project is to relocate a
bridge resting on a severely eroded and FWCCSP OBTAINS SOI-C3 STATUS
undercut bank between the Nature
Center and Chambers Rock Rd. Wendel The FWCCSP have received approval
Cassel will be co-ordinating this effort from the IRS to be considered 50 l-C3, a
with park staff. status that is crucial if we wish to seek
corporate and endowment fund
PARK BENCH PROJECT UPDATE by contributions to help fund larger projects
Andy Urquhart (e.g., reforestation) as we continue to
grow and move forward as an
Since the last newsletter, we completed organization. This status allows donors
and installed 7 new benches in the park to deduct their donation from their taxes
bringing our total to 10. Each was a (without fear of IRS audit). Most
donated bench, with a brass plaque corporations or foundations simply will
attached dedicating the bench according not donate to organizations that do not
to the wishes of the donor. Special have this status. Special thanks goes to
thanks are due to volunteers Wendel Frank Rawling who spent quite a lot of
Cassel and Gary Stefanisko, and to time sifting through the virtually
Superintendent Nick McFadden who indecipherable documents, rules and
helped in all phases of the project. regulations in order to get this
application approved.
FWCCSP HELPS ADVOCATE FOR
OPEN SPACE by Andy Urquhart

3
SUPERINTENDENT'S CORNER Stay tuned.

At the December 9, 1999 meeting, Nick Christmas tree recycling is now located
McFadden brought us up to speed on off of Paper Mill Rd. instead of
some projects and activities within the Wedgewood Rd.
park. Contractors are finally out
repairing the flood damage to the parking Finally, Nick announced a reorganization
lots, including the drainage problems. within the parks system, whereby parks
FEMA will be contributing funds to help will now be grouped together into
pay for the repairs. regions, typically of 3 parks in close
geographic proximity with one of the
The former equestrian center is being park superintendents overseeing the
renovated into a new maintenance. This entire region. White Clay Creek SP is
work should be completed soon. grouped with Lums Pond SP and (I
think) Fort Delaware SP and will be
More gates are in place. There are now supervised by Mike Felker,
two permanent gates on Smith Mill Rd superintendent ofLums Pond SP.
(9-foot rd.) that prevent a direct drive
through from Thompson Station Rd. to MEMBERSHWLEADERSOUGHT
Paper Mill Rd. There is also a gate at
Thompson Station Rd. that is closed The Friends are looking for ways to
form dusk until dawn everyday. Gate grow their membership and they want
posts have been installed at the you to lead the effort! Current ideas that
intersection of Creek Rd. with might be expanded on are a new
Wedgewood Rd. and with Hopkins Rd. recruiting poster, a new brochure that
These gates are not being closed now, updates our accomplishments and
but will be later after a closure ploicy has on-going projects, and a web site. Other
been set. We will update you on this as ideas are welcome. If you are interested
it develops. in taking the lead on this important
committee, call Tom Hallenbeck.
The Schaen cider mill restoration is
proceeding through the early stages. The NEWSLETTER EDITOR TO STEP
equipment has been received and is in the DOWN by Mark Keese
process of being tested. A draft of the
architectural drawings are almost It has been a great honor and privilege to
complete. serve you as the founder and editor of
our newsletter. I am now planning to
Once again, holiday tours will be step aside and pass the mantle of editor
conducted at the Judge Morris Estate in to someone else in order to concentrate
December. on other projects. If you would like to
become the vital link in keeping our
There are no further updates on the growing membership informed of all the
Wedgewood Rd. footbridge at this time. tremendously exciting projects that we
have going on now, or are planning to
A new trail map will be coming out soon. implement in the next year or two, then

