Friends of Reinstein Woods has been honored to receive donations this fall in memory of volunteers Jane Albrecht and Pat Taeger, as well as Grace and Joseph Losi, parents of former volunteer Peter M. Losi.

In Memory of Jane Albrecht:
Dorothy Rizzo and Ken Schmidt
Thomas Schuler
Thursday Couples Club of Cheektowaga

In Memory of Grace & Joseph Losi:

Dennis and Evelyn Adams
Robert and Joan Barry
John and Diane Betz
Gary and Sheila Billingsley
Robert and Karen Billingsley
Paul and Beverly Brown
Frank Ferro
James and Linda Halt
Michael Panzica
Jack and Kathleen Patterson
Charles and Barbara Putzbach
Fay and Beverly Roe
Robert and Michele Scott
Roger and Judith Walter

In Memory of Pat Taeger:

New York Chiropractic College (on behalf of Vicki Baroody)
Scott, Jackie and Michael Baroody
Brenda Baroody and Tom Carr
Mary Anne Desiderio
Angelo DiLoro
Noreen Ehlert
Norma English
Jonathan and Genevieve Federick
Scott and Meaghan Green
Dennis and Nancy Kane
Dr. and Mrs. Edward Kucio
Ron and Jerry McMahon
John and Carol Marrano
Linda McCall and Sol Motola
George and Eleanor Narby
Brian and Mary O’Herron
Mary Margaret Krill Palmer and James Palmer
John and Elizabeth Preble
Michael and Rosemary Rataczyk
Michelle Sanner
Bernard and Suzanne Slisz
Edward and Bonita Salem
C. Michael and Suzanne Taeger
C. Michael Taeger
Wally and Josephine Wilk

Thanks to a grant from the New York Power Authority, Friends of Reinstein Woods will be beginning a two-year effort to control common reed in some portions of Reinstein Woods. Common reed, also known by its Latin name Phragmites australis, is an aggressive species that is impacting cattail marshes in the southern half of Reinstein Woods.

A certified pesticide applicator will cut stems and directly apply chemicals to the plants in early fall, when the plants are moving sugars down into their roots. The treatment will be followed by mowing a few weeks later. Most of the work will happen in the sanctuary in the southern half of the preserve, away from the public trails. The treatment will be repeated next year, in the hopes that only spot treatments will be needed after that.

You may notice that common reed is common in other parts of Reinstein Woods as well. If the project is successful in protecting our cattail marshes, similar methods may be used to combat common reed in other parts of the preserve.

We’re all familiar with kids not wanting to eat their vegetables, but how many kids have no idea where vegetables even come from? Thanks to a new partnership, kids at the Gloria J. Parks (GJP) Community Center in Buffalo will not only know, but they’ll be growing their own vegetables! DEC’s Ginger Wszalek worked with Friends of Reinstein Woods and the community center to partner with Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo. Grassroots Gardens is providing funds for rooftop gardens at the community center.

During the school year, DEC ran an After School Conservation Club for kids participating in GJP’s after-school program. To build on the nature programming they received, Wszalek, along with volunteer Pat Taeger, helped the second graders plant vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowers in containers while the rooftop was being renovated. They taught the students “companion planting” techniques to help each plant grow stronger and tastier. Summer session attendees also enjoyed gardening, worm composting and garden art programs. Along the way, the children learned the life cycles of the plants and participated in basic garden maintenance.

The children especially enjoyed making recycled plant markers from blind shades to identify the plants in the pots. As of mid-August, the children had been able to to taste edible flowers and experience the joy of eating fresh blueberries and kale. Soon they will be enjoying cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, spinach, celery, strawberries and fresh-cut herbs. The center also provides cooking classes to the children, and they are eager to use the vegetables and herbs in their dishes.

Additional garden beds and vertical garden beds will be built on the rooftop soon for next year.

I’m trying to write this article as my wife and I volunteer at the Erie County Fair for Reinstein Woods. I’m not getting a lot done because so many people stop by our display and inquire about the “Woods.” I think most of the interest involves the ornate display created by Reinstein Woods Educator Ginger Wszalek which includes spinning CD “tops,” a water bottle recycle bin and the flowering water hoses.  There was a lot of interest shown by many of the fair goers.

