A Grant for Camp Mary Elizabeth

Back in 2016, I researched the history of Camp Mary Elizabeth (CME) in the GSSC-MM council and wrote a series of blog posts about it. CME is located on 56 acres in the middle of Spartanburg, SC’s urban sprawl and was originally dedicated in 1947 as a memorial to Dr. W.S. Zimmerman’s mother, Elizabeth Simpson Zimmerman, and her daughter, Mary Zimmerman Ward (Dr. Zimmerman’s sister). As an entry in this series, I wrote about CME’s wildflowers. Most of CME’s wildflowers are found along a trail that runs throughout the camp while partially following Holston Creek which splits the camp. There are a few very rare varieties found at CME including the federally-threatened Dwarf-flowered Heartleaf and Oconee Bells. Both of these wildflowers are only found in a few areas within the Upstate of South Carolina and Western North Carolina.

In 2020, CME was struck by a tornado. While we were lucky in that there was very little structural damage to buildings, the forest making up CME wasn’t that lucky. Tons of mature pines snapped in half, and various hardwoods throughout camp were uprooted by strong winds. CME was a mess. The council called in a tree company which took out the pines and also logged some of the camp to thin it out. As a part of this process, mulchers followed behind to clean up the multitudes of stumps and downed limbs. Unfortunately, the mulchers came too close to Holston Creek, and areas that are home to wildflowers were damaged. There’s always been an ongoing battle with invasive species such as Chinese privet and English ivy throughout camp, but the disturbed earth allowed the invaders to gain new ground. Kudzu, the bane of the South, has also made an appearance at CME. The wildflowers are still around, but their numbers have decreased and some have disappeared altogether.

In 2023, a couple of random things came together. I shadowed Tina the Trainer for an outdoor training back in May, and she gave me a tour of CME because I hadn’t seen the damage to the wildflower areas. Tina is an expert in wildflowers and can easily name any plant she sees plus give you its scientific name to boot. Coincidentally, a couple of people throughout the year encouraged me to look into grant writing, so I began the process of finding out more about this process. And then later in the year, a post from the SC Native Plant Society popped up on my Facebook timeline advertising their local grants. A lightbulb went off, and I talked to Tina about my idea.

In my original blog post about CME’s wildflowers, I highlighted an article from 1978 about the Spartanburg Garden Club revitalizing CME’s trails by planting and cultivating wildflowers that were already on the property from a 1958 visit by another garden club and ones found naturally on site. I thought a project such as this would be the perfect fit for a SCNPS grant, so I talked to Tina to find what all would be involved and took some pictures of the trail. I then met with our council’s CEO to pitch the idea to her, and she said let’s go with it. A meeting with the council’s grant writer followed, and I submitted an outline for the grant along with pictures and costs.

The grant proposal involves removing invasive species from ¼ to ½ mile of the trail system and purchasing & planting native wildflowers including: Spicebush, Sparkleberry, Silverbell, Sweetshrub, Bottlebrush Buckeye, American Beautyberry, Southern Lady Fern , Northern Maidenhair Fern, Galax, Foamflower, Blue Cohosh, Native Columbine, Blunt-lobed Liverleaf, Mayapple, Wild Aniseroot, Bloodroot, Yellowroot, Southern Nodding Trillium, and Large Flowered Trillium. Additionally, fifteen 4” x 5” identification signs would be placed on the trail highlighting various wildflowers. Each sign would include the name of the plant, its scientific name, and a short bullet point list with a few fun facts about that plant that both adults and children can easily read. A larger marker would be placed at the beginning of the trail to denote it as the “Wildflower Way Trail” and to educate hikers about what they will find. I set the budget at $1,000 since that was the maximum that SCNPS gives out.

We submitted the proposal near the end of January, and on February 3rd, we found out that we had been selected to receive a $1,000 grant! We will begin work on this project soon and estimate that it will be done by the end of the year.

I had a few people ask me why I didn’t turn this into a Gold Award project for my daughter or for another girl. First, a girl didn’t think of it. Gold Awards should be an idea that a girl comes up by herself after recognizing a need. Second, it’s very possible that this project may inspire a girl (or troop) to take on an even more ambitious project or to develop another part of camp. The ideas are endless! You never know what seeds this project will plant (no pun intended).

I’ll update you all once the project is completed along with some pictures!