Friends of Bolin Creek celebrate 1st year

Music, food and a raffle all helped the Friends of Bolin Creek celebrate their first birthday with the local community Saturday at William B. Umstead State Park.

Friends of Bolin Creek, a group dedicated to preserving the creek and the areas surrounding it, was celebrating its first anniversary as a nonprofit organization. But as the sight of children splashing in the creek seemed to emphasize, the real focus of the event was on drawing attention to the area.

"The purpose is to celebrate the creek," said Julie McClintock, co-chairwoman of Friends of Bolin Creek. "The other thing is to draw attention to our long-range goal, which is to preserve the creek and the area around it."

Much of the organization's past work has been behind the scenes, involving presentations to local governments and the University.

"The celebration is the first of what will hopefully be many," McClintock said.

By preserving not just the creek but also the land surrounding it, habitats for animals and birds also will be preserved, McClintock added.

Local resident Steve Plonk, who spent about a half-hour mingling with members of the organization, said he came to the event Saturday to enjoy the day and talk to people with similar interests.

"My kids just like to go down to the creek and see the wildlife," Plonk said. "I think we've learned the most about the creek by going down there."

Plonk added that he thought the celebration helped connect people.

"As a group, it would be easier to monitor the creek and get people involved locally," he said.

A group of students from Smith Middle School also was at the celebration to volunteer and give support to the organization, which has begun to take public steps toward protecting the creek.

In the past year, the group has acquired the Adams tract, an area of land located off Estes Drive in Carrboro. The acquisition was crucial, McClintock said, because the area is an important forest habitat in the center of a rapidly developing area.

The organization also created a 22-page report that outlines its future goals and the steps needed to accomplish them.

"We would ultimately like to see a corridor along the creek, along with a greenway," said Dave Otto, the group's vice chairman.

It will take help from other organizations for Friends of Bolin Creek to achieve their goal and stop the development of land around the creek. The group has been working with the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, Orange County and the University to help preserve areas around the creek.

"We want to build public support for this preservation, and we want local area governments and UNC to endorse the creek," said McClintock.

"If we could do both of those, we'd be in great shape."

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.