My main purpose for this article is to ask for your help. A recent “MY View” article in the Buffalo News caused me to think about inviting Friends members to contribute a column to this newsletter. It could serve as a way to solicit thoughts and ideas from those who are members and want to be more engaged. Nature-related themes would be the main focus of the column. We will title the column “Tree Talk,” and if successful have an article appear in each edition of this newsletter. If many articles are submitted we could establish a screaming, I mean a screening, group to review. If you are interested in contributing, or have comments please let us know by emailing president@reinsteinwoods.org or by calling the office at 683 5959.

Thanks for your interest; we look forward to seeing you and your family this fall!!!!

– Michael Gettings, President

Reinstein Woods is all about nature, the changing seasons and team work. Teamwork is an important part of a favorite American spring pass time: baseball.   Reinstein Woods and baseball may not seem to tie together, but this year there’s a definite parallel: I’d like to introduce our new board of directors’ Garlic Mustard Challenge team “The Mustard Maulers.”

Most sports are based on traditions, and at Reinstein Woods we conduct an annual Garlic Mustard Challenge as an important tradition.  Baseball has a season, and a league. Our season runs from April 18 to June 18 and we are part of the Invasive Species league.  Baseball games are generally played in stadiums; most of our “games” are held at places like Flattail Lake, Secluded Swamp and Muskrat Marsh.

Nicknames play a big role in baseball and throughout the years I recall names like “The Babe,” “Rocky,” “Catfish” and “The Mick.” Our roster includes, “Vida Blue Vinod,” “L A Banks,” “Terry the Pirate” and “Casey” our leader, to name just a few.

Our team “The Mustard Maulers” held opening day on Sunday, May 17 when we pulled 40 pounds of garlic mustard from Reinstein Woods.  Our team color is, naturally, mustard yellow. We have a young [?] talented team, we play to win, but we are not Hot Dogs. The Garlic Mustard plant is a tough opponent!!!

The GMC continues through June 18, so there is still time for you to join the league. More information is available at the League office, 93 Honorine Drive Depew, NY or by calling Matt at (716)683-5959.

• Mike Gettings [aka, Johnny Mustard Seed]

“Our students have been so excited to see all of the materials that they are helping to recycle.  Many teachers and parents have also commented on how great this was.” – Teacher at BPS 33

You may recall from the last newsletter that New York is making a push to keep clothing out of landfills by raising awareness about what to do with old clothing and textiles. To help promote this effort, Friends of Reinstein teamed with the City of Buffalo, DEC and the WNY Coalition for Donated goods to sponsor an “Earth Day Clothing Drive” in Buffalo Public Schools.

Students from eleven Buffalo public and charter schools collected clothing that was removed for recycling or reuse by the WNY Coalition for Donated Goods, a collaboration of nonprofit organizations whose goal is to promote both the community and the environment through the donation of clothing and other goods.

DEC Region 9 Director Abby Snyder and Deputy Mayor Dr. Ellen Grant congratulated students at a ceremony at School 45 (International School). Some of the schools competed to see which class in the school could collect the most clothing. The winning class received a pizza party from Hearts for the Homeless and the City of Buffalo, and the runner-up class received Smencils courtesy of Reinstein Woods. Olmsted School 64 had the highest collection total, saving more than 3,605 pounds of clothes, bedding, and related textile accessories from ending up in a landfill.

Overall, the eleven schools collected 11,244 pounds of clothing. How much is that? It’s equivalent to the weight of:

• 5 polar bears,
• 2.5 minivans, or
• 1 elephant!

Kudos also goes to Grand Island High School and Huth Road Elementary School in Grand Island, who organized an Earth Day clothing drive too and collected an additional 1,704 pounds of clothing that was given to the Coalition for recycling.

Warning: This story may gross you out. But it will leave you with a greater appreciation of our water resources, so keep reading!

When you flush a toilet at Reinstein Woods, the waste heads through pipes all the way to the Buffalo Sewage Authority’s Bird Island Treatment Plant, located on an actual island just off shore from Buffalo’s Westside and Black Rock neighborhoods. The plant is the second largest sewage treatment plant in the state, and it accepts waste from the city of Buffalo as well as some surrounding suburbs and some septic and grease collection companies.

Thanks to Friends’ board member Denine Jackson, who works in the laboratory at the plant, the Reinstein Woods staff recently toured the plant to better understand the water systems we discuss with students during our popular “Watershed Works” program. On the day of our visit, the plant was anticipating about 120 million gallons of wastewater to flow through the plant, just on that day. The plant is rated to accept up to 560 million gallons per day.

