Yearbook 2006 Kv 516.Indd

Home , Allis State Park, Branbury State Park, Elmore State Park, Fort Dummer, Lowell Lake State Park, North Hero State Park

VERMONT YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS

2006 Yearbook Board of Directors Ron Redmond, Chair Matthew Fargo, Vice Chair Rain Banbury, Secretary Richard McGarry, Treasurer Eric Hanson, Past Chair Contents Judi Manchester, Past Chair Caroline Wadhams-Bennett, Past Chair Program Overview 4 Richard Darby David Goudy Project Proﬁ les 6 Jeffrey Hallo Martha D. McDaniel, M.D. Season Highlights 8 Franklin Motch Lee Powlus AmeriCorps Program 10 Doris Evans, Founder and Board Member Emeritus Park Crews 12 Headquarters Staﬀ Wilderness Crews 20 Thomas Hark, President Jocelyn Haley, Director of Administration and Finance Roving Crews 26 Polly Tobin, Director of Field Programs Kate Villa, Director of Development Community Crews 40 Brian Cotterill, Operations Director Lisa Scott, Program Manager Fall Leadership Crews 46 Christa Finnern, Program Coordinator John Leddy, Program Coordinator News from HQ 52 Heather Nielsen, Program Coordinator Jason Buss, Program Coordinator Alumni Updates 56 Patrick Kell, Development Manager John Paul Grogan, Youth Development Coordinator Partnerships 58 Jennifer Trombley, Program Development Assistant Andrew Magee, Youth Development A*VISTA Alumni Rendezvous 59 Matthew Brantner, Youth Development A*VISTA Keegan Tierney, Facility & Events A*VISTA Kristen Kozik, Facility & Events A*VISTA Matthew Dragon, Technical Skills Development A*VISTA Lisa Passerello, Agriculture & Natural Resources A*VISTA Cara Butterly, Youth in Agriculture A*VISTA Sara Armstrong, Youth in Agriculture A*VISTA Yearbook Editor: Polly Tobin Goddard Justin Kenney, Operations A*VISTA Copy Editor: Kate Villa Don Bicknell, Volunteer Extraordinaire

2 A Message from the Founding President

Dear Alumni and Friends,

As you know, the VYCC is all about people coming together from all corners of Vermont to make great things happen. We have a wonderful community of staff, youth, alumni, project sponsors, parents, and donors who make all the difference -- thank you!

In 2006, we launched new programs -- Youth in Agriculture and Natural Resources Crews, Youth Leadership Retreats, Fall Crews, a Technical Skills Program and the year-round Conservation and Community Leadership Program, to name a few highlights. These crews, combined with our Wilderness, Roving, and Community Crews, accomplished almost 110,000 hours of service on public lands in every county in the state, building bridges, inventorying lakes, building trails, managing state parks and generally making Vermont a better place to live, work, and recreate.

Much of our growth has been made possible by our move to our permanent home, the Youth Leadership, Education & Training Center, which is located in the big refurbished West Monitor Barn in Richmond, Vermont. As each week has gone by the facility has continued to take on more and more of the look and feel of the VYCC. The ground ﬂ oor, where we store all our gear and tools, is used daily as crews now come and go on a regular basis all year long. One of the most wonderful things is that our new space is utilized by more than seventy of our partners for all sorts of meetings. As importantly, our year-round programs use every inch of the Center.

We are doing more and doing it better than ever before. If you were one of those that made the Youth Leadership, Education & Training Center possible, your generosity lives on in the thousands of people who pass through each year.

Thus, the spirit of our community is alive and well. New friendships and old continue to grow and the bonds that make the VYCC what it is are stronger than ever. Until this year we never had a place for our community to gather. I am thrilled to be able to invite you, whether an alumni, Corps Member, Field Staff, parent, or donor to visit our new home.

We want you to feel like you can just stop in and look around, say hi, hike or ski our trails, or even use the wireless internet access from the parking lot! If you need an invitation, there will be start-ups and closures taking place for the ﬁ rst time at the Center in 2007, a series of beneﬁ t concerts this fall to help retire the mortgage, as well as our second annual Denim & Diamonds event in October. Be sure to watch our websites www.vycc. org and www.monitorbarn.org for further information.

I hope you will stop by.

Most appreciatively,

Thomas Hark President [email protected]

3 Program Overview

What is the VYCC? The VYCC is a non-profi t service, conservation, Crew Types and education organization. Our mission is to teach individuals to take personal responsibility for all of their actions. We accomplish this Roving Crews mission by forming small teams of young Roving Crews camp for four-week sessions and people who work with excellent adult leaders live full-time in the outdoors. Corps Members to complete high-priority conservation projects. learn new skills such as watershed restoration, The challenges and experiences each crew trail construction, and bridge construction, as must overcome to be successful create an ideal well as see many different areas of Vermont. setting to develop leadership, teamwork, and Often they will camp for the fi rst two weeks in a communication skills. Each year, the Corps hires state park and then camp for the next two weeks almost 300 young people between the ages of 16 in a backcountry location where they will learn to and 24 to manage state parks, build trails, restore fi lter their own water and live without electricity. rivers and streams, and improve community Roving Crews complete projects for state and greenspaces. federal agencies, as well as local community sponsors. Philosophy The philosophy of the VYCC is simple and Community Crews powerful. As VYCC President Thomas Hark tells On a VYCC Community Crew, Corps Members staff in training: “Our goal is for the program to live at home and work as a team to improve ‘ooze’ with education.” The conservation projects alternative com pleted by the VYCC crews are important transportation and, like the original Civilian Conservation Corps routes, such as bike projects, will last for decades. However, these and pedestrian projects are also the vehicles used to accomplish paths, and to our mission. enhance local natural areas. They may also History learn innovative bio-engineering Since 1985 the VYCC has provided young people techniques in order from every county, and nearly every town in to restore rivers Vermont, the opportunity to gain valuable and streams which natural resource training have been adversely and education. The affected by erosion VYCC has completed and pollution. These crews are made possible millions of dollars worth through a variety of partnerships with federal, of priority conservation state, and local project sponsors and offer Corps work in Vermont through Members an opportunity to improve and care for partnerships with agencies the resources in their local communities. and organizations such as the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Wilderness Crews Recreation, Vermont Agency of Transportation, For those Corps Members who seek an Vermont Department of Environmental exceptionally challenging experience, Wilderness Conservation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Crews are available. Wilderness Corps Members Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest live and work in the backcountry for four weeks Service, National Park Service, and Vermont’s at a time. They become self-reliant while learning Green Mountain Club. the importance of teamwork with other members 4 Fall/Winter AmeriCorps Crews For the fi rst time ever, the VYCC had crews in residence during the fall and winter of 2006. Crews of AmeriCorps National Service Members of the crew. Without running water, electricity, lived and worked out of Goddard College in or other amenities, the crew must work together Plainfi eld, Vermont, completing high-priority to make the woods a home. Wilderness Crew conservation and human need service projects projects typically include trail maintenance, rock around the state. work, and backcountry construction of bridges. Crews divided their time equally between working Park Crews on group projects Through a unique partnership with the Vermont with partners such Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation as the Vermont (FPR), the Park Crews offer Corps Members Food Bank and and AmeriCorps National Service Members the ReCycle North, opportunity to work with the public in recreation and completing and park management. The VYCC currently individual leadership projects with local VYCC operates fi ve Vermont partners such as the American Red Cross or State Parks. Crews local youth organizations. In addition, these manage all aspects of Members served as a part of the national disaster the parks, including the recovery effort on the Gulf Coast, where they camping reservation built playgrounds, cleaned up parks, and helped system, registering park to repair houses in communities damaged by visitors, maintaining Hurricane Katrina. and improving the grounds and facilities, and managing Youth in Agriculture and concession sales. The Natural Resources Crews crews also develop and The VYCC, in partnership with the University lead educational and of Vermont Extension, Smokey House Center, recreational activities for park visitors such as Mount Mansfi eld Union High School, and nature hikes, children’s activities, and Saturday Lamoille Union High School, developed an night campfi res. Through this process, crews alternative education program that integrates gain valuable business, communication, park concepts of work-based learning to enhance management, and leadership skills as they student learning and achievement. The focus operate beautiful state parks effi ciently and areas for the program professionally. include stewardship and preservation Fall Crews of lands and For the second year in a row, the VYCC offered forests, sustainable Corps Members, Leaders, and AmeriCorps agriculture practices, National Service Members the opportunity and personal and to extend their leadership and conservation job-skill development experience into the fall. Fall Crews are for students. The residential crews of fi ve to eight members who Youth in Agriculture and Natural Resources continue service for VYCC after the traditional Program’s mission is to actively engage students summer season ends. The goals behind the in a service-learning program that inspires self- program are to further leadership abilities directed education through community-based and technical training, to refl ect upon the past projects. Students spend each school day with season, and to complete even more high-priority a VYCC instructor, earning academic credit conservation projects around the state, as well as through work-based learning that will enable disaster recovery projects around the nation. them to graduate from high school.

5 Project Proﬁ les Cross Vermont Trail

The VYCC Montpelier Community Crew spent three weeks working on the Old Route 2 section of the Cross Vermont Trail (CVT) in East Montpelier in 2006. The Cross Vermont Trail spans the state from Burlington to Newbury, crossing through 17 communities and providing direct, on and off- road links between 10 village centers, 10 state parks and recreation areas, and at least 10 schools. Sponsored by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), crews have worked on sections of the trail from Richmond to Wells River since 2000. We are proud to be part of this effort to create an alternative transportation route that links the eastern and western parts of the state.

This year’s project is located in the Town of East Montpelier. The section of trail under construction is between the Winooski River and US Route 2 on the former alignment of Old Route 2. The scope of work included the continued construction of the full-bench section descending to the Old Route 2 corridor alongside the Winooski River as well as additional brushing and clearing of vegetation along approximately 1,000 feet of trail. Work also included some technical rock work including the use of “high-lines” which move slabs of stone safely over difﬁ cult terrain via cable and winch systems. High-lines were used to construct 45 feet of rock retaining wall on the Cross Vermont Trail this season.

Special thanks to Greg Western and Eric Scharnburg of CVT who provided endless support to VYCC crews on the ground and vision for the project overall.

West River Trail

The West River Trail may well be Vermont’s oldest transportation path. The trail follows an old rail road bed that parallels the West River. Originating in Brattleboro and ending in South Londonderry, Native Americans called the West River “Wantastiquet” or “Waters of the Lonely Way.” The path was an important connection from the West River Valley and Fort Dummer in Brattleboro over the Green Mountains to Otter Creek and Lake Champlain.

