The Chicago Cubs! Oh, the despair!! Will my aching heart ever mend? The next thing you know they’ll be brewing Budweiser beer in Brussels. What? The Cardinals aren’t even owned by the Busch family anymore? Arghhhh!

Back to the verbal consumption of the smaller, lesser-beaked, raven-like blackbird. Since moving to Flagstaff I have heckled my friends with known ties to the Windy City Cubbies about the annual collapse of their team. I must admit it’s been a joyful experience. My being right year after year has evolved into a treasured annual event. But now it’s time to consume a humble, but rather fowl, pie. The following is my crow-munching paragraph of capitulation.

A slight tip of my redbird cap to the team that plays home games in Wrigley Field. We devoted Cardinal fans, however, are counting on you to not allow the possible winning of a baseball World Series to become a disagreeable habit. Once every century is enough euphoria for Chicago folks. And, as an ardent Cardinal supporter, all I can say is, “Wait ’til next year!”

Now, the real reason for this column. One of the city’s newest employees is Margaret Twomey. Called Maggie by her many friends, she’s now the volunteer and events coordinator for the Flagstaff Sustainability Department. In that capacity she’ll manage the Community Stewards Program for the FUTS and city parks plus coordinate events like Earth Day, The Flagstaff 15-Minute Makeover and many other such activities.

My friend Maggie is an outdoor person with a bachelor of science degree in recreation, parks and leisure with a sports management emphasis. She’s a hard-working volunteer herself as I learned when she and husband Bill painted the inside of the Arizona Trail/Flagstaff Loop Trail tunnel under Highway 89 at Townsend-Winona Road. Together, they turned a dark underpass into a bright passageway.

Her fun-loving personality is well known and she’s a strong athlete. I’ve seen her ride a bicycle up the steep Forest Avenue hill between Fort Valley Road and Beaver Street and then pedal up the next difficult section between Turquoise and Gemini Drive.

Maggie will be organizing, along with the Natural Channel Design Company and Willow Bend Environmental Education Center, the annual Flagstaff Make a Difference Day on Saturday, October 22nd. They need a huge volunteer force to help in the cleanup and improvement of the wetlands from the I-40 pond westward along the FUTS. Park at the Sam’s Club parking lot (southwest corner) and follow the directional signs down to the work site. The fun starts at 8 a.m.

For more complete information or to volunteer, contact Maggie Twomey at (928) 213 2144 or e-mail MTwomey@flagstaffaz.gov

Your help with this project will be much appreciated. I know I’ll be there and we’re counting on your participation. Go, Cubs!

Follow this link to view the original article in the AZ Daily Sun.