🌟 Final Thoughts for 2025 🌟

A Big Year Powered by Volunteers
More than anything, 2025 showed just how special our volunteers are. Anderson Park Friends members and community helpers logged an impressive tally of over 2,000 volunteer hours, making a real difference across the park. From restoring woods and prairies to supporting gardens and trails, these hours added up to healthier habitats, better access, and more places for people to enjoy the park year-round.

Food Pantry Garden: Growing for Our Neighbors
The Anderson Farm County Park Food Pantry Garden had an outstanding year. Volunteers harvested over 2,700 pounds of fresh produce, all donated to the Oregon Pantry and Badger Prairie Needs Network. Smarter planting, better mulching, and new partnerships helped boost yields, even with weather challenges. It’s a powerful example of how local land and local volunteers can help meet local food needs.

Learning Outside the Classroom

Education remained a big focus in 2025, especially for students. APF supported hands-on learning events like Maple Syrup Day for second graders, prairie seed collection with high school students, and forest restoration projects with youth groups. These experiences help students connect science, nature, and stewardship in ways that just don’t happen inside a classroom.

Restoring Woods, Prairies, and Trails
Major restoration work continued across the park. Invasive species were removed, oak woodlands were improved, and prairies covering more than 40 acres thrived under careful management. Volunteers also helped clear and create the new Cow Path Trail, giving hikers another shaded route to explore. These projects protect wildlife while making the park more welcoming for visitors.

Community Events That Bring People Together
From birdwatching walks to the Spring Festival and the annual Bonfire and Candlelight Walk, APF events brought hundreds of people together in 2025. Families enjoyed nature, art, and simple fun—often discovering new parts of the park along the way. These gatherings help build community pride and remind us why Anderson Park is such a special place.

👉 Want to learn more or get involved?
Visit www.andersonparkfriends.org for details on projects, events, and membership. And be sure to find us on Facebook to see photos, updates, and upcoming opportunities to volunteer and connect.

💚 Donate now, on March 3, The Big Give Day, and help Anderson Park flourish for generations.  Go to https://www.andersonparkfriends.org/basic_donation.

Upcoming...

Below are work/educational/recreational events scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Additional Events

1. General Workdays: 2^nd Saturday of each month, 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (914 Union Road, Oregon, WI 53575, some locations may be different)
2. Food Pantry Workdays (Seasonal-April through November): Each Tuesday,, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., (805 Union Road, Oregon, WI 53575)
3. Forest, Prairie, Ames Bluebird Trail, Native Gardens Teams: Ad hoc schedule, (Seasonal-April through November), Each Monday, starting May 19th, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.