In partnership with the Vermont Agency of Transportation and The Friends of the West River Trail, the VYCC completed their ninth season working on the Trail. This year the crew worked on the Beaver Meadows section of trail. This section is seasonally wet with water levels that ﬂ uctuate as much as 30 feet depending on local rainfall and the ever-changing beaver activity. VYCC Wilderness Crew 4 completed the construction of ﬂ oating

6 boardwalk and steel stringer bridges to help trail users pass this unique and challenging section of the trail. In total the crew built two bridges, installed four culverts, cleared over a half mile of trail, re-routed sections of trail, and decked 140 feet of ﬂ oating boardwalk.

Heather Nielsen, past West River Trail Crew Leader and 2006 crew supervisor, comments on the history of this project. “It’s a great feeling to see these sections of trail getting completed and linked together! I’ve been involved with the West River Trail since leading my ﬁ rst crew on the Ball Mountain Dam in 2001 and I’m glad more people can enjoy this beautiful part of Vermont as this project moves towards completion.”

Steven’s Branch of the Winooski River In partnership with the Friends of the Winooski River and the City of Barre Public Works Department, the VYCC ﬁ elded a Roving Crew in downtown Barre to clean up the Steven’s Branch of the Winooski River. The VYCC crew spent one week removing scrap iron, tires, truck axles, bicycles, shopping carts, styrofoam cups, plastic bottles, small appliances, and food wrappers from the river. The highly channelized Steven’s Branch has few access points, so the crew used an aluminum boat to haul trash to locations where it could be picked up by the Barre Public Works Staff. Over the course of the project, the crew cleaned up approximately 1.5 miles of the Steven’s Branch of the Winooski River and nearby Gunner’s Brook and pulled out over seven tons of trash! A majority of the trash was scrap metal that was recycled by the Public Works Department.

“The City of Barre Public Works staff and I were extremely impressed with the energy and commitment of the VYCC crew” said Ann Smith, Coordinator of Friends of the Winooski River. “The rivers and streams of Barre are difﬁ cult to access and work in but their persistence and energy made the project a great success.”

7 New Program Highlights

creating an online bartering system, or seeking to Youth Leadership Retreat increase funding for environmental committees The Youth Leadership Retreat was piloted in on campus. Summer 2006, and was designed to bring VYCC Crews together immediately following their The great energy at the retreat carried crew experience for a three day retreat, where forward into the fall and following the retreat, members participated in a series of exercises with participants returned to their home communities to implement their projects. We want to thank all of the participants for their hard work!

Technical Skills Program The Technical Skills Program (TSP) is a new initiative of the (VYCC) launched in the fall of 2006. The program’s mission is to build on the traditions, skills, and knowledge mastered by previous generations. TSP conducts trainings, workshops, and projects that teach work-related skills. Workshops are open to the public of all ages and abilities and include a wide range of traditional work skills.

the goal of identifying a need within their home VYCC kicked off the Technical Skills Program in community and formulating a plan of action that November 2006 with a workshop at the Jericho they could lead to address the need. This new Research Forest, during which participants program deepened the VYCC program by tying learned safe handling and use of crosscut saws crews from all over the state together through a and used them to fell several trees. These trees shared curriculum and by developing a larger were used to build shaving horses (hand-crafted context for their crew projects. woodworking vises traditionally used to make axe or tool handles or the like) which will be used At the close of each summer session, crews for future workshops. returned to the Youth Leadership, Education & Training Center to take part in a Youth The Technical Skills Program also works closely with the Agricultural and Natural Resources Leadership Retreat, where participants identiﬁ ed, Crews. designed, and learned how they could implement a project in their home community. Some Corps Members built on skills learned on their VYCC crew and adapted it to their home environment while others built on interests or skills they have beyond VYCC. Developing composting programs for schools and neighborhoods was important for many participants, while others wanted to spread the word about Future Farmers of America activities, therapeutic horseback riding lessons, eating locally grown and organic food, and buying local products. Additionally, some participants recognized a need in their home community that needed to be ﬁ lled by starting a winter thrift store on a college campus, 8 Lee River Program For the past two years, the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps has partnered with the Lee River Program throughout the school year to employ youth at the VYCC Youth Leadership, Education & Training Center.

The current VYCC/ Lee River Program intern, Adam Francis, holds the position of Maintenance Assistant, a week after school. Students who successfully and is involved with completed the pre-employment training were taking care of the eligible to participate in an internship with West Monitor Barn VYCC. facility. He is involved with a variety of tasks Summer Agriculture Program including: regular maintenance of the In 2006, VYCC piloted a new program with two facility, large event farms in the Montpelier area. The Wellspring preparation, tool repair Farm and the Two Rivers Farm each hosted a and maintenance, composting, ﬁ re systems Crew Leader and two Corps Members in this monthly check, and summer ﬁ eld program exciting new program. Corps Members were preparation. non-residential and engaged in a week-long intensive training on their respective farms. Throughout the academic year, Adam has become an integral member of the VYCC After completing their training week, crews then team. His efforts truly help to keep the facility met one day each week for a full day of farm operating smoothly. Thanks for all of your hard work. The Wellspring Farm Crew concentrated work Adam! on harvesting and sorting produce for the Community Supported Agriculture customers. The Two Rivers Farm Crew focused on tending Linking Learning to Life Program and harvesting crops for the Vermont Foodbank. During the spring of 2006, VYCC partnered with local youth employment organization Linking Learning to Life (LLL) to create a program to bring interns from their Training Interns & Partnering for Success (TIPS) program to the VYCC. The purpose was to give students the opportunity to learn and develop pre- employment skills, participate in an internship for high school credit, and to apply for competitive summer employment.

This exciting program ran from late winter through the end of August. During the ﬁ rst six weeks of the program, students received intense job skills training and instruction twice 9 AmeriCorps National

For the second year, VYCC participated in the AmeriCorps National Direct Program, which is designed to train young people in skills necessary to prepare for emergencies and respond to disasters. Twenty-six participants were hired from across the country to take part in this innovative program for ten months. The National Direct Members arrived in Vermont in early May and took part in components of Field Staff Training and became certiﬁ ed in Wilderness First Aid. They were then dispatched to their assigned park for the summer, where they took part in activities to enhance their leadership abilities and broaden their skill base.

At the end of the park season, crews were assembled to complete projects around the state of Vermont before moving into their winter home at Goddard College. Once settled into their new home, the Members began their service projects. For three days per week, each Member participated in an Individual Leadership Project (ILP) during which they sought a local organization or agency in need of assistance with projects or activities. These projects allowed the Members to develop further leadership skills and provide needed service to their community. Members volunteered at organizations such as the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, ReCycle North, Prevent Child Abuse – Vermont, The Return House, the State of Vermont Water Quality Division, Copley Hospital, North Country Animal League, the ECHO Leahy Center, and the Lund Family Center. At many of these sites, the Members took leadership on projects that would otherwise have been unable to be completed.

During the other two days per week, the Members worked in crews on group projects. These included working at ReCycle North, the Vermont Foodbank, the American Red Cross, and Lowell Lake State Park. Together the Members accomplished service projects that the organizations arranged for them and would otherwise be unable to complete.

Throughout the fall and winter, small teams were assembled to go to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to assist with disaster relief efforts still under way from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

The Members live at Goddard College in Plainﬁ eld, VT until they complete their service in February 2007. Throughout their term of service, each Member will have contributed at least 1,700 hours to communities within Vermont and beyond our borders – that is over 40,000 hours of service from just one VYCC program. Congratulations National Direct Members!

10 Direct Program Disaster Relief Crews VYCC’s dedication to national service is exempliﬁ ed by deployment of several crews to the Gulf Coast area since December 2005. In 2006, VYCC deployed four crews to assist on a variety of projects.

In January 2006, a team of ﬁ ve AmeriCorps Members and two Crew Leaders went to Louisiana to work with the Blue Roof Project in the Lower 9th Ward of the Holy Cross District across the river from the city of New Orleans. Crew Leaders Bridgette Remington and Scott Renker led their crew to complete projects on several homes in the region. They helped develop techniques to afﬁ x temporary blue tarps to damaged roofs in hopes that residents would have something salvageable when they returned. The crew spent three weeks in the Lower 9th Ward.

In February 2006, Crew Leader Scott Renker led a small crew to continue working on the Blue Roof Project in the Lower 9th Ward. Crew members were National Direct Member Lucas D’Amico and Bill Cummings.

In October 2006, Crew Leaders Scott Renker and Derek Zember led a team of AmeriCorps National Direct Members on a Disaster Relief Crew in Waveland, MS. The crew was sponsored by the Gulf Coast Recovery Corps (GCRC), a project of the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps (NASCC) and completed projects at Buccaneer State Park and at the home of Jack and Fay Hyman. While at Buccaneer, the crew helped park staff and other volunteers to clear the park of the massive amounts of trees that had to be taken down due to damage from the hurricane over a year before. At the Hyman’s home, the crew worked to sheetrock, mud, and tape much of the house. Additionally, the crew assisted in building a playground for a local community with the KaBoom! program.

In December 2006, Crew Leaders Polly Tobin Goddard and Beth Turcotte led a Disaster Relief Crew sponsored by GCRC of NASCC. This crew was stationed at the St. Augustine Retreat Center in Bay St. Louis, MS and completed projects there and at the homes of Jack and Fay Hyman and Walter and Mercille Wilkinson in Waveland, MS. Highlights of their stay in MS include participating in three KaBoom! playground builds, baking and delivering holiday cookies door to door while caroling, playing “Ichi Mini Hoy” on the Gulfport/BSL ferry, and working with the “8 Days of Hope” organization. National Direct Members on the crew were Tara Kierstead, Josh Sanchez, Sarah Drapp, Jesse Rogers, Heather Haymond, Justin Abbott, Anna Wagner, and Assistant Crew Leader Katie Dempsey. Many thanks to all of them!

11 State Park Crews 2006

The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps is a proud partner with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation. State Park Highlights

The VYCC continued its 13th year of a successful partnership with the Vermont Department of Forest, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) by operating ﬁ ve Vermont State Parks. For the ﬁ rst time ever, VYCC operated Allis State Park and Lowell Lake State Park.

