Gordy Wrobel has lived near Como Park for 35 years. That means, of course, he’s spent a lot of time walking around the lake and exploring the paths and gardens of St. Paul’s 300-acre park, which is practically in his back yard.
But strolling the park wasn’t enough.
“I can’t stand to just walk,” said Wrobel, 69, a retired school psychologist. “I need something more to do.”
When the Como Park Steward Program started in 2021, Wrobel says he “got into it right away.”
Through the Steward Program, volunteers clean and help maintain parcels of land in the park. Wrobel is part of a group of about 10 stewards from his neighborhood who take care of three parcels in the Lexington Parkway/East Como area.
“Part of our job is just to watch and see what’s happening in our parcels,”
Wrobel says.
Picking up trash is a big part of what they do.
“We find some really strange stuff,” he says. They’ve recovered an old TV and stereo, live and spent ammunition, a guitar case covered with stickers, a jar of weed and sex toys – along with plenty of paper trash and cigarette butts.
“Remember, trash begets trash,” Wrobel said in a follow-up email after an interview at Como. “So pick it up when you first see it.
“A major irritant of mine: Some people seem to believe that the world is their ashtray.”
Wrobel’s steward group call themselves the Guardian Woods Rangers. Wrobel explains that the area used to be called Indian Woods. Since the Cleveland baseball team became the Guardians, the steward group chose the same culturally appropriate name.
“We try to have some fun with it,” he says.
At Como, he’s also helped out with the woodland classroom, the Japanese Obon Festival and environmental projects through the St. Paul Parks District 10 Environmental Committee, including protecting new plants and eradicating invasive mustard weed.
Wrobel’s commitment to the environment was strengthened by 29 years at a lodge in Elfin Cove, Alaska. He and his wife, Dorothy, visited in 2010 and eventually became owners of “The Cove.” On their first visit, the Wrobels were in a boat on the way to Elfin Cove when the motor quit and they were drifting. The boat was surrounded by a pod of whales.
“It was just magical,” he says.
The Cove offered sport fishing, photo tourism, scuba – “a lot of strange things, not just fishing.” Since there was low pressure on the animals in the area, there were plenty of orcas, sea otters and “there were so many bald eagles, they were just like crows.”
Wrobel started volunteering when he was working as a school psychologist in Minneapolis. At the urging of his boss, he volunteered to assist with children’s mental health groups. He currently is part of the AARP advocacy and leadership team and has volunteered with a food shelf.
The experiences matter, he says, because of “the good feelings you get from the things you do. And every now and then, something amazing happens.”
He’s always “adopted” a drain in his neighborhood, to protect Como Lake from runoff problems. It’s important because the shores of Como Lake are covered in microplastic, he says.
Wrobel volunteers because, “It’s just something I think you should do as part of a community.”
A bonus: “You get to meet and know your neighbors.”
Gordy Wrobel grew up in Browerville, in central Minnesota. He received his undergraduate degree in psychology from St. John’s, his master’s degree and specialist degree in School Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, and his doctorate from the University of Minnesota.
Dorothy, who grew up in Memphis, Tenn., just retired from working in group homes for people with disabilities. Their adult daughter lives with her family in Parkers Prairie, Minn.
So, why should others volunteer?
“It’s fun,” Wrobel says. “You’re going to meet some very interesting people. Especially for a lot of seniors, this social interaction is very important.
“It’s part of the American spirit. You don’t expect everything to be done for you.”
For more info on the Como Park Steward Program, go to district10comopark.org/parksteward/. For information on more St. Paul parks volunteer opportunities: saintpaulparksconservancy.org/ways-to-help/volunteer/Article and photograph courtesy of Kathy Berdan