Helping hands

A handful of young men, several of them Boy Scouts, trampolined on a pile of pine boughs in a utility trailer to make room for more branches.

Sam Garn, 8, of Rathdrum, was eager to join them as he helped with the cleanup Saturday in McCall Park in Hayden.

“I was just going to ask my mom,” Sam said before catapulting into the trailer to jump on the branches.

Leave it to Scouts to make work look like fun.

McCall Park was one target on the radar for the 2014 Day of Service, a community beautification event conducted by members of 10 different congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This was the fifth annual Day of Service, which attracted 450 volunteers who raked, painted, weed-whacked and provided whatever work necessary at the chosen locations in Hayden and Hayden Lake.

“I’m working very hard by pushing this wheelbarrow,” said Sam’s big sister, Sydney, 10.

The Garn family is among countless families who have made the Day of Service an annual event to enjoy together.

“It’s just so big,” Sydney said. “And it’s more fun when you have more people going instead of just one person.”

Ann Woods of Hayden and her husband, Dr. Steve Woods, worked as the chairpersons for this year’s event. This year’s Day of Service followed the theme from last year, “Working together to make things better.”

“I think we tend to be kind of separate from each other, separate groups and communities,” Ann said. “I think it’s really good to work together and to help the community. There’s such an attitude of, ‘Let the government do everything,’ but it’s the people that should be doing stuff, I think.”

The day’s projects included landscaping at the Hospice of North Idaho Hospice House, painting the silo and planting trees and bushes in Stoddard Park, raking lawns and painting the Miller House at Children’s Village and beautifying McCall Park.

Project manager Rusty Dan of Hayden oversaw tasks at Children’s Village. With white paint on his hands from tending to the trim, he discussed how important it is for kids and their families to be involved with giving back to the community through events such as the Day of Service.

“It’s good to have families together doing things, that just helps the kids learn the work ethics,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for not only them to learn from their parents and others, but to work together as a family and enjoy that.”

The day began with a welcome ceremony at the pavilion at the LDS church in Hayden and featured a flag presentation and brief speeches by Hayden Mayor Ron McIntire and Hayden Lake Mayor Chris Beck. At noon, volunteers headed back to the pavilion to socialize, barbecue and let their little ones play in the bouncy houses.

A majority of supplies and items to complete the tasks were donated by various community entities and individuals. Hayden Lake LDS Stake President Dirk Baird of Coeur d’Alene said he would like to see the Day of Service grow into an even bigger day that involves more people from all backgrounds.

“I would love to see it be a community event, not just an LDS event,” he said. “I would love to see more partnership even from the planning stages all the way into the end results where it becomes more of a community event, not just an LDS event.”

Planning for the annual Day of Service usually begins in November and takes several months and people to coordinate the projects. Ann said this year’s volunteers were excited and ready to help when the group met at 8 a.m.

“That’s what’s really great about this area,” Ann said. “There is a spirit of friendliness and working together that is just really great.”