Allis State Park is located in Randolph, VT and provided a new opportunity for VYCC to employ local youth at the park as non-residential Corps Members. This same non-residential Corps Member model was also employed at North Hero State Park. This model enriched the experience for Corps Members by allowing them to work closely with the AmeriCorps National Direct Members that also worked in the park. These Members were engaged in a 10-month program that allowed them to build leadership skills while working in the park that they then used for post-park season projects. (See AmeriCorps National Direct Program page for more information.)

Allis State Park Manager, VYCC veteran Derek Zember, and Assistant Park Manager, AmeriCorps National Direct Member Sarah Drapp did a great job of acclimating to this new park and quickly adapted the new crew model to effect,ively run Allis State Park. As a result of all of their hard work and dedication, the park was well-received by visitors.

Lowell Lake State Park is also a new park for the VYCC to operate. By combining the stafﬁ ng of Lowell Lake State Park and Jamaica State Park, park visitors were greeted with an improved park experience in both locations. The VYCC Crew that took part in this new model had a very unique experience in that they were exposed to different work projects, leadership styles, and responsibilities in each park which enhanced their learning and growth through the program. In addition to assisting with operations at Jamaica, the crew also provided many nature programs to the public. This cross- stafﬁ ng model was very successful and we look forward to continuing it in 2007. Corps Members in Training

In 2006 VYCC hired a total of 10 youth on two crews to work in the Corps Members in Training (CMiT) Program at Elmore State Park which provides a valuable educational and training opportunity for the CMiTs and provides additional support to the park crews. The CMiT program is operated in parternship with People’s Academy in Morrisville, VT and Lamoille Union High School in Hyde Park, VT and is funded by the Vermont Department of Labor.

The CMiTs were again a great asset to the crew at Elmore State Park. They completed many important projects and contributed greatly to the high level of operation at the park. Their hard work and dedication to a job well done is much appreciated!

13 Allis State Park

This was the ﬁ rst year that the VYCC operated Allis State Park in Randolph, VT so there was a lot to learn about this beautiful park as soon as we arrived. Our Park Manager Derek Zember had been a Park Assistant and AmeriCorps National Direct Member in 2005 so he was very used to everything that needed to happen to successfully operate the park. Derek got everything going in the right direction quickly!

In early May, AmeriCorps National Direct Member Sarah Drapp joined Derek to prepare the park for opening in late May.

In June, the Corps Members joined them for the season. Four Corps Members from the local area came to work at the park each day to help manage all of the Front row: Travis Runnals, Jessica Monmaney, Courtney aspects of daily operations; they were Travis Runnals, Isham. Back row: Park Manager Derek Zember, Dale Courtney Isham, Dale Dezan, and Jessica Monmaney. Dezan, AmeriCorps National Direct Member Sarah Drapp. The park was sure to keep us busy so we got right down to business trimming the roads and trails, mowing the lawns with our Herculean John Deere lawn tractor, trimming the weeds with our faithful weedwacker, and cutting back trees with our imperishable pole saws. When we weren’t attending to these tasks, we spent a lot of time stacking wood. Who can forget the speed stacking races, the broken taillight, and those creepy, slimy little bugs?

With relatively few campsites for park visitors to stay at, we still managed to have great visitor programs that visitors really enjoyed. We liked to use our imaginations and one time constructed a cotton candy machine from recyclables and various other things found around the park which enabled us to provide complimentary “conservation treats” for the community and park visitors. We also enjoyed delighting audiences with our amazing singing bear that sang old Americana folk songs to captivated visitors.

To relax and recreate, our park became famous among VYCC-operated parks for playing four-square – the ball game that’s not just for kids! We had a great summer! Thanks everyone! Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Daily park operations including: Customer service, Contact Station operations, groundskeeping, and visitor programming. • 21 diﬀ erent projects completed at park in addition to daily operations • Completed trail work on local trails • Removed invasive species • Repaired and painted park buildings

14 Branbury State Park

This summer Crew Members from far and wide worked at Branbury State Park at the foot of the Green Mountains of Salisbury, Vermont. Mark Turnbull and Sara Hanson led our crew of Tara Kierstead, Karl Stansell, Josh Sanchez, Heather Haymond, Dary Patten, Brian Lusignan, Andrea Rittenhouse, Elle Denton, Maia Hansen, and Aveyen Farneth.

Branbury is a park known for its beauty located on Lake Dunmore where customers and crew could take advantage of its canoes and kayaks. This summer was the ﬁ rst time that many of us had ever experienced water recreation, camping, or hiking. There were many trails around the park which the crew hiked together this summer. Many of the crew members Park Manager Mark Turnbull, Assistant Park Manager had knowledge in Biology, Forestry, and Dendrology, Sarah Hanson, Maia Hansen, Karl Stansell, Dary Pat- and these hikes were a great time to get in touch with ten, Tara Kierstead, Heather Haymond, Aveyen Farneth, nature and learn from fellow teammates. Over the Joshua Sanchez. course of the summer the crew grew to be somewhat like a family and we would spend much of our time off together as well. We would take trips into Brandon and get our favorite “Greek Pizza” from BHOP (that’s what we called the Brandon’s House of Pizza) or we would drive to Burlington and go to the movies. We also remember groups of us hiking up to the Falls of Lana after work on hot summer days. There was nothing better than taking a dip in that beautiful waterfall with good friends before dinner.

Speaking of dinner, Branbury was a great place to learn cooking skills. We learned how to build a menu and how to use spices, but most importantly we learned that food isn’t that great once it has been burnt. It seemed that each of us became good at cooking a few of our favorite dishes and over the course of the summer we perfected them.

The summer was a time for learning, for growing, and for making changes. We each came to Branbury with completely different life experiences but we left with experiences that we had made together!

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Daily park operations including: Customer service, Contact Station operations, groundskeeping, and visitor programming. • Completed 320 hours of site and ﬁ re ring restoration • Installed and restored gardens • Completed trail work on local trails • Repaired and painted park buildings

15 Elmore State Park

This is the Elmore experience. It is those moments which affect you most that stay with you the longest.

We will remember Thursday night bingo and eating our prizes on the spot. We will remember chasing pedal boats around the lake, because we had no dock to lock them to. We will remember homemade pizza and early surprise birthday parties. We will remember having to explain that the lake was not shut down for E. Coli. We will remember super- soaker ambushes and making brownies without ﬂ our.

We will remember night-hiking the mountain and early morning kayaking. We will remember late night ice cream runs. We will remember the tree that fell on our house and stacking wood in a lighting Front row: Park Ranger Katie McKay, Park Manager storm. We will remember when the concession Beth Turcotte, Maria Torres, Anna Wagner. Back row: freezer came unplugged and “disposing” of the Assistant Park Manager Lucy Parker, Assistant Park ruined stock. We will remember our obsession Manager Jason Berard, David Silverman, Jacob Custer, with Frisbees and our cardboard box ﬁ re. We will Brian Hayhurst, Stephanie Dortrait. Not pictured: remember Matthew Proof. when the John Deere got stuck in a ditch and the many times it got stuck on the beach. We will remember tortillas, hair-dye, night- ﬁ shing, and baked ziti.

We will remember berry- throwing and our dog Duke. We will remember wedding planning at meals and our deformed rubber rat. We will remember Utah, Colorado, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

We will have many memories from this summer some happy some sad. Each one of us has spent what seems a lifetime here, but what we will remember most is each other: Park Ranger Katie McKay, Park Manager Beth Turcotte, Park Assistant Lucy Parker, Park Assistant Jay Berard, AmeriCorps National Direct Service Members Jacob Custer, Stephanie Dortrait, David Silverman, Brain Hayhurst, Anna Wagner, Maria Torres, and Corps Member Matt Proof.

We were the crew of Elmore State Park and we will always remember it. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors

• Daily park operations including: Customer service, Contact Station operations, groundskeeping, and visitor programming. • Created and installed signage for nature trail • Repaired and installed beach house fence • Removed invasive milfoil from the lake • Repaired and painted park buildings

16 Lowell Lake State Park

Lowell Lake State Park is a beautiful park located in Londonderry, VT. This was the ﬁ rst year that VYCC operated this small park in southern Vermont. The opportunity to work on a diverse range of projects from trail work to park work, as well as to pilot a new model of operating Lowell Lake State Park while also providing service at nearby Jamaica State Park, made it a great ﬁ t for a VYCC to dive in and manage this park.

The Lowell Lake State Park Crew was led by veteran VYCC Leader Scott Renker.

Scott was joined by four AmeriCorps National Direct Service Members from around the country to help him run Lowell Lake State Park and to serve at Jamaica State Park as the Park Naturalist and Park Justin Abbott, Kristin Rest, Park Manager Scott Renker, Attendants. These four recent college graduates came Jesse Rogers, Katie Dempsey. into the crew with a diverse set of skills and unique tastes and interests – music was an example of the diversity with tastes ranging from rap to rock to country to downright “cheesy”.

Kristin (KC) Rest from Duxbury, MA, Katie Dempsey from Baltimore, MD, Justin Abbott from Fredonia, NY, and Jesse Rogers from Fairport, NY, spent their summer gaining leadership skills while working in a beatiful part of Vermont. Justin also split his time working with Scott on the trails at Lowell Lake alongside other VYCC Roving Crews. Jesse worked tirelessly collecting, preserving, and labeling insects fortheir Conservation Leadership Project, and KC and Katie kept park work entertaining by inventing new ways to rake as well as examining the versatile abilities of the golf cart. Highlights of the summer for our crew include: Winning 3rd place for our ﬂ oat in the Jamaica Hometown Parade, Justin dressed up as Smokey Bear, and West Fest - the annual fall West River water release. We made many other great memories over the summer at Lowell Lake as well!

We would also like to thank the staff at Jamaica State Park for all their hard work this summer! Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Daily park operations including: Customer service, Contact Station operations, groundskeeping, and visitor programming. • Completed ADA improvement projects around lean-tos and bathrooms • Built walkway and re-seeded lawn • Repaired stone stairs to Salmon Hole • Repaired and painted park buildings

17 North Hero State Park

Four of us came in that ﬁ rst day not knowing what to expect. We were greeted by the Crew Leaders with a blue container and a word of luck. Then we were off and searching for the other clues… for we were in an amazing race! We didn’t know what we were getting into or how long this race would last! Finally we saw our Park Ranger Chuck Stone and our Park Manager Jodi Anderson, and AmeriCorps National Direct Service Member Nicole Briere waiting for us and we ofﬁ cially began our training!