4
please call one of the executive officers planting etc...
listed at the top of this newsletter.
Frank Rawling talked about a plan to
MINUTES FROM MEETING: coordinate a birding festival with the
December 9, 1999 by Mark Keese Friends of Bombay Hook NWR for May
6-7 (see article above). People would
The December meeting of the FWCCSP bird at Bombay Hook NWR on the 6th
was called to order at 7: 08 PM, president and at White Clay Creek SP on the 7th.
Andy Urquhart presiding. There was a Last year this event drew about 1500
total of 28 members and guests present. people to Bombay Hook NWR. The
The minutes form the September 23rd format would be: bird in the morning
meeting were approved unanimously. from 7:30 AM to about 12:00, break for
lunch, talks and slide shows from
The treasurer's report was provided in 1:00-3:00 followed by more birding from
Kyle's absence. There are 133 members 3:00 to 5:00 PM. There will be some
currently, and a balance in the treasury of logistics to work out (e.g., remote
$1489.60. parking and bussing of participants into
park). If you are interested in helping
An update of projects was provided by with logistics, contact Frank Rawling.
Tom Hallenbeck. It focused on select
projects rather than a complete list of all The bird finding guide for White Clay
projects. Creek SP should be ready in time to
distribute to participants at the birding
On November 14, seven people festival.
reconstructed large sections of the
preserve loop trail between the Nature Rick Hall and Kyle Bottorff have been
Center and Hopkins Rd. One section still exploring different options for getting a
remains that requires moving a bridge (or web site for our organization. No
removing it and installing a new bridge in definite decisions have been made yet.
a different location). this is tentatively
scheduled for early January. On the advocacy front, the Open Space
Council met this past Tuesday and
An idea was put forward to schedule approved the acquisition of379 acres to
monthly trail work activities (see the park. These deals are not yet final,
calendar). they should be so in a month or two.

AI Zverina gave us an update on the There were no new projects proposed.

reforestation project. The field site has
been selected, and planting is scheduled Discussion then turned to other activities
for sometime in early spring (see article for the Friends group of a more social,
above). It was emphasized how much educational, and fun sort. We attempted
labor will be required to get this going. to run a trip in October to Hawk
Some of the details were discussed Mountain to watch migrating hawks,
concerning digging of holes, acquiring unfortunately the weather did not
trees and topsoil, mulch, watering after cooperate and we were rained out two

5
weekends in a row. Ideas were solicited Newsletter submitted by Mark Keese,
for other such activities that we could Secretary, FWCCSP
provide for our members (e.g., other
birding trips, field trips, hayrides, etc...).
fWccsp2-4.doc

Nick gave an update on some

park-related topics. See the
superintendent's comer for a complete
run down of his comments.

Carolyn White, the state parks media

representative and publicist, announced
that Delaware State Parks will be
celebrating their 50th anniversary in
2001. A wide variety of special events
will be held, with a "blow-out" kickoff
celebration on July 1,2000. Carolyn
urged us to keep our eyes and ears open
for announcements concerning these
events. With the increased visibility for
state parks in general, we may benefit by
receiving a boost in membership.

The next meeting will be our special

annual meeting on March 16, 2000 at
7: 00 PM at the Judge Morris Estate (see
announcement at top of newsletter).

We have a need for some volunteers to

fill some positions, both short-term and
longer-term:

Secretary
Newsletter Editor
Audit Committee (short-term) (Ed.
Note: This has been completed).
Membership Committee

If you have an interest in any of these

positions, please contact a member of the
Executive Committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:31 PM

6
 Friends of White Clay Creek State Park

1999 Statement of Activity and 2000 Budget

Unrestricted Support and Revenue

Category 1999 Budget 1999 Actual 2000 Budget

Contributions $200.00 $110.00 $110.00

Contributions - Named Benches $400.00 $983.98 $500.00
Investment Income $18.00 $27.90 $30.00
Membership Dues $610.00 $965.00 $1,045.00
Total Support and Revenues $1,228.00 $2,086.88 $1,685.00

Expenses
Category 1999 Budget 1999 Actual 2000 Budget

501 (c)(3) $0.00 $150.00 $235.00

Application $0.00 $150.00 $0.00
Certificate of Incorp. Modification $0.00 $0.00 $235.00
Corporation Fees $75.00 $75.00 $75.00
Mail $140.00 $60.54 $140.00
Meetings $50.00 $55.86 $60.00
Projects $760.00 $824.71 $1,390.00
Named Benches $560.00 $734.71 $250.00
Reforestation $0.00 $0.00 $700.00
Birders Guide $0.00 $0.00 $300.00
Other $200.00 $90.00 $140.00
Publicity $80.00 $145.98 $165.00
Taxes $20.00 $20.00 $20.00
Total Expense $1,125.00 $1,332.09 $2,085.00

Excess (Deficiency) of Support and $103.00 $754.79 -$400.00

Revenue Over Expenses

Net Assets, Beginning of Period $911.30 $911.30 $1,666.09

Net Assets, End of Period $1,014.30 $1,666.09 $1,266.09