MARYSVILLE — Dozens of Marysville volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints descended upon the property formerly known as the Doleshel Tree Farm on 67th Avenue in Marysville on Saturday, Sept. 14, for service working to turn the former tree farm into a city park.

“Since the 9/11 attacks, our church has been doing a service project every year,” said Jeff Vaughan, Marysville City Council President and member of the church. “This project began a few years ago and there has been a lot of work done here. An Eagle Scout built this bridge and other major projects involve pouring concrete pads for picnic tables, spreading mulch to establish a trail, completely flattening the field, and once it is seeded it will be perfect for a multipurpose field. A lot of things have been done.”

Pine trees keep the park cool and offer a sweet-smelling, peaceful canopy for the trail, while the new bridge offers a way of crossing a small stream to get to the soon-to-be-finished play field.

“We trimmed the limbs of these trees up to eight feet so people will feel comfortable and be able to see through the park,” said Vaughan, while standing on the bridge overlooking the creek. “This view wasn’t available before because there was no bridge and the blackberry bushes had grown over the water. If you took a picture of this, people would think you were in the Cascades, but it’s right here in Marysville and it’s beautiful.”

The city of Marysville has taken out a number of trees and completely limbed up the remaining plants for better visibility. The old trees and branches aren’t wasted, however. They were sent through a wood-chipper and used as mulch for the trail.

“We had 120 volunteers that signed up to help with this project,” said Deanna Vaughan, public relations coordinator for the church. “We started three years ago and the difference is incredible. When we first came here the weeds were so thick and tall, and the blackberries were so out-of-control that my jeans were actually ripped just trying to walk down to the stream. To look at it now and see these kids running through the trees is amazing. The city is hoping to have the park opened in a few months, and it will be really wonderful to see this project be completed.”

The city of Marysville decided to adopt the name Doleshel Park for the property, in honor of its history as a tree farm, and volunteer Mike Carr and his sons and friends posted the sign.

“We have been working on the front part of the park every year, so it was nice to put up that sign and see it all come together,” he said.