Volunteers are the life blood of many important projects in Rapid City, and this is definitely true of the development of Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park.

In 2006 and 2007, volunteers have kept areas of the park manicured and the newly planted trees watered, and they have planted more trees and shrubs. Area businesses and civic groups continue to work at making the park a treasure. Members of the Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park Committee, which consists of 10 members of the two Rapid City Kiwanis clubs, have been working to develop the park into a hands-on learning environment for the youths of Rapid City for nearly 10 years. The 9.7 acre park was donated to the city of Rapid City in 1952 by members of the William and Mary Hall family. Work to develop the park wasn't begun until 1999 when the committee was formed to develop the park.

No group of volunteers has been more important to the development of the park than the eighth-grade science classes at West Middle School and their teachers. Ann Hast, a science teacher at West Middle School, has been bringing her class to the park for the past three years. The students have helped clean the park during the city-wide cleanup each spring, and they have helped plant trees and shrubs in the park as well.

Why study at Mary Hall Park? West eighth graders have been studying the environment and the condition of the planet this year. A hands-on opportunity to investigate and to help the environment around them gives them ownership in the area and empowers them to know that they can make a positive difference. They made three visits to the park this year.

First, students visited differing ecosystems that exist within the park itself to identify the diversity of plant life in each and the adaptations that the flora has developed for survival in that ecosystem. Ecosystems were the riparian (stream-side) system, a bog, a marsh, grassland, deciduous forest and the native plant garden. Students also used this opportunity to pick up garbage in the park.

Second, students performed a stream analysis on Lime Creek and springs in Mary Hall Park. They have learned how tiny macro-invertebrates, which dwell under rocks and leaves and in the silt, can be indicators of the quality of the water in a stream. Students collected and identified the macro-invertebrates in the creek and, fortunately, they found that the macro-invertebrates most sensitive and unable to survive pollutants were alive and thriving in the stream, indicating excellent water quality. Once again, students used this opportunity to clean up the creek and remove litter in the water.

Third, after studying the value of trees in cleaning the air, in providing information through dendrochronology and in providing wildlife habitat, the students assisted the Kiwanis club in the second annual tree planting event. Students and adult volunteers planted more than 90 trees and shrubs. As an independent study project, one student, Garrett Chappell, held an Earth Day raffle and raised more than $60 to buy trees and shrubs from the Arbor Day Foundation. This endeavor helped educate the whole school about the importance of planting trees. The students and volunteers planted those, along with trees bought from the Pennington County Conservation District.

Grants from the Rapid City Garden Club, Pennington County Master Gardeners and Modern Woodmen of America enabled the Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park Committee to buy trees and shrubs from local nurseries, as well. Thanks to a grant from the Public School Foundation, Hast assembled two environmental study kits that are available for checkout by area school groups. The stream study kit will allow students to conduct the macro-invertebrate analysis. A botany kit contains a study of dendrochronology, as well as riker mounts of trees from the area, soil samples and testing equipment. As an advanced extension project, some West eighth graders created a Mary Hall Park field guide of flora and fauna to be included in the kit.

Hast was surprised to learn that most of her students were not aware of Mary Hall Park. These students now have adopted the park and are proud of the work they have contributed to the environment. This real-life project helps the students develop responsibility for their environment and, it is hoped, carry this sense of commitment to planet Earth throughout their lifetime. Even though Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park continues to be a well-kept secret to most Rapid City citizens, and relatively few take advantage of the relative wildness of the park, you can get to it in one of two ways. It is just a short detour off the main bicycle path along Canyon Lake Drive, north of the Rapid City Parks office. The park is off West South Street, just a block east of Soo San Drive.

A park shelter was completed in 2004, and tables and benches have been added in the past couple of years. The Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park Committee is beginning a capital fund drive this summer to enable them to complete the electrical work and bathroom facilities in the shelter.

For more information about the park, go to www.kiwanis-maryhallpark.org. The Web site lists many of the plants growing in the park and contains many pictures. Visitors to the Web site also may make donations to enable the committee to complete the park.

More information about Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park also is available by writing to Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park Committee, P.O. Box 9711, Rapid City, SD 57709 or calling 721-3538.

Tom Allen lives in Rapid City and is a SDSU/Pennington County Extension Service Master Gardener. He volunteers in the Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park and the Journey Museum gardens. Readers may send comments or questions to him in care of the Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park Committee, P.O. Box 9711, Rapid City, SD, 57709 or call 721-3538.