They taught us how to communicate with customers who do not speak English, and how to understand “g” as in “j”. When our fi rst campfi re rolled around, so did the rain clouds, but we never gave up, and the fi re burned bright. The skits and songs were good too, with shouts of “Herman the Worm,” Bottom row: Park Manager Jodi Anderson, Nicole “Captain, captain, Briere. Back row: Joshua Mashtere, Park Ranger captain three times Charles “Chuck” Stone, James Saathoff, Caleb fast!” and “BRING Ruopp, Michael Elliott, Jr. Not pictured: Angela ME MY ROYAL Magnan PAPERS!” We quickly discovered the joys of cleaning bathrooms, but decided to make it more exciting by having a plunging contest. Cleaning sites was always interesting, making new discoveries deep in the woods of things that seemed to have been there for ages. Of course we met a lot of wildlife. Some of it was so friendly that they couldn’t get enough of us. The raccoons seemed to prefer to visit the campers, but they never were ones to say no to dropping by our dumpster (and getting stuck inside). And the mosquitoes loved us all! There were also leopard frogs, giant bullfrogs the size of small dogs, birds, and the occasional deer or woodcock.

It was a great season and we all learned so much and experienced things we could never ﬁ t in this article. James Saathoff the logger (our newest member and best wood cutter), Josh Mashtare the mask (with his many faces), Caleb Ruopp the comedian (Sean Connery’s long lost brother), and Mike Elliott the plunger (who by the way did NOT win the plunging contest) have come away with an experience that could never be matched and never will be forgotten. The things we have learned here at North Hero State Park will stay with us forever!

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Daily park operations including: Customer service, Contact Station operations, groundskeeping, and visitor programming. • Transplanted bushes • Replanted and mulched 80 ﬂ owers • Brushed and cleared along park roads • Repaired and painted park buildings • Collected trash from woods and surrounding areas

18 19 Wilderness Crews 2006 Wilderness 1

Walking in our shoes: the secret life of our boots.

Our boots had led sheltered lives before they carried us to the Wilderness 1 crew. They now found themselves on a 1.5 mile trek to who-knows-where (the worksite), splashing through goose droppings, puddles, and lots of muck. Arriving at the worksite, our boots were struck by the unreal surroundings: a waterfall that turned on and off (due to a small hydroelectric dam); enormous rocks being hefted out of the ground as people happily cried “we’ll call it big mama’s mama!”; and a friendly neighbor across the river that came to say hello and blow loud and low on a conch shell.

As our boots listened to gentle music wafting down the valley, they narrowly avoided treading on a Front row: Crew Leader Lisa Passerello, Jessica Huyghe- variety of different salamanders that slithered away baert, Renee Morley, Erin Meade, Crew Leader Matthew beneath the beautiful rock retaining walls we had Dragon. Back row: Robert Pudner, Jamie Heinchon, created. It was often wet, but our boots came to love Leigh Siegwarth, Rachel Furey, Brent Kievit-Kylar, Liam the cool dark Fitzsimmons, Nicholas Corsones. mud.

Since we were breaking new ground on a handicapped-accessible section of the Appalachian Trail, our boots got to scuff soles with many visiting boots: those of David Harloff of the US Forest Service, Dave Hardy of the Green Mountain Club, and those of all the many volunteers that helped make the project a success. At the end of our last workday the rain let up and the sun began to shine. Our boots tromped back up the hill to home for one last time. As they were set out to dry outside the tents they ﬂ opped over exhausted and dirty, deciding that WILD 1 had been a wonderful adventure.

The boots in this story carried the following people through their VYCC experience: Crew Leaders Lisa Passerello and Matt Dragon, returning Corps Members Brent Kievit-Kylar and Jessica Huyghebaert, and ﬁ rst- time Corps Members Renee Morley, Robert Pudner, Erin Meade, Leigh Siegwarth, Liam Fitzsimmons, Jamie Heinchon, Rachel Furey, and Nicolas Corsones.

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Continued project of relocating section of the Appalachian Trail in the Rochester Ranger District • Built two large retaining walls • Began building crib walls for next phase of project • Quarried and moved 435 large rocks • Cleared 335 feet of trail four feet wide • Relocated and replanted three large hemlock trees • Completed 1,824 hours of work

21 Wilderness 2

At the beginning of the session, we had 8 people, then grew to 10, then shrunk to 9, then went to 10, then to 11, and ﬁ nally stopped at 9. Due to various circumstances, we had various co-leaders join our crew but Sarah Garvey was the one leader who stuck by us through thick and thin.

We spike camped in Underhill State Park, beneath Mount Mansﬁ eld, for our four weeks. Our spike site was relatively “frontcountry” as we had a lean- to as part of our site but we had all of the amenities of a Wilderness Crew! We worked hard to improve the well-used trails traversing Mount Mansﬁ eld and during our stay we worked on the Sunset Ridge Trail. We carefully crafted 12 rock steps, cleaned out 14 drainage dips, built one large rock waterbar, built a 20 Front row: Alex Segar-Reid, Rebecca Loeb, Holly Jones. foot bridge, and rerouted 30 feet of trail. Back row: Crew Leader Sarah Garvey, Aveyen Farneth, James Saathoff, Scott Couillard, Erica Hildebrand. Not In our spare time, we cooked gourmet bread and pictured: Assistant Crew Leader Daria Kamilipour. meals, sang everything from Sean Paul to Gaelic ballads, and played an extravagant amount of Uno and soccer. But it wasn’t all fun and games. We hiked down to a local strawberry farm and picked to our heart’s content and then went back to camp and made many a delicious treat. We also had a great Conservation Leadership Presentation at the home of Dot Evans, one of VYCC’s founders, who lives near where we were spiked.

We said goodbye a lot over the course of the session as temporary Crew Leaders Curtis Moore and Kim Wortley passed through. Curtis worked with us for the ﬁ rst week, while Kim worked with us for the second week and then returned to her other crew. Finally Daria came as a permanent assistant to Sarah. We also missed our fellow Corps Member Scott when he left because he was sick. But all things considered, it was a time for friendship and great memories.

The proud Corps Members of Wilderness 2 were: Aveyen “Ace” Farneth, Matthew Proof, Scott Couillard, Holly Jones, Rebecca Loeb, Erica Hildebrand, Alex Segar-Reid, and James Saathoff. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Constructed 12 foot waterbar followed by two step stones • Built two rock staircases • Built a 20 foot bridge • Closed overused trail and revegetated • Installed step stones, cribbing, and a staircase through an area with poor drainage • Completed 1,487 hours of work

22 Wilderness 3

“If you make work play, there is no work.” (Dean, man across the river, clown, former US Navy Seal, gem cutter, alligator wrestler, and cancer survivor)

The Wilderness 3 crew strove to make our tough work into a wonderful experience which we did quite well!

After our van ride from Richmond, we were introduced to our new home at a cross-country ski resort at Mountain Meadows Lodge. We slowly became acquainted with our surroundings, learning the many nuances of backcountry living such as building the latrines and how to use the camp stoves.

Our work site, located 1.5 miles from our spike camp, was next to Thundering Falls. For our project, we Front row: Crew Leader Lisa Passerello, Andrew Hudson, continued the project started by previous VYCC Max Duell, Althea Neri, Crew Leader Matthew Dragon. crews and sponsored by the US Forest Service Back row: Jamie Heinchon, Paul Sney, Joseph Kerlin- (David Harloff). The trail is unique because it is a Smith, Ann McGrane, Heather Albano, Andrea Franklin. handicapped Not pictured: Alisha Wright – accessible re-route of the Appalachian Trail that will allow access to the third largest waterfall in Vermont.

We moved and set gigantic, nay ginormous, rocks for retaining walls (with the assistance of the Dave Hardy and his Green Mountain Club volunteer crews, technical experts, and grip hoist), cut new trail, installed French drains, and cribbed 103 feet of trail for surfacing. Because of the nature of our project, our tasks required perfection which ultimately made the work very rewarding. The members of Wilderness 3 stuck together like oatmeal on the roof of your mouth.

Our crew was led by Crew Leaders Lisa Passerello and Matt Dragon and our Corps Members were Ann McGrane, Andrew Hudson, Joseph Kerlin-Smith, Althea Neri, Max Duell, Alisha Wright, Heather Albano, Jamie Heinchon, and Andrea Franklin.

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Continued work completed by 2006 Wilderness Crew 1and built 65 feet of new trail as a bypass for trail re-design by GMC • Cribbed 103 feet of trail • Built two modiﬁ ed French drains • Built 41 foot natural stone retaining wall • Transplanted nine trees • Completed 1,704 hours of work

23 Wilderness 4

One lesson that we learned this session is that success cannot be attained without many trials and tribulations along the way.

Our base camp was located in Beaver Meadows in Townshend, VT. The ﬁ rst few days of camp were spent building a fabulous kitchen, pitching tents, digging latrines, and building community. With crew members from all over Vermont and the U.S., each of us brought unique experiences and perspectives to the team. Crew Leaders Sarah Garvey and Kat Coons made our session memorable to the max.

Throughout the session, we worked on a variety of projects ranging from decking a 144’ bridge and completing each of a 24 and a 16 foot bridge, Front row: Crew Leader Kathleen “Kat” Coons, Thomas rerouting trails, clearing an access, clearing a half-mile Sicely, Katy Sartwell, Crew Leader Sarah Garvey. Back of trail and installing 4 10ft x 18” culverts. row: Kari Tremblay, Lydia Black, Carter Wilson, Elon Parker, Stephen Feola, Johnny Maye. It was a successful session where we not only learned how to build a team and community, but how to function as such. While battling the masses of mosquitoes, we had ample help along the way. Our many sponsors, including Kevin Beattie from Friends of the West River Trail, and the Army Corps of Engineers played key roles in our success.

Many skills were also gained throughout the session including: teamwork, rock and gravel construction, bridge construction, trail clearing, safety, communication, cooking , building a spike camp, bread-making, recreation (ie: volleyball, badminton) and plant identiﬁ cation (ie: poison ivy).

Each member of the crew contributed to the team’s success. The Corps Members of Wilderness 4 were Katy Sartwell, Carter Wilson, Johnny Maye, Elon Parker, Kari Tremblay, Lydia Black, Thomas Sicely, and Stephen Feola. The crew came together really well and we all had a phenomenal session! Thank you everyone for a stellar season.

