Rainwater carrying antifreeze and oil pan drippings was the target of the rain garden Girl Scout Troop 816 created at Hidden Pond Nature Center. Not only will the rain garden eventually help filter water to the Chesapeake Bay, it will be a memorial to the victims of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
"It would all go down to the Accotink," Rachel Bowman, 11, said.
A spot at Hidden Pond just off the parking lot was the site of an Eagle Scout project years ago, where a Scout dug a trench, put in a water drainage pipe for parking-lot runoff, and built a small berm to contain the water. After years of weathering, the berm was reduced to a bump in the ground.
Rebuilding the berm and planting rain-garden-friendly plants was the first step the Junior Girl Scouts took last summer, but the work was halted during the sniper shootings of last October. Toward the end of April this year, they are planning a family cookout celebration to start the work again.
"We're going to have a day of planting. We're going to come out and populate the garden," said mother Cindy Bowman.
Scout mother Sharon Fontanella played a role in the garden with another mother, Patty Dietz, who has a background in environmental science. Dietz's child Kristen was in the troop last year, but she added her expertise anyway.
"The Virginia Department of Forestry has a brochure of rain-garden plants. She [Dietz] was one of the key people, she did pick plants specifically for this area," she said. "She did a whole class down at the pond."
Dietz said this type of environmental consciousness started in Prince George’s County years ago and has been popular elsewhere through the years. The tolerant plants catch the material, and without an oxygen source, the toxic material is easily broken down.
"They're looking at this all over the place," said Dietz. "It's catching on and growing."
Park manager Jim Pomeroy talked about the advantage of a garden.
"The idea is to create a place that will, at least temporarily, trap runoff. You can make it look nice by planting stuff," he said.
Fontanella applied for a grant from the Fairfax County Water Authority and got $2,572 for plants, a sign, brochures and materials to finish the job. That was also for the plaque honoring the victims of 9/11. Natalie Fontanella and Kimberly Madsen is also working on raising money for a park bench and another plaque to decorate the site. They are collecting ink cartridges from computer printers that a company will pay for.
"We're trying to get 200," Natalie said.
LAST YEAR on the anniversary of the attacks, the Scouts gathered at the garden. Rachel Bowman, 11, took part in their ceremony.
"A couple of poems were read, too," she said.
Rachel's poem "A Dreaded Day" was one of them.
"I write a lot," she said.
Rachel is also doing a display to go inside the nature center to teach others about the rainwater conservation program.
"Nikki [Austin] and I are working on a display for the inside," she said.
The harsh winter took its toll on the garden, and only a few bushes and the berm are left. Some of the plants are annuals, which will sprout later in the spring. Fellow Scout Amy Murray remembers the site at the height of the summer last year.
"It was a disaster to cut, it was over my head," she said.
Rachel remembered the hard work as well.
"One afternoon we spent three hours pulling weeds. I was out here with a couple of other people planting irises," she said.
Fontanella looked at the potential for the future. They thought of the plan three years ago, started work on it two years ago, and she hopes it will be a lasting thing for new Scouts.
"It would be something they could come back to. It was meant to be a long-term service project," she said.
ALTHOUGH SCOUTS have done all kinds of projects through the years at Hidden Pond, Pomeroy noted the unique aspect of the rain garden project.
"It's really unique because it's an ongoing thing," he said.
The mothers and Scouts plan on passing the torch on the rain garden to new Scouts, so they can maintain it. There have been so many Scout projects at Hidden Pond through the years, including bridges and the amphitheater, they've almost exhausted additional project possibilities. All winter, Pomeroy looks for additional project opportunities around the park. One thing that's coming up is a trail across Pohick Creek. He's looking into things pertaining to that, such as trail improvements and kiosks.
"Those would be good Eagle Scout projects," he said.