The tour of the plant was fascinating, and staff encountered sewage industry terms like “mixed liquor,” “sludge cakes” and “scum beach” that refer to things that are pretty much as disgusting as they sound. We toured the tallest building on site called the “Megastructure,” a name that made me think we were entering a superhero movie ride, except the only thing taking a ride inside of it was sewage sludge. Sewage sludge is basically all the “solids” in a wastewater stream. The sludge moves through pipes and on conveyor belts through the Megastructure, removing water along the way until eventually the solids end up in an incinerator.

The incinerator is powered by methane collected from “digesters,” giant round tanks where micro-organisms break down waste, giving off methane in the process. By the time the wastewater stream has gone through the digesters, the Megastructure and all of the other treatment steps, most of the human waste and other solids have been removed from the water itself, and the water is eventually discharged into Lake Erie.

None of this, however, is the part that should gross you out. The plant workers take their jobs very seriously and do a heroic job of dealing with waste that the rest of us would like to forget is a part of daily life. They make the water as safe as they can before discharging it back into Lake Erie.

The gross part, what I found upsetting about the tour, was the amount of non-human waste that is in the waste stream. We women are especially bad culprits: plastic tampon applicators were EVERYWHERE. And I mean everywhere; at certain stages the wastewater is in giant outdoor tanks that are open to the air, and birds would pluck objects that float out of the tanks and drop them around the grounds. You get the picture. Even near the end of treatment, a couple steps before the water is chlorinated and released into Lake Erie, workers still have to fish applicators out of the water stream.

Considering we use Lake Erie and the Niagara River for important things like drinking water, we can all do ourselves a favor by not flushing anything down the toilet that isn’t human waste or toilet paper. And I think the plant workers will thank us too!

–  Meaghan Boice-Green, Reinstein Woods Center Director

Friends of Reinstein Woods extends a huge thank you to all the folks who donated generously to the Spring It On campaign (raising funds to protect ash trees at Reinstein Woods) and to the Friends’ Annual Earth Day Appeal (which raises general operating funds). The two efforts have netted thousands of dollars in support for Reinstein Woods!

The annual appeal is continuing, so consider donating generously today.

Spring It On Donors: 

Gasper Aronica, Kathleen Boice, Meaghan Boice-Green, Terry Boyle, Cheryl Buechi, Dan Carlson, Gerry Casey, Rachel Chrostowski, Seaghan Coleman, Mary Ann Cortese, Margaret Diamond, Stefanie Ecker, Michael Gettings, Mary Gloss, Charles Kelly, Carolyn Kerr, Steven Kondrak, Tom & Sue Lawson, Mary Losi, Diane McMahon, Kelly Mayer, Gary & Maria Michalski, Barry Martin, Christina Michalczak, Dale & Carol Milsom, Charles Rauch, Kristen & Chuck Rosenburg, Dawn and Chuck Pustelnik, Brittany Rowan, Brigitte Schick, Lori Stilwell, Michelle Woznick, Ginger Wszalek

Annual Appeal Donors: 

Amos Acree, Therese Adriaansen, Valerie Antos, Linda Arndt, Irene Benbenek, Ann & Dennis Bischof, David & Kathy Boice, Meaghan Boice-Green, William Breslin, Peter and Cheryl Buechi, Michael Campanella, Helen Cyrulik, Ronald Dekanski, Alfred Dittenhauser, Dave Dziedzic, Stefanie Ecker, Jade Feeney, Mike & Carol Gettings, Don & Alice Gray, Marilyn Gross, Elaine Hansen, Judy Hendee, Anne Izydorczak, Dennis & Rebecca Kaniecki, Luke Kantor, David & Carolyn Karb, David Kennedy, Irene Konowka, Ed Kowalski, Dave & Alice LaGraves, Mary Losi, Lawrence & Amanda Megan, Donna Michael, S. David & Catherine Miller, Barbara Morrisey, Tom & Andrea Mudd Sr., Beth Munson, Dennis & Sandy Needham, Jim & Marcia Nixon, Albert & Sharon Oehler, Peter & Patricia O’Hara, Siri Paolino, Patricia Perry, Dave & Sandy Peruzzini, Bob & Shari Rembold, Paul & Joanne Rickard, Shirley Shannon, Scot & Karen Smith, Dorothy Socie, Gary Steils, Lori Stilwell, Tom Stoll, Sandra Szwarc, Paul & Sylvia Tokasz, Valori Victor, Dave & Karen Walkowiak