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Created 3,080 feet of new trail on an old railroad bed connecting sections of trail that had been under construction for 10 years • Installed four culverts • Hauled 20 yards of gravel to reinforce structures • Re-routed 40 feet of trail and closed the old trail Friends of the • Constructed two 20 feet bridges • Completed 1,342 hours of work West River Trail

24 1 Roving Crews 2006 Roving 1

The Legendary Roving One team began their journey as a ragtag group of misﬁ ts. Under the watchful eyes of Crew Leaders Andrew Magee and Kim Wortley, they were molded in the wisest men and women of the dusty trail. In four short weeks this crew managed to make a signiﬁ cant impact on the Moosalamoo region of the Green Mountain National Forest. They completed work on the Robert Frost interpretive Trail, built a 16 foot bridge, cleared blow-downs, maintained campground sites, installed earthen dips and maintained archeological sites. Much was learned. As keepers of the most heavily guarded trail secrets, we’ve decided some lessons are just too important not to share. As a team, the Legendary Roving One has compiled the following “Nuggets of Wisdom”:

1. Hot things are hot! Not just sometimes but always. 2. Rocks are heavy. 3. Never attempt to pick up a frog with a Frisbee. Bottom row: Crew Leader Andrew Magee, Luken 4. Just because it’s called Moosalamoo does not mean Weaver, Bryan Nakayama. Middle row: Crew that you will see a moose. Leader Kimberly Wortley, Lee Ann Grogan. Top 5. There’s nothing six determined VYCC crew members row: Erin McCreary. can’t do. (Including, but not limited to, dance moves Michael Jackson would be jealous of.)

Roving 1 crew members Erin McCreary, Luken Weaver, Lee Ann Grogan, and Bryan Nakayama also participated in a Leadership Development Curriculum throughout their experience. Each week they took part in workshops and activities led by Crew Leaders Andrew and Kim to help them identify and develop their own leadership styles. This included taking leadership within the Moosalamoo Campground and hosting visitor programming for visitors as well as taking on the role of Park Hosts.

As a culmination of their experience on the crew, each of the members of Roving 1 led teambuilding and ice breaker activities at the Youth Leadership Retreat at the end of the session. They did a great job bringing together all of the things they had learned through the Leadership Development Curriculum to be strong and active participants in the Youth Leadership Retreat.

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Quarried eight rocks over 600 lbs and four rocks over 250 lbs each on the Oak Ridge Trail • Replaced two waterbars with earthen dams on the Oak Ridge Trail • Spread one truckload of gravel on the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail Moosalamoo • Set three step stones and made several buckets of crush for the Goshen Trail Association

27 Roving 2

Question: What do you get when you combine nine people, three spike sites, six latrines, two solid weeks of rain, 100,000 rabid mosquitoes, 5,000 tent-eating grasshoppers, the mental stress of limitless geography trivia questions to be answered, the migrating killer zombies of Roving 6, food-stealing skunks, titanium slivers the size of match sticks, grommet-ripping wind, and the stench of three shower-less Corps Members forced to brave life in the woods, the elements, and each other with only the aid of some creative tarp tying, pudgy pie pizza, a tour of Ben & Jerry’s factory, an “I’m not touching you contest,” a Dunkin Donuts birthday party, the CLP featuring our sponsor for the ﬁ rst three weeks (What would Jim Ryan do?), our good friend the sasquatch, two pizza parties, a visit with Tom Hark, a tour of the Cabot Creamery, crazy scream fests, Front row: Thomas Sicely, Kathlyne French, Joshua endless movie excerpts, Matt Damon, a glass blowing Young, Colin Connor. Back row: Crew Leader Chris- demonstration, Dale the Chipmunk, Fife the gnome, tine Severson, Elizabeth Dana, Sarah Bridgeman, eight muddy Corps Members, four canoes to pick up th Rebekah Phelps, Andrew Balentine, Assistant Crew trash, a puddle-stomping 4 of July Barbecue, always Leader Riley Stark. a good friend to reassure you that bears won’t attack, our Crew Leader Chris to save us from small rodents, four shiny interns… and through it all completing two stone-lined drainage ditches, four rock weirs, a clean former garbage dump lacking 128 tires, over 200 trees planted, three rain gardens built, and saving the world from all evil? Answer: Roving 2

Roving Crew 2 was led by Crew Leader Chris Severson and Assistant Crew Leader Riley Stark with Corps Members Colin Connor, Josh Young, Elizabeth Dana, Sarah Bridgeman, Kathlyne French, Andrew Ballentine, Rebekah Phelps, and Thomas Sicely.

Together the crew worked to complete projects at the following locations: East Hardwick, Deer Brook, Arrowhead Mountain Lake, and Johnson State College with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Water Quality Division, and Fern Hollow with the Town of Essex.

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Removed 140 tires, three dumpsters of trash, and one dumpster of scrap metal from Arrowhead Mountain Lake • Installed two rain gardens and one drainage basin • Built a 60 foot stone-lined rip-rap drainage ditch with 10 foot culvert • Installed nine brush check dams and planted 100 Town of Essex, VT shrubs and willow stakes for erosion control

28 Roving 3

Roving 3 spent their session working in four different towns fi xing many different cemeteries for the Vermont Old Cemetery Association (VOCA). First in Royalton they experienced blazing heat and fi xed 207 gravestones. Next in Wallingford they had pouring rain and a trip to the doctor’s, but fi xed 155 gravestones. Then, in Cornwall, there was excellent weather and several wonderful volunteers that brought the crew baked goods, watermelon, and cold beverages every day, and hosted a barbecue for them as well. Also, they fi xed 170 stones. For their last project they went to Calais where they had a mixture of rain, scorching heat, and nice weather, and fi nished 161 stones. In all, the crew fi xed 693 gravestones, because they are the best VOCA crew ever!

While working they met a lot of interesting people. Lucas Berard, Meagon Burnham, Lauren Chicote, Egan In Royalton and Calais they had Mak volunteering to McGuire, and Crew Leader Mary Letourneau. help them. Although they had an exceptionally small crew they compensated for it with all of their hard work. Every morning before heading off to the work site they ate oatmeal for breakfast. This included eating a lot of maple syrup.

They loved to swim a lot and went swimming after work as much as they could. Every time they got into the Suburban they would listen to music. They also loved to listen to Lucas play the guitar at camp. They felt like hobos, so they ate hobo bundles for dinner. They had many dishes in the Dutch oven, and they had some burned food in it too. When moving and driving to and from work, they saw emus. They also saw baby cows. Also, in their traveling they found some free stuff, and one of them got screech pants.

They took trips, saw Mormons, and went to Satan’s Kingdom. They had two mascots, Carlos and Mrs. Robin, whom they would ask advice from. Everyone got J-Lo names. They had E-Mc (Egan McGuire), L-Bow (Lucas Berard), M-Bu (Meagon Burnham), and M-Le (Mary Letourneau – Crew Leader). That is the awesome crew, Roving 3.

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Completed repair and restoration work on 207 gravestones in Royalton, VT • Completed repair and restoration work on 155 gravestones in Wallingford, VT • Maintained 170 gravestones in Cornwall, VT • Completed repair, restoration, and maintenance Vermont Old Cemetery Association work on 161 gravestones in Calais, VT • Completed 656 hours of work

29 Roving 4

There, we labored over the biggest waterbar ever, And the sunshine, It made for much happier weather.

The hike would have been shorter, Than 1 ½ mile Weathersﬁ eld had been, But we parked far away to hike up, And put a “DO NOT TOW!” sign on our van.

We took on challenges, Greater than the norm, Finishing 30 feet of checked steps, All in ﬁ ve days…we were a storm.

There was laughter and soda, Salad eaten in elation, Topped of with Rick White’s CCC presentation.

Front row: Stephen Feola, Parker Tobin, Crew Leader And so, with little sadness, And no more regret, Karen Thompson, Elizabeth Demarais, Laura Budd. Back We got ready for Jamaica, And packed up our tents. row: Josh Staples, Crew Leader James Cote, Bryan Parks, Matthew Burnham, Danielle Rupert, Maia Hansen. The fi rst shower in a week, The fi rst night’s stay, The fi rst early Like freshmen in highschool, morning, To the Wide-eyed and scared, trail that awaits. Our bags were well-packed, But still weren’t prepared. Crew Leaders Karen First lunch of many, PB & J Thompson and Little did we know, We’d eat every day. James Cote led Roving 4 and Mt. Ascutney, Our fi rst work site, together they We lopped trails for hours, Slept hard every night. completed work on projects at Squirrels attacked our kitchen, To supposedly search for Ascutney State food, Park, Okemo But we don’t think the rations drew ‘em in, It was our State Forest, positive attitudes. and Jamaica State Park for Then off to Okemo, For the fi rst time, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation. We had strawberry shortcake in our tummies, And our families on our minds. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Built a 10 foot timber staircase and rail and rerouted 240 feet of trail at Jamaica State Park. • Created timber and scree blockades, built two large waterbars, installed several drainage dips, and brushed six miles of trail at Ascutney State Park. • Constructed a cribbing staircase with a cross- drain tied in, installed seven check steps, and two waterbars at Okemo State Forest.

30 Roving 5

Wanted: VYCC Roving 5 Alias “the rockstars”

Wanted For The Following Actions:

• Pruning, cutting, lopping, and generally trimming 1.8 miles of trees to maintain CCC road in Shrewsbury providing better access for users • Installing 12 rock water bars and one stretch of cribbing on Shrewsbury Peak Access Trail • Being led by their accomplice (project sponsor), Gary Salmon through a dangerous ice cave during a recreation day • Also with Mr. Salmon, informed of several pieces of important conservation information related to the projects on which they worked Front row: Theresa Demarais, Evan Adorisio, Crew • Loitering in Rutland areas while consuming pizza and Leader Mary McQuiggan. Back row: Crew Leader conducting detailed conservation and environmental Ricky Chavez, Carren Cameron, Emma Frappier, research Stephen Bassett, Andrew Ford, Kye Lippold.

And at their second site in Townshend, VT:

• Finished trail begun by Brattleboro Community Crew by placing 1,425 square feet of gravel, 1,445 square feet of sur pac, and by completing one rock water bar, one rock solid culvert, and 67 feet of cribbing • Converting old logging trails and undeveloped walking paths into a safe pedestrian trail that serves the purpose of connecting senior independent living units with Grace Cottage Hospital as well as providing a public recreation area to the greater community.

Also known for: • Five crazy dance parties with Gnarles Barkley • Loss of two Corps Members and one Crew Leader • Confounding three visiting Crew Leaders • Having a great deal of fun!

