b'100SEED SPECIAL REPORTJewelle YamadaWestchester Parks Foundation Park Cleanup Jewelle Yamada Living in Westchester County we are fortunate to haveNew York Officeaccess to 18,000 acres of parks, trails and open spacesWestchester Parks Foundation Park Cleanupthat make up the County Parks system. The Westchester Parks Foundation engages the public in advocacy for and investment in the preservation, conservation, use and enjoyment of the land.The WPF volunteer programs include park clean-ups, arbor plantings, bird and bat house installations, trail and facility construction, and more.My day of service was joining the group of volunteers that met at Sprain Ridge Park on May 7th to help clean up the variety of hiking and mountain bike trails thatNew Yorkmeander through the parks heavily wooded 278 acres that runs through the ridge between the northbound and southbound lanes of the Sprain Brook Parkway. According to the parks website there are several theories as to the origin of the name Sprain. It appears in the Greenburgh town records as early as 1743. Some think it is a corruption of the Indian title, Armenperal or Armonsperahin. Others say it refers to spraints, a word for otter dung, as there used to be many otters in the area. Also, to sprain is to sow seeds by hand, and possibly the grass around Grassy Sprain had been hand sown. This land was acquired by the county in 1965 from the Boyce Thompson Institute, a botanical research center. It therefore houses many unusual and exotic woodland plants. The Thompsons were an old Yonkers family that made its fortune in mining.Volunteers met in the parking lot and then were broken into two groupstrash pick-up and pruning of the trails.I was in the pruning group which meant walking the hiking and biking the trails and using the sheers they issued us, we were lopping off tree branches that could be danger to hikers and bikers on the trails and cutting non-indigenous vines that we saw wrapped around trees. It was a greatIt was interesting to see how many folks are regulars educational experience seeing how Bittersweet vinesand have joined these outings at parks all over the strangle and kill trees if not cut back.And I also got aCounty.I plan to follow their calendar from now on and peek into the heavily wooded forest I have been drivingwas intrigued by the birdhouse and bat house installation by for years!Never knew all the trails that were in there.events they are planning soon.I also have great respect for mountain bikers that ride these trailswe went up and down some pretty steepI appreciated the company giving me the day to volunteer and rocky terrain and I was holding on to trees to keep myin the community, and really do something that impacts balance, I cant imagine being on a bike! the environment. 4 100SEED Special Insert to InterfaceJune 2021'