On Saturday, February 8, Collins Academy Director Gary Endsley joined representatives from Texas A&M University’s Texas Forest Service, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to deliver a Wild Life and Forestry Management Field Day to about 20 small acreage property owners.  The event was conducted on the property of Michael Weerts in Cass County, which is a site of Pollinator Pals improved habitat started three years ago by several students groups facilitated by Collins Academy.

Topics included wildlife management on small acreages, hardwood and shortleaf pine management, forestry best management practices, pollinator plantings, hardwood management and exotic controls, benefits of prescribed burning and a short prescribed fire demonstration.

The program was free to the public, lunch was provided and field transportation was available for those needing it.  Collins Academy thanks Jessica Rymel with AgriLife Extension in Cass County, Penny Wilkerson with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Michael Weerts with Texas Forest Service for planning and delivery of this successful field day.  Collins Academy looks forward to partnering with this group of highly skilled and motivated professionals for the next iteration of this unique conservation stewardship workshop.

 

 

 

 

 

(L) Buddy Rosser speaks about stream side management.
(R) Michael Weerts shows erosion controls to landowners.
(Below) Penny Wilkerson gives an overview of the day’s activities.

On Wednesday, October 23^rd, fifteen members of the Jefferson Junior Historians gathered at Collins Academy to set out on an excursion to visit the historic African- American, Union Chapel and Cemetery at historic Smith’s Landing six river miles downstream of Jefferson.  Collins Academy Director, Gary Endsley gave the students 5 tasks to complete while visiting the cemetery:  To find the oldest marked grave, the earliest birth dated grave, the number of unknown graves, symbols inscribed on headstones and what those symbols may indicate, and lastly, to watch out for snakes.

The students were shown on a map an historic wagon cut road below the cemetery where area farmers drove heavy wagons laden with cotton and to old Smith’s Landing where the Black Cypress Bayou empties into the Big Cypress Bayou.  The students enjoyed an afternoon snack before heading back into Jefferson.

Joshua Fultz and Eli Kendricks said they love getting to go out in the woods and look around.  They enjoyed finding the very old grave sites and look forward to coming back to find more.  They said, they suspect the open area of the cemetery to contain early enslaved people’s graves.  Some were possibly without headstones while some were simply marked with rocks.  “It was neat looking,” they said.

Restoration of the 1800 square feet Union Missionary Baptist Church sanctuary is almost complete.  The very careful crew led by Danny Hurt is working to “finish out” the interior features using the original materials and the original designs of the 1883 founders.  “With the air conditioning running, our limited amount of new wood is drying and shrinking causing a few minor adjustments.  That original wood is not going anywhere,” said Hurt as he installed new molding around the southeast corner.

The pulpit area of the UMBC sanctuary showing new versus old wood and Hurt in the corner on the ladder.

Annex Stubbed Out and In the Dry

The 900 square feet annex structure is in the dry, stubbed out for restrooms and catering, and the historic baptismal located inside has been expertly restored by Robert Capps.

Before & After view of the baptismal.                Capps is shown doing the work.

      

Breezeway and Annex at rear of sanctuary.            Plumbing stubs in one of two restrooms.

          

On May 7. 2019, 30 Texas Master Gardeners visited Port Jefferson History & Nature Center to hear about and see for themselves the certified wildlife habitat’s native plantings.  Sponsored by the Texas A&M University AgriScience Extension Service, the group headquartered in Marshall, has members from Panola, Harrison, and Marion counties where it is one of the most effective volunteer programs in the state.  Gary Endsley and Sara Griffin of Collins Academy spoke about the various plantings and answered questions about the finer details of raising and maintaining them.

One of the primary purposes of the Park is to provide good habitat for endangered pollinators such as the Monarch Butterfly.  With five varieties of milkweed, the Park’s support for Monarchs is quiet obvious to even a casual observer.

The group of 30 Texas Master Gardeners are pictured at Port Jefferson History & Nature Center.

Monarch larvae and eggs on common milkweed.  Host plants
and sources of nectar for butterflies and honeybees.

A love of gardening and search for knowledge is central to why Master Gardeners join the program.  They remain Master Gardeners to enjoy the camaraderie and friendship of others who share their interests, to gain and share horticulture knowledge, and to give back to the community.  Though Texas Master Gardeners are united in name, the program’s strength lies in its ability to meet the diverse needs of the individual communities it serves.  By combining statewide guidelines with local direction and administration, the program offers the flexibility necessary to keep it a vital and responsive organization that serves all of Texas.  Harrison County has one of the strongest groups in the state.

Collins Academy Landscaper Sara Griffin
and Director Gary Endsley explain the
value of certain plantings to the group.