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Built one large retaining wall with a ditch at Coolidge State Forest • Brushed 18 miles of trail on and old Civilian Conservation Corps road in Shrewsbury • Built 250 feet of new trail and continued work on previous trail installation • Resurfaced 475 feet of trail with gravel and 14 Valley Cares yards of sur pac

31 Roving 6

Roving Six Rocks! We are always dirty by the end of the work week. We have worked in the mud and rain to build 150 feet of rock retainer causeway, hauled tons and tons of gravel, installed 5 geotextile burritos, installed two culvert pipes, and constructed a 16 foot bridge.

Roving Six loves Ramen, squirrels, and hoola hoops. We must laugh and hug daily. Joking and good humor is a way of life for us, but there is still time for reﬂ ection during our evening activities. (candle passes and nightly games). We were never very good at starting ﬁ res, but we always gave it our best shot – Oh the rainy season in Vermont.

Roving Six will miss the color game, the moose, Front row: Crew Leader Matthew Callman, Becca Blust, the rain, the stars and the sky, lying “down by the Amanda Duffy. Back row: Bryan Piaseczny, Christo- banks,” the jokes and goat pranks, and of course “lil’ pher Morine, Chelsea Martin, Ryan Meunier, Melissa Johning” their Headquarters supervisor, Program Burnham, Rod Morrison, Crew Leader Julie Hanson. Not Coordinator Christa Finnern. pictured: Evan Moore.

Roving Six always had something fun planned for their time off. On July 4th, we joined up with a few other VYCC crews and marched in the Richmond town parade tossing candy to the spectators and proudly carrying the VYCC banner.

Roving Six was led by Crew Leaders Matthew Callman of Port Charlotte, FL and Julie Hanson of Berea, OH. Together with Corps Members Bryan Piaseczny, Melissa Burnham, Rod Morrison, Ryan Meunier, Becca Blust, Evan Moore, and Amanda Duffy, they completed four weeks of work for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation. Though the crew shrank in size as a few Corps Members left early, they remained excited about their crew experience and managed to complete a tremendous amount of work on their projects. While at the Kettle Pond Portage Access, they completed work on a rock causeway and the trail to improve access to Kettle Pond. While working on the Little River trails, the crew worked in Mt. Mansﬁ eld State Forest installing a retaining wall and step stones on the Sawmill Loop Trail. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Resurfaced 70 feet of trail, cut 50 feet of sidehill cut, installed 50 feet of turnpike, built a 20 foot retaining wall, and installed 30 feet of cribbing on the trails at Mt. Mansﬁ eld State Forest. • Resurfaced 150 feet of trail with varying sized rocks, installed two 10 foot culverts, built 130 feet of retaining wall, and installed 45 feet of geo-tex- tiling turnpike.

32 Roving 7

For four weeks in June and July, VYCC Roving Crew 7 was stationed out of the Moosalamoo Campground in beautiful Goshen, Vermont. Because this crew was speciﬁ cally oriented around leadership, the number of Corps Members was smaller than many other VYCC crews. Counting the two Crew Leaders, Andrew Magee and Kim Wortley, Roving 7 is composed of six outstanding individuals. Upon arrival, we were surprised to ﬁ nd only one Vermonter! Rain E. Dayz (Danielle Rupert) hails from Newark, VT in the Northeast Kingdom. Chris Sorrell and Jamethiel Crabbe were both born west of the Mississippi. Jame, from Portland, Oregon and Chris from Utah. Andrew and Kim were both born and raised in Connecticut, while Matt spent his youth in New Jersey. Front row: Danielle Rupert, Jamethiel Crabb. Back row: The amount of trail knowledge and experience Crew Leader Andrew Magee, Matthew Utterback, Chris this crew held was great! Wide arrays of projects Sorrell. Not pictured: Crew Leader Kimberly Wortley. were tackled during Roving 7’s expedition. Some were more technically demanding, like bridge building on the Wilkinson Trail. Others required more brute strength and endurance like hauling gravel on the Robert Frost Trail, constructing earthen dips on the Aunt Jennie trail, and turn-piking on the Wilkinson Trail and the Oak Ridge trail, to name but a few of these extensive projects surmounted by this bunch. When asked what helped him endure a month in the woods with VYCC, Matt’s response was two words, “POSITIVE ATTITUDE”. Though this reply was concise, it emphasized a critical component that ensures a healthy community for all!

Roving 7 was led by Crew Leaders Andrew Magee and Kim Wortley who also guided the crew through the Leadership Development curriculum throughout their crew experience.

At the end of their session, each Corps Member on Roving 7 took a leadership role in the Youth Leadership Development Retreat by leading activities with the other crews participating in the retreat. They did a fantastic job!

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Hauled 10 yards of gravel from 1/4 mile away to ﬁ nish 400 feet of trail on the Robert Frost Trail • Cleaned and re-sculpted 20 earthen dips and built 12 new earthen dips on the Aunt Jennie Trail • Completed 15 feet of turnpiking on the Oak Ridge Trail Moosalamoo • Completed 200 feet of turnpiking on the Wilkinson Trail Association

33 Roving 8

Our crew, Roving 8 was ﬁ rst located at Elmore State Park building a 12 step rock staircase with two large cairns built at the trailhead to keep out ATV’s and snow machines. We also put in countless stepping stones to help improve the trail which climbs virtually straight up to the Elmore Fire Trail.

Our daily hike up Elmore Mountain was long, steep, and muddy but each day we did it faster and faster. The rain never gave up, but we didn’t either. We survived an electrical storm and thunder that would make a grown man cry.

Many evenings were spent swimming in Elmore Lake and visiting with the park staff. At night the crew often battled to keep the raccoons out of the food Front row: Marnie Fortman, Crew Leader Christine Sev- buckets. We then moved to Knight Island by landing erson, Willa Greenleaf. Middle row: Alan Byrnes, James craft. We built a total of 320 feet of boardwalk. We Descoteau, Ashley Fay. Back row: Preston Palmer, Rachel also re-vegetated about 100 feet of re-routed trails Kane, Christopher Geissler, Crew Leader Riley Stark. and installed corduroy. All of this work was done Not pictured: Sia Vissering. to make the trail more accessible for visitors of the island. Yet again out on the island we battled raccoons, one night they got ﬁ ve loaves of bread.

Much of our free time was spent swimming and kayaking on the shores. Two nights we slept out on the dock, watching shooting stars as we fell asleep. One weekend we tie-dyed socks and played games. The ranger on the island threw us a pizza party our last day. The Island Runner ferry picked up the crew, our smelly gear and transported us to the mainland. As a crew we learned that working hard paid off, because we then got to play hard. Mountain life was tough, but island life was great. Later mate!

Roving 8 was led by Crew Leaders Chris Severson and Riley Stark. Together with Corps Members Sia Vissering, Alan Byrnes, James Descoteau, Preston Palmer, Rachel Kane, Christopher Geissler, Marnie Fortman, and Ashley Fay, the crew worked on projects sponsored by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Installed 14 step stones on the upper part of the Elmore Mountain Trail • Installed two 4.5 foot rock cairns made of 28 yards of rock and built a stone staircase with armoring and cribbing at the junction of the Catamount Trail and the Elmore Mountain Trail • Built 320 feet of boardwalk and re-routed 75 feet of trail on the trails of Knight Island State Park

34 Roving 9

This is the story of a small but happy Roving Crew with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. We started our session with four Corps Members but when we returned to the Training Center at the end of our three week session, we only had two with us. But that never kept us from having a lot of fun or from cranking out a lot of super cool projects! Among other things, we were very proud to have built a bridge in just three days and that our rain gardens did just what they were supposed to, kept storm water from draining into the local waterways!

On our day off, we saw Ice Caves with Ethan Swift. We shared our home with cats, 28 cats to be exact. We often had guests at our dinner table and played “My Cow” on the ride to work each day. We used sluiceways to build debris jams. We were super Sarah Skelding, Phil Reynolds, Crew Leader Mary heroes putting out tire ﬁ res and therefore became Letourneau. Not pictured: Annie Burtchell, Marie “The Tire Fire Special Task Force”. We enjoyed Robertson. singing and kept ourselves amused with lots of good humor. We were together for three weeks but still made that special bond that makes a VYCC crew so much fun. One time we got stuck in the mud. Our favorite tools were the orange bow saw and a swiiiizzle stick.

Roving 9 was led by veteran Crew Leader Mary Letourneau. She was joined by Corps Members Phil Reynolds and Sarah Skelding to complete work on three different projects throughout their three-week session.

The ﬁ rst project involved building bridges over sensitive wetlands on the Otter Valley Trail. The second project found the crew installing riparian plantings and completing streambank restoration projects for the Lower Poultney and Hubbardton River Riparian Restoration Project. The third project involved installing rain gardens at three public facilities as well as hosting public information and outreach events about why rain gardens are important and how to build them. All three projects were sponsored by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Water Quality Division. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Installed two 100 sq. foot rain gardens at the Poultney Visitor Center • Prepared and delineated a 350 sq. foot rain garden at the Vermont Achievement Center • Built 60 foot bridge on the Otter Valley Trail • Installed 13 debris jams on the Hubbardton River • Removed 800 lbs of water chestnut from Lake Champlain

35 Roving 10

We sailed the white swan to Norwich, Vermont, before we were forever plagued with country music, we jammed to the ﬁ rst and favorite of our many cassette tapes: the original NOW. When we arrived we met Captain Pedro, our sponsor, and his trusty ﬁ rst mates, Molly and Blueberry. The heavens opened and it rained…and rained…and rained…

We cooked our spaghetti dinner and the spirit of Roving Crew 10 was born. We became the adventurous and cheerful “Trail Pirates”. The ﬁ rst week two men jumped ship, but the crew sailed on, creating the beautifully crafted Snapple Packet Turnpike.

Our beloved Polar Bear, from Canada, America’s hat, Front row: Kathryn Yawney, Mike Phair. Back row: showed us how to properly cut and haul lumber. Augusta Hagen-Dillon, Crew Leader James Cote, Colleen Then Pirate Flatulent came and yelled, “MORE Cunningham, Jessica Palin, Adam Francis, Jesse Ker- GRAVEL!” After the sill pad was set for the 14 foot lin-Smith, Crew Leader Karen Thompson. Not pictured: bridge, we nailed that Johnny into place, savvy. Our Logan Yandow. next voyage was a 20- footer, which quickly became two 20-footers.

We built an abutment that much resembled a mutant Fenway Park, and then there was more gravel…and more gravel, and more gravel.

Eventually our projects were over and we ate buffet dinner at the harbor. No more gravel, no more lumber, no more log-dogging or GORP…but still plenty of country music…and the legend of Roving 10…Yar, matey!

