“Hoedad, HOEdad!”
To some it may seem like an odd thing to yell. But on Monday and Tuesday, “hoedad” was the refrain of the day as students from the Sage School in Hailey raised the sharp tools and slammed them into the hard earth around Pole Creek. These tools could crack more than stubborn soil so, as a precaution, all students using them had to yell “hoedad” with every swing. This inevitably morphed into other phrases: “who’s dad?” “yo dad” “whoa dad”, etc. etc. Still, it kept the kids yelling and kept everyone injury free.
Forest Service employees Scott Vuono and Debarah Taylor started the two days of work with an engaging presentation about the years-long restoration project of the Pole Creek watershed. The watershed is home to chinook salmon, bull trout, and white bark pine, all of which are on the endangered species list. The Forest Service has been focused on restoring this area to provide a more sustainable home for these struggling species. The objective of this particular project was to replant disturbed areas with various native shrubs and grasses.
So while half the Sage students spent the two days hoedading, the other half followed behind filling in the holes left by the tool with sagebrush (no pun there), bluebunch wheatgrass, and rabbit brush. The students planted 1600 plants all while singing, laughing, and yelling some version of “hoedad!”
Thanks to the students, within a year or two, the area will be reverted back to its original pristine state.
