I walk in McCormick Forest Park four to five times a week with my two Labs, Arlo and Dooby. I feel I have an ownership of the woods because of the many volunteer hours I’ve spent working on the trails that were put through this beautiful forest in Gig Harbor.
Many years ago I received a call from a parks official I knew asking if I would be willing to supervise a prison crew from the Washington Corrections Center for Women to work on making trails at McCormick.
I was reluctant at first to work with a group of prisoners. I certainly didn’t know what to expect, but I wasn’t going to turn down the request from this fine gentleman who really needed my help.
At the end of my first day working with these women and the corrections officer, I was amazed at the amount of work that was accomplished because of the hard work these women did. I also realized I really had a good time with these gals. So every time I would get a call to work with these women I did.
The more time I spent in these beautiful woods, the more I fell in love with the place. The more trails I worked on, the more I felt the place was mine.
Whenever I saw that there was any volunteer work going on at McCormick, I would try and help out. When I discovered trees had come down across the trail, I got my husband to go in with his chain saw and cut them up. When I walk on a trail where I see the large pieces of a tree that had once blocked the trail, I think of that day in February 2006 when my husband and I spent hours cutting that one up.
The reason this tree is so much remembered isn’t the work we put in to get it done, but because just a few days afterward it was discovered my husband had a cancer that took his life a few months later.
It was his last outing in the woods. So yes, these woods are mine.
Janice Pittman has lived in Gig Harbor since 1978. In 2011 she received the Master Gardener Foundation for the State of Washington award for the 10 years she spent working to get a Master Gardener Demonstration Garden at Sehmel’s Homestead Park in Gig Harbor and for her volunteer work at Washington Corrections Center for Women.
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