Roving 10 was led by Crew Leaders Karen Thompson and James Cote. With Corps Members Jesse Kerlin-Smith, Augusta Hagen-Dillon, Jessica Palin, Colleen Cunningham, Mike Phair, Kathryn Yawney, and Logan Yandow, the crew spent four weeks completing projects on the Bill Ballard Trail in Norwich, VT for the Norwich Land Management Council.

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsor • Hauled all construction materials to remote site and constructed three bridges • Built hemlock retainers for the approaches to the abutments of two bridges and installed 15 feet of rock cribbing • Installed 40 feet of turnpiking Norwich Land • Cut sidehill cut on 25 feet of trail • Resurfaced 35 feet of trail Management Council

36 Roving 11

Our ﬁ rst day with the crew, we got to know each other better by doing a mini-triathalon - it was a lot of fun! We settled into our campsite and then built a ﬁ re and got to know each other better. We had a great time and by Monday morning, we were ready to begin our work projects!

This session Roving 11 spent three weeks working at the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and one week in Essex working on erosion control. During our three weeks in Missisquoi we worked on invasive species control by hand pulling water chestnuts in various swamps and marshes on the Missisquoi River delta.

In addition to this we completed 3,500 feet of new trail, connecting two other sections of trail Front row: Carrie Brown, Mark Jackson, Dewey Dun- to complete the Stephen Young Marsh Trail loop. nington, Rebekah Shafer. Back row: Crew Leader Adam Working closely with our sponsor David Frisque, we Keeling, Jamin Lindemann, Galan Strader, Elizabeth De- hauled over 180 tons of gravel and constructed 300 marais, Rebecca Lipka, Crew Leader Mary McQuiggan. feet of timber turn pike.

For our fourth week we moved to Essex and completely changed tasks from what we had done at MNWR. We worked with civil engineer Dennis Lutz to built nine check dams to trap sediment and repair erosion caused by development.

Outside of work the crew bonded into a family. Most free time was spent together, playing cards, playing crummy tennis and listening to Galan talk in his sleep. Our Crew Leaders ﬁ t in like part of the crew. All in all it has been an amazing four weeks.

Roving 11 was led by Crew Leaders Mary McQuiggan and Adam Keeling. With Corps Members Dewey Dunnington, Mark Jackson, Galan Strader, Rebecca Lipka, Carrie Brown, Jamin Lindemann, and Elizabeth Demarais, the crew completed three weeks of work for the US Fish and Wildlife at Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge followed by one week of work for the Town of Essex at Fern Hollow. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Blazed 3,500 feet of trail, installed 300 feet of turnpiking, hauled 182 tons of gravel for resurfacing of trails of the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) • Removed 1,197 water chestnuts from lakes and Town of Essex, VT ponds at MNWR • Constructed nine new check dams and maintained nine existing check dams for the Town of Essex

37 Roving 12

We hope we helped the Mississquoi to be better, In any kind of good Vermont weather. Roving 12 – the Breadbox Crew, A job well done and we will miss you!

Roving 12 was led by Crew Leaders Julie Hanson and Matthew Callman. Together with Corps Members Benjamin Weber, Loren Munger, Maija Lawrence, Molly Dowd, Rhonda Lipsey, Valen Delgado and Theresa Demarais, the crew completed work on three different projects. For the Missisquoi River Basin Association, they assisted in the second phase of a geomorphic assessment project by working for two weeks installing fencing for cattle exclusion as well as improving stream crossings, completing streambank stabilization projects, and planting vegetation. Front row: Theresa Demarais, Rhonda Lipsey, Maija Lawrence, Molly Dowd. Back row: Crew Leader Julie The crew also completed two weeks of work for the Hanson, Loren Munger, Nathan Reilly, Valen Delgado, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Benjamin Weber, Crew Leader Matthew Callman. Water Quality Division (DEC). One project involved streambank Roving 12 had lots of fun, stabilization in In the sun, in the sun, in the hot, hot sun. which the crew Raking all the sun-baked day, installed tree Raking, raking, all the day. revetments, Seed with timothy or seed with rye, brush rolls, Hay all day under gray or blue sky. and riparian plantings in the Rain or shine- it’s rake, seed, hay, Wanzer Brook 75,000 square feet to this day. watershed. The other Next was tree planting; 460 to be exact, week for the 200 feet of soft wood revetments, that’s a fact. DEC involved 1200 pounds of garbage from Lake Carmi, installing rip- and a sweet bog walk with the Nature guy. rap on the banks of the Rockwork seems slow at fi rst, Winooski River But soon we fi nd out all its worth. on the Whitcomb Farm to reduce erosion. So goodbye runoff, erosion, and rain, Goodbye algal blooms and fi sh in pain. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Constructed 70 linear feet of rip-rap along the banks of the Winooski River • Planted 77,184 sq. feet of conservation seeding on banks and gullies of four farms in the Rock River watershed to prevent erosion into the water • Installed 12 revetments and two brushrolls, and Missisquoi River transplanted 10 trees on the Dean Stockman Farm • Removed 1,200 lbs of trash from Marsh Brook Basin Association

Community Crews 2006 Brattleboro Community Crew

This summer, eight corps members and two crew leaders blazed a new trail for the VYCC as the ﬁ rst- ever Brattleboro Community Crew. Seven weeks, 41 drainage dips, 450 feet of ditching, 250 of boardwalk reconstruction, 2 bridges, a few tons of gravel, and miles of mapping later, all ten VYCCers survived to tell the tale—wiser, gooﬁ er, and way buffer than before!

The Brattleboro Community Crew started the summer cutting a new trail in Townsend for Valley Cares, connecting a soon-to-be-built senior housing complex with downtown Townsend. The trail will allow residents and community members to reach the town center without walking on Vermont Route 35. After two weeks of mad mud mattocking and hauling gravel, the crew headed off into the Brattleboro Front row: Michael Faulkner, Crew Leader Anya Retreat’s vast network of trails. Here, the crew Schwartz, Rebecca Greene-Cramer, Jaclyn Hamilton. became cartographers, tour guides, stone artists, and Back row: Crew Leader Drew Cameron, Antoine Cun- experts in the ﬁ ner workings of the hazel hoe. We ningham-Cook, Elias Burgess, Kieran Moriarty. Not improved tread surface, and cleared the trail corridor pictured: Megan Lynde, Erin McAvoy. throughout the Retreat Trails network. Working in all three regions of the network (the Tower, Ice Pond, and Meadows regions), we constructed earthen drainage dips, installed check steps over 63 feet, and added ditching. We widened and cleared the trail corridor through ﬁ ve miles of trails, removing blow downs and lopping to establish a safe corridor. Our crew also assisted Josh Ryan with mapping the trails, and made recommendations for trail closures and future projects.

With temperatures stuck at the 100-degree mark, the Brattleboro Community Crew ﬁ nished its seven-week session with a massive decking project on the Hogle Trail, a wildlife preserve in Brattleboro. With help of friendly neighbors and a late-afternoon delivery of popsicles from HQ staff, the crew powered up drills and saws to reconstruct over 250 feet of boardwalk, and construct and improve two bridges. Seven weeks of excellent work, delicious potlucks, lively WoRD discussions, Birdy on a Perch…the VYCC legacy has begun in Brattleboro. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Widened and cleared ﬁ ve miles of trail and assisted with mapping trails at Retreat Farm property Th e Windham Foundation • Removed barbed wire and installed step stones, Entergy Corporation gargoyles, and earthen dips on the Rainbow Trail • Cleared 180 feet of ditching and built earthen dips Retreat Healthcare • Built 530 feet of new trail on the Valley Cares Hogle Trust Pedestrian Trail • Built and repaired bridges on the Hogle Trail Valley Cares

41 Burlington Community Crew

For our ﬁ rst week of work the Burlington Community Crew (BCC) built three bridges in Burlington. During this week, we accomplished a lot, learned a lot, and got to know each better. This was the week that we became a true crew.

The rest of summer was full of hard work, sweat, and lots o’ mosquitoes. We successfully built seven bridges that will happily lead walkers and hikers over deep, dark pits of bushes and mud as well as other bridges that will allow mountain bikers to travel over gigantic puddles. We also worked on a city connector trail in Vergennes, and got to work with Carroll, the happiest Public Works Supervisor on the planet Earth.

Front row: Crew Leader Gregory Rosewell, Matthew Next, we headed to Milton and built a bridge over Lawrence, Heidi Smith, Scarlet Loiselle, Samantha Gla- some cascading water. We learned about edible and ser. Back row: Francis Friend, Stephanie Sandul, Peter medicinal plants and we also cut some new trail, so Spartos, Steven Foucher, Crew Leader Kristen Kozik. Not that hikers may enjoy their river walk. pictured: Justin Frawley. At the end of our regular session, we said goodbye to ﬁ ve of our crew members and became a micro-crew to complete an additional project. With Kristen as the sole Crew Leader, we built rain gardens full of sweet smelling ﬂ owers. Five days passed quickly, and then to our surprise, the summer crew season was over.

Throughout the summer, we made new friends and we laughed. We learned a lot about ourselves and the people we had been working with. We blossomed and grew, like the ferns we so gently transplanted during our re-veging, and the vibrant ﬂ owers we had planted in our rain gardens.

The Burlington Community Crew consisted of our two Crew Leaders Greg Rosewell and Kristen Kozik and Corps Members Stephanie Sandul, Peter Spartos, Samantha Glaser, Justin Frawley, Heidi Smith, Steven Foucher, Matthew Lawrence, Scarlet Loiselle, and Francis Friend. Great job BCC!

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Built 250 of new trail, blazed 1,000 feet, and built three bridges on the Vergennes Rail Trail • Re-routed trail to reduce ATV impact and installed cribbing on the Lamoille River Walk • Built three bridges on the Arms Grant Trail • Installed four rain gardens and a path to a baseball City of Winooski Town of Milton ﬁ eld for the City of Winooski City of Vergennes • Completed over 2,500 hours of work

42 Montpelier Community Crew

We went from rock working to landscaping and building ﬂ oating docks. We used teamwork, dug trail, and moved enormous rocks. We mortared walls and planted shrubs. We worked hard all day and became best buds. Having fun in the sun, wind, and rain, I can’t wait ‘till we can do this again.

We moved buckets ﬁ lled with gravel 100 feet and more by ﬁ re lining them. We built rock walls out of granite boulders that weighed a few hundred pounds.

