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signage and hand-outs educating users on trail conditions&rules, as well as proper trail etiquette <br /> &safe trail use guidelines. A lot of our communications are being adopted by other trails. We <br /> already have ideas for how to improve this even more in 2016. <br /> Online communications <br /> DirtWirx enjoys a large, loyal online following and our trail users depend on us to provide up to date <br /> and accurate information on all things Hillside related. Many of our volunteers are recruited from <br /> following our online posts. They go from fans,to helpers. <br /> Neighborhood outreach <br /> Early this year a resident suggested we do a better job letting our park neighbors know what is <br /> going on at the trail, so to that end we went door to door to every single residence bordering the <br /> park and distributed a hand-out explaining who we are and what work we do at the park, along with <br /> contact info encouraging them to contact us with any concerns or questions. We want them to <br /> care about the park and be involved. People really liked this. It led to a couple of follow-up visits at <br /> the request of residents asking questions about things near their property, and we even got a new <br /> volunteer out of the deal. We will probably be creating an email list or facebook group for these <br /> folks in 2016 so they can be kept in the loop. <br /> Procurement of donated items <br /> Every year supporters come along who want to donate materials to the park. This is not incredibly <br /> time consuming, but it is another task; to coordinate with these folks and physically receive the <br /> items. This year I also went to Cretex a couple of times scavenging concrete chips to be used in <br /> place of flagstone(which we ran out of). Wrestling chucks of cement into a pickup and delivering <br /> them to the park was heavy, hot work for one 51 year old woman, so I am making note of it. <br /> Luckily for us—last week a Hillside fan &friend of Dave Anderson came through with 2 dump truck <br /> loads(!)of sandstone! (This is stuff that would not happen without the networking our crew&the <br /> parks commission has done over years and years to form these connections.) <br /> Ecogrid <br /> This is one of those oddball benefits of a dedicated crew invested in making the trail the best it can <br /> possibly be—constant experimentation. Ecogrid is a soil retention system you implant in the <br /> ground. I became curious about it as a possible solution for chronic erosion spots at the trail so <br /> found a manufacturer willing to supply a substantial amount for free as a sample. I got them to <br /> ship it for free too,as long as we could go to Woodbury to pick it up. We did; on our own dime. It <br /> is not cheap so requires a minimum 2 year testing time-line to see if it's worth ordering (in our <br /> opinion). (We hate seeing money wasted). We're only 1 year in. <br /> Police reports <br /> Unfortunately several of these had to be filed for vandalism and people trespassing in the closed <br /> park last spring. Twice I came to the park late at night to let cops in the gate so they could kick <br /> kids out of the back lot,just to make it easier for the police, not because I had to or was even <br /> asked to. Sometimes the police are very nice to deal with and other times they make it very clear <br /> they think we are being a pain in the butt. Twice they've acted a bit like jerks really. It is not a part <br /> of the job I enjoy doing. I certainly have other things to do with my time too. <br />