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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate NEWS NOW Guest Opinion: Plaza fencing is ugly and wasteful ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Require national service ... Wolf once believed to be dead shows up near Crater Lake ... Guest Opinion: Plaza fencing is ugly and wasteful ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Require national service ... Wolf once believed to be dead shows up near Crater Lake ... ASHLAND RUNS ON VOLUNTEERS Volunteer opportunities aplenty with Ashland Parks Comment By Mary I. Coombs For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Mary I. Coombs For the Tidings Posted Aug. 25, 2015 at 7:11 PM By Mary I. Coombs For the Tidings Posted Aug. 25, 2015 at 7:11 PM » Social News The typical subject of this series is a non-profit, developed to serve a particular need in the community and using volunteers in one or a small number of specific roles. Today’s subject, the Ashland Parks & Recreation Department, is different. It has many properties it manages, many services it provides and a wide range of volunteer opportunities. I describe several here; you can learn about them all at their website. Perhaps it is easiest to organize these opportunities by location. North Mountain Park Nature Center is an education-focused park. Every spring and fall, they offer classes for children in grades K-5. Each session focuses on a different aspect of Rogue Valley plants, animals, ecology, natural history, etc. The teaching is done by volunteers. Then next session will run from September 22 – October 30, and deal with “Plants of the Rogue Valley.” Interested volunteers can register for the training on September 8th and then sign up for a shift each week (Tuesday-Thursday morning or afternoon or Friday mid-day) where they will introduce kids to nature. For this particular opportunity, call 541-488-6606 or email libby.vanwyhe @ashland.or.us. There are other volunteer opportunities at North Mountain also. People interested in educating children about nature can work with staff to develop kits of educational material that parents can pick up and use as they and their children walk through the Park. And gardeners who want to keep the park up can do “drop-in” gardening. There are a lot of opportunities for willing gardeners. Several years ago, Ashland made a commitment not to use chemical pesticides in the parks (or in most other city-owned land). A good thing, but there isn’t enough staff to do the now-necessary hand weeding. Volunteers need to fill the gap. Some parks or areas of parks are served by organizations that participate in “Adopt-a-Park,” such as the Lions Club, the SOU Green House, Wells Fargo Bank, John Muir School or the Yogurt Hut. Individuals can volunteer to do park beautification in “unadopted” parks. People with a special interest in Lithia Park and its visitors can serve as Lithia Park Guides or Lithia Park Hosts. Guides are those people who take groups of tourists or locals on scheduled tours through the park. They need to know a great deal about the park’s history, plants, etc. and so need extensive training. If you like to be in the park and talk to people, but without so much expertise, you could be a Lithia Park Host. Hosts greet park visitors, help guide them to specific locations (the Japanese Garden, the reservoir, the nearest bathrooms) and offer maps. If you like hiking up in the Siskiyou Mountain Park (the trails running from Todd-Oreson to the top of Lithia), you might want to volunteer as a Trail Guide. You can help disoriented hikers; guides also are the eyes and ears of the Park Department if there is a need for trail maintenance or evidence of misuse, like a fire pit. There are also seasonal activities that can use volunteers, such as the winter ice rink. Volunteers can help the rink work smoothly, including helping kids get their skates on. (And the volunteer coordinator assures me that these volunteers are provided devices that let them manage on the ice without having to be good skaters!) There are still more opportunities linked to other places and events run by the Parks Department: at the Senior Center; at the Daniel Meyer pool, or at the Bear Creek Salmon Festival. Volunteers can be almost any age, and many of the volunteer opportunities allow high school and college students to earn community service hours. Most require only modest if any training and there are background checks only for those activities involving contact with school children. Some activities involve a regular time commitment, at least for a short period; others can be done largely on the volunteer’s own schedule. Some involve lots of contact with children or adults; others work well for people who like to be alone. But if you like nature, or people, or (preferably) both and you care about the things the Parks Department does, there is almost certainly a volunteer opportunity waiting for you. For more information, go to www.ashland.or.us/volunteer or contact the volunteer coordinator, Lori Ainsworth at 541-552-2264, or lori.ainsworth @ashland.or.us Mary I. Coombs’ column on local nonprofit organizations appears every three weeks. Email questions and suggestions to [email protected]. By Mary I. Coombs For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Mary I. Coombs For the Tidings Posted Aug. 25, 2015 at 7:11 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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