STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The fire trucks came once again to the Della View neighborhood.

But this time they were not there to warn residents of rising floodwaters.

Instead, firefighters brought tree pruners and ladders and a plethora of manpower to help spruce up the neighborhood’s Heagle Park, what with the floodwaters beginning to recede.

The City of Hailey donated hot dogs and neighborhood residents brought salads and homemade cookies as they threw first responders and city staff a “Thank you” party.

The work party was organized by Karen Daly, who moved to Hailey with her husband Malcolm from Boulder, Colo., a few years ago.

“I serve on the Hailey Parks and Lands Board with Lamar Waters and Bob Wiederrick. And, since I live  across the street from the park, I could see how the tennis courts had filled with silt and there was flood debris spread across the lawn,” said Daly.

Malcolm Daly pointed to broken pieces of street where water was still running down a ditch that workers had dug.

“You can see the damage to the street, but the ditches or swales that they dug really helped,” he said.

Over a two-hour period, volunteers hung nets on the tennis courts, swept dirt off the courts and took a weed whacker to the weeds.

They trimmed back low hanging dead branches and bushes in the play area, piling up small hills of branches in front of the tennis courts for the city to pick up. They took the weed whacker for a spin along  fences, buildings and the pavilion and weeded the playground.

Firefighter Christian Ervin even went out on a limb to trim away limbs that were brushing up against the tennis courts.

Jim Savage, who works for the city, recounted how he set the mower on its highest setting during the first mowing after flood waters receded. He followed it up immediately with a second cutting.

“It was like a hay field,” he said.

Val Logsdon wrestled with cottonwood roots that were encroaching on the playground, eventually getting the better of them. It was her birthday, her husband noted, and this was how she had chosen to celebrate it.

“We need to do more of this and we need to get more people out here,” she said. “Perhaps we should get volunteer parties like this at all the valley parks. The city needs to figure out how to use us.”

Bob Wiederrick, who has been involved in several park projects with the Kiwanis Club, agreed.

“I’m a sucker for a good park project,” he said.