Hardwear Sessions

By Valerie Antaki:

Since I am one of the company's newest employees, I hadn't really learned about the Gives Back program at Mountain Hardwear. Last Friday's work day was a nice opportunity to get my feet wet. The first half of the day was spent next to the racetrack, and when we first arrived we happened to be downwind of them, thus resulting in a subtle aroma of horse lodging flowing our way (while some people find the smell less than appealing, I actually like it since I used to ride). It was a lot of fun talking and working with Clif and REI folks, and the trail looked nice when we were finished, even if the mulch did look like some of the debris that we had just raked and cleared from the trail. There were some interesting finds (a few of which were kept by different people) among the bushes, including dentures, a frying pan, a coconut, tire chains, and a jack. After an awesome taco lunch, the various employees dispersed and went about whatever it was they had planned for the afternoon. For me, that meant clearing invasive plants along the trail down the street from the Mountain Hardwear buildings. It was a smaller team this time who took on this task, and it was nice to get to know some fellow employees that I didn't really know yet. After all of the bushes had been compacted by being stomped on and broken down, it turned out that we had filled up about half of the huge garbage dumpster that had been placed there for our use. Even though there was still a lot more to be done, we did a lot of work in our few hours, made a good start, and overall had fun. Thanks to everyone who participated and made it happen!

By Adrian Mateo:

How better to follow up the morning spent doing trail maintenance with Clif Bar and REI employees then to saddle up with a few other hard core Mountain Hardwear Nuts for an afternoon of good old fashioned manual labor. Freshly fueled with scrumptious tacos from the Clif parking lot, we were rearing to go as we plowed into a menacing looking hedge of the nasty invasive species, French Broom. Apparently, it's been choking out the native plant species in the Point Isabel dog park -- and right under our noses, too (!!!) since the park is a mere 100 yards from our offices. Well, suffice to say...battle ensued and in the end it wasn't pretty to be a shrub of French Broom that afternoon. Piles upon piles of the French Broom lay strewn about on a battle field type scene that would make Braveheart himself proud. Our weapons were pick axes and stump pullers as opposed to swords, bows, and arrows, but, I can assure you we fought with no less valiance or determination. After a substantial and efficient loading of the dumpster (worthy of some of our titles of Mountain Hardwear Operations Professionals) with the French Broom carcasses, we all shook hands and patted each other on the backs for a job well done. We left sweaty, dirty and satisfied knowing that at least one stretch of the trail was rid of the murderous invasive species, French Broom.

By Amber Hoffman (REI Berkeley Outreach Specialist):

[The day] was definitely amazing and fun. REI staff is talking about what a great time it was, and how awesome it was working with Clif Bar & Company and Mountain Hardwear. James [from the City of Berkeley] was completely blown away by our volunteers and their hard work. We had 63 volunteers. This is quite an amazing turnout for our first project together. Many volunteers rode their bikes or walked to the site, a great alternative to driving their cars. The site was the San Francisco Bay Trail at the south corner of Gilman Ave and Frontage Road. Volunteers worked... picking up trash, removing dead plant matter, pulling weeds, sweeping the path and putting down mulch. The volunteers generated close to 100 bags of debris, and accumulated several large brush piles. They also spread about 20 yards of wood chips (mulch) over sections along the trail. The Golden Gate Fields race track is located across the street from the volunteer site, and the owner of the track came and spoke with our volunteers, thanking them and telling them how much he appreciated their work... One of their groomers was walking by and jumped in to volunteer as well. All in all it was a very successful day of service.

James Gordon (City of Berkeley):

[The day] was a great day for Parks. I had the pleasure of working alongside over 60 very hardworking and enthusiastic volunteers from REI, Clif Bar and Mountain Hardwear. They helped in litter pickup, weeding, pruning, mulching, and sweeping... It was a pleasure to work with them on this successful Project.

Douglas McDonald (City of Berkeley):

I just want to express our thanks from the Parks Division for your combined group effort in providing numerous labor hours on the Bay Trail. There was a tremendous amount of work accomplished and what a difference it made... very successful project, thank you so much.