Volunteers keep BGSU arboretum going

HURON TWP. — The board that runs the James H. McBride Arboretum at the BGSU Firelands campus gets together several times a year to discuss arboretum business. But board members also devote hours every year digging in the soil, tools in hand, showing up at the beautiful natural site to yank out invasive plants and do other maintenance. Several times a year, board members convene at the site from 8 -10 a.m. on Fridays, ready to do volunteer work at the arboretum, said Charles Murray, a Sandusky attorney who is the current president of the board. "We are people who like to get our hands dirty," said Murray, who owns an Erie County farm and grew up helping his grandfather with farm work. "It's just a fun group of people. We just like talking about nature." The last time they were out there was on May 22. They worked in two groups, said Tom Speir, a board member who retired as the longtime greenhouse manager for Sandusky's government. One group cleaned up a place near the pergola area, "Just the constant maintenance you have … you have weeds and plant litter," Speir said. Another group put mulch in the labyrinth area, assisted by Erie MetroParks, which provided a gator, a vehicle for transporting the mulch, Speir said. "It worked out just perfect. They were there to help," said Speir, adding that ErieMetroparks also does mowing at the site. Cooperation between local supporters, in fact, is a key reason the arboretum has been able to keep going, Murray points out. BGSU Firelands, Erie MetroParks and the McBride Arboretum board all work together, he said. Other local supporters like Barnes Nursery have also helped, Murray said. The arboretum gets about $10,000 a year from an account maintained at the Erie County Community Foundation. That pays for plenty of mulch and for other needed items, such as flowers and water pump parts. A page on the BGSU website says the arboretum has more than 200 species of flowers, trees and shrubs. It includes restored prairie areas, landscaped gardens and an asphalt walking path. The arboretum had been proposed by James H. McBride, the first dean of Firelands College, as the campus was then known. McBride and his wife, Margaret, thought the arboretum would be a great idea. The arboretum has been discussed as far back as the 1960s, but was actually established in 1983. Its creation was a stroke of fortune, Murray said. Contractors working on the Ohio 2 bypass agreed to create ponds by digging out needed soil from the campus, then paid for the soil, providing seed money, he said. The group could use some volunteers willing to pitch in with the work, Speir said. "There are only so many of us," he said. People who wish to volunteer may call Murray at 419-656-2647‬.