Courtesy Photo | Bill Donnellan helped establish programs like the Bill Nesbit Memorial Hunt which...... read more read more
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Tucked between Garrett County, Maryland, and Mineral County, West Virginia, Jennings Randolph Lake stretches along 5.5 miles of spectacular countryside on the North Branch of the Potomac River. The area is renowned for its unspoiled wilderness and natural beauty. The lake provides a sanctuary for countless birds, animals, and fish where nature comes first and having fun is a close second.
For nearly 40 years, Bill Donnellan has been ever-present, serving the park and community since 1985.
“One of my favorite parts of working is being able to meet and greet the people that come to the project,” Donnellan said. “If you were at a large project, if you get a million visitors a year you may spend a little time with each person to say ‘Okay, this is where you park, here’s the Visitors Center, here’s what you can do.’ What you find at a small project, literally I can interact with people, and I can have a half-hour conversation, an hour conversation with that person.
"I found that working here at Jennings Randolph Lake, I’ve been able to meet people, now 35 years ago, as adults, and now I have seen their children come back. I’ve seen their grandchildren come back. They become part of your family and that’s what I enjoy about the job.”
The Lead Park Ranger recently retired from his position with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and leaves a legacy of service and leadership. He helped establish programs like the Bill Nesbit Memorial Hunt which gives people with disabilities and wounded veterans a chance to hunt, and since 2006, Bill has grown the program from 10 volunteers to well over 80.
“That’s definitely been a really big program for this park, we have done it every year,” said Francesca Gullion, Natural Resources Specialist and Park Ranger at Jennings Randolph Lake. “Bill has been able to give the opportunity to our nation's veterans and physically disabled the chance to hunt when they otherwise couldn’t have done so due to physical limitations, so I think that is his biggest legacy.”
Over the 38 years Donnellan worked at Jennings Randolph Lake, he had a hand in creating all the recreation areas at the park.
“I’ve been able to see this project grow from when I literally first started here. Some people find it amusing that when I first got here, we had no beach area, no swim area, it did not exist. The campground was unpaved roads, it was designed for primitive campgrounds,” he said. “There was no electricity, and it was vault toilets, so I’ve taken some pride in being able to work with staff members, project managers, and district personnel to be able to say, ‘What improvements can we make here within our budget?’
Donnellan worked tirelessly through his career, improving the park making it better for everyone who visits. Across the 952-acre Lake in the middle of the park there was no place to swim when he first arrived. After listening to the guests of the park, he decided to try to put one in the park.
“We didn’t have any beach area. Again, working with district elements they were like pick a location for where you want the beach, and literally, I took a piece of paper and did a pencil drawing of that beach area and was like ‘I think the parking lot should go here, and the beach should go over here,’ and that’s what they used. So, I think I saved the [U.S.] Army Corps of Engineers some money and design features, but I still have that little pencil drawing and that’s pretty much what they used as the design of the beach, so that was kind of a neat project to work on.”
Another thing Donnellan greatly cared about was people. He spent years mentoring his fellow Park Rangers, leaving a lasting impact.
“The thing I am going to miss most about Bill is his mentorship and his leadership,” said Gullion. “Everything I know about being a Park Ranger I learned from Bill. He’s always been one that you can come to with any question that you have. He is always right there to answer, and it’s going to be hard to lose someone with that much knowledge, but hopefully, I can do a good job and fill his shoes here at the project.”
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.19.2023 12:14 |
| Story ID: | 453769 |
| Location: | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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