It wasn’t all just work though, we learned about dragonfl ies, bog plants, the defi nition of a fen, even how deep Chickering Bog is! We discussed politics, the environment, health issues and what we did on the weekends. Front row: Crew Leader Kathleen “Kat” Coons, Lynn O’Connell, Crew Leader Sarah Hays. Back row: Indigo Ichi Mini Hoy and Big Booty will be games that we Wolf, Andrew Cullen, Logan Hutchins, Jeffrey Stiffl er, share with all of our friends. We learned a lot from Shahiyela Hunter, Sia Vissering, Joanna Goldfarb. work, sure, but we also learned from just being together.

We have overcome obstacles, mastered our challenges, and had a fun time doing it. We had good times and bad times. We’ve made friends and made money (Yay! Yay!) But out of all this, the thing we will have the longest is our knowledge and our friendships.

The Montpelier Community Crew was led by Crew Leaders Kathleen “Kat” Coons and Sarah Hays. Corps Members on the crew were Lynn O’Connell, Logan Hutchins, Joanna Goldfarb, Sia Vissering, Jeffrey Stifﬂ er, Andrew Cullen, Indigo Wolf, and Shahiyela Hunter.

Together they completed four different projects for the following project sponsors: Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation - Water Quality Division, Revitalizing Waterbury, Cross Vermont Trail Association, and the Nature Conservancy.

We had a great summer and hope to do some more work like this again next year! Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Continued construction of rock wall on 150 feet of Cross Vermont Trail • Stabilized stone basement and landscaped area at Waterbury Village Railroad Station • Hand-placed 2,050 sq. feet of rip-rap and built a fence at Wilkins Ravine • Removed existing bridges and built 10 sections of ﬂ oating boardwalk at Chickering Bog

43 Woodstock Community Crew

The Woodstock Community Crew was based at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (MBR), Vermont’s only National Park. We started off our VYCC crew experience by doing our orientation and learning about tool safety with our Crew Leaders. Then we hiked the trails around MBR with Ranger Ed and identiﬁ ed some of the areas that we needed to work on. We learned what kind of tools we would need to ﬁ x the area.

Ranger Ed took us on a 4.5 mile hike and taught us about the plantation, the trees, the wildlife, and historic sites within the park. It gave us all a new perspective on the environment we would be working in for the next seven weeks.

Front row: Britni Morgan, Tess Kahn, Brooke Donoghue, We kicked off the session by spending a week Amanda Bump, Crew Leader Jennifer Trombley. Back working on the trails clearing ditches and building row: Crew Leader Ben Turati, Lauren Bogosian, Brian waterbars. The next week we began to learn from Dow, Brendan Kelly-Longfellow, Ethan Rousseau, Kris- Christine and Julie (MBR staff) about the many topher Ferris. Not pictured: Daniel Poland. invasive species that are in the park. There are a lot! We spent a lot of time pulling out and cutting the invasive species. There was honeysuckle, barberry, pipeweed, and periwinkle to name a few!

We did a lot of really cool NODs (nature of the day) when we saw things like a pileated woodpecker, deer, caterpillars etc. We also helped Kyle (MBR staff) build some salamander dwellings.

Though we worked really hard, we enjoyed the afternoon of July 4th at the Billings Farm and taking the occasional swim with the SCA crew that worked at MBR as well.

The Woodstock Community Crew was led by Crew Leaders Jennifer Trombley and Ben Turati who worked with Corps Members Brooke Donoghue, Amanda Bump, Kristopher Ferris, Tess Kahn, Britni Morgan, Ethan Rousseau, Lauren Bogosian, Daniel Poland, Brian Dow, and Brendan Kelly-Longfellow. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Built rustic alder fence for Pogue Dam Restoration Project • Resurfaced and maintained 18,200 feet of existing trail • Removed thousands of invasive species plants • Built salamander dwellings • Built 1,300 feet of new trail connecting the park and Woodstock High School

Fall Crews 2006 Better Backroads Crew

In partnership with the Better Backroads program and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation River Management Section, this VYCC fall crew completed three weeks of work that will help control and minimize erosion in three Vermont towns.

The Better Backroads program works with towns, planning commissions, nonproﬁ ts, and lake and watershed organizations to implement erosion control and maintenance techniques that save money while protecting and enhancing Vermont’s lakes and streams.

The Better Backroads Crew completed projects in the towns of Barre, Arlington, and Cambridge where local town ofﬁ cials coordinated the crew while they were on site. “It was wonderful to work so closely with the local townships” said Crew Leader Matt Brantner, “They offered expertise, Joshua Sanchez, James Saathoff, Anna Wagner, Sia delivered materials, and supported us with heavy machinery Vissering, Crew Leader Matthew Brantner, Andrea when we needed it.” Franklin.

The projects will help protect the water quality of Vermont’s lakes and streams by reducing the amount of sediments and pollutants reaching them. The crew constructed culvert headers, stone aprons, planted vegetation, and stabilized stream banks. Special thanks go out to Linda Boudette, Backroads Technician, whose dedication to the partnership, the work, and the crew helped make the 2006 project a shining success.

For our fi rst two weeks, we spike camped near the trails at Goddard College in Plainfi eld. During the third week we stepped up to plush camping in lean-tos at Emerald Lake State Park and then to camping in the lean-tos behind the VYCC Training Center. As the days and nights got cooler (and we camped through the fi rst frost!), we kept ourselves warm (and entertained) by playing thumb wars and learning to do the hypothermia dance.

The Better Back Roads Crew was led by Crew Leader Matt Brantner. The crew consisted of a mix of traditional Corps Members that had all participated on VYCC crews during the summer of 2006 and AmeriCorps National Direct Members. The Corps Members were Sia Vissering, Stephanie Sandul, and Andrea Franklin. The AmeriCorps National Direct Members were James Saathoff, Joshua Sanchez, and Anna Wagner. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Removed over 7 tons of trash from the Steven’s Branch of the Winooski River and Gunner’s Brook tributary in Barre Northern Vermont • Constructed and installed 22 willow wattles • Hand-placed seven yards of rip-rap in Cambridge Resource Conservation • Planted 800 dogwood trees and raspberry bushes on the erosion-prone backs of Benedict Brook and Development Council • Constructed three dry stone stack headers

47 Illinois Bridge Crew

In an exciting interstate adventure with Timber & Stone, operated by former VYCC staffer Josh Ryan, our fall crew set off for a new project in the mid-west for the ﬁ rst time.

We packed up the tools, clothes and gear, crammed into a 15- passenger van we affectionately deemed “Bertha”. Across the states we drove-stopping at every Panera in sight - headed west in the spirit of true adventurers! The cornﬁ elds had us dazed, but as we entered the Illinoisan oasis of Easter Seals’ Timber Pointe Outdoor Center, a new energy grew within us.

After the daze blew away, we quickly learned to have tool belts full of speed squares, pencils, and tape measures (be sure not to Anna Wagner, James Saathoff, Crew Leader steal Josh’s!); we learned about circular saws, power drills and Edward Robbins, Crew Leader Kathleen more pounding rebar. “Kat” Coons, Sia Vissering, Joshua Sanchez, Andrea Franklin. In our spare time, we hit up the local Bloomington thrift store, and make a trek to big ol’ Chi-town to gorge ourselves on the famous deep dish pizza and roam the halls of the Museum of Science and Industry.

The end products of all of our hard work was the demolition of two rotting bridges, only to be replaced by two stunning handicap accessible bridges, trimmed with a freshly harvested ironwood railing. Three other bridges also got a facelift through the addition of new timber cribbing structures. Hopefully VYCC will return to Illinois next year, helping Timber Pointe merge their handicap friendliness with an appreciation of the natural world and outdoor adventure, thus completing the inter-state transformation of VYCC; and to have another killer road-trip in Bertha.

The Illinois Bridge Crew was led by Crew Leaders Kathleen “Kat” Coons and Edward Robbins. The crew members carried over from the Better Backroads Crew and the crew was comprised of a mix of traditional Corps Members from the 2006 summer season and AmeriCorps National Direct Members. The Corps Members were Andrea Franklin, and Sia Vissering. The AmeriCorps National Direct Members were Anna Wagner, Joshua Sanchez, and James Saathoff.

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Dismantled two existing bridges before beginning new construction • Built two ADA, handicapped accessible bridges with ramp approaches at the Easter Seals’ Timber Pointe Outdoor Camp • Installed timber cribbing on three other bridge Easter Seals Timber Pointe sites to reinforce the approaches • Surveyed and laid out a mile of ADA trail Outdoor Camp

48 Lakes Inventory Crew

In partnership with the Vermont Natural Resource Board this VYCC fall crew conducted a survey of all of the lakes in Vermont over 20 acres in size. The goal of the project was to inventory all pubic access sites for the lakes so that next year the VYCC can post permanent signs stating the Use of Public Waters (UPW) rules for the pubic resource.

The crew set out in small teams of two or three members. Each team was equipped with a vehicle, GPS unit, detailed map, digital camera, and cell phone. They documented the number of public access points for each water body that was accessible by vehicle or was within a certain amount of time to reach on foot. They also documented whether the access ownership was public or private. Then the team identiﬁ ed the best location for posting Crew Leader Derek Zember, Justin Abbott, Sarah Drapp, permanent UPW rules. Tara Kierstead, Nicole Briere, Heather Haymond, Jesse Rogers, Crew Leader Lisa Passerello. This project provided the crew members with excellent opportunities for leadership and professional development. Not only did they traverse the entire state, visiting some of the most beautiful places that Vermont has to offer, but they also had the opportunity to professionally represent the VYCC and the state as they interacted with the public at the sites.

Crew Leader Lisa Passarello comments “Each time I visited the crew I was impressed with the stories that they told me about the wildlife that they experienced, including ﬂ ocks of turkeys, displaying grouse, hawks overhead, and owls calling in the evening, as well as the farms, lakes, and landscapes that they encountered in their travels.”

The crew camped out across the state depending on their travel schedule and used the Training Center as their home base throughout the project.

Special thanks go out to Crew Leaders Derek Zember and Lisa Passerello who master minded the logistical and technological strategy for the project and led this new unprecedented VYCC crew type with grace. Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Located and inventoried 264 targeted water bodies across Vermont over 20 acres in size • Used GPS and digital photography to document Vermont Natural each water body • Entered data and assisted Natural Resources Board Resource Board with ﬁ eld logistics • Presented all ﬁ ndings to the Natural Resources Board

49 Fall Leadership Crew

This fall the VYCC continued to work on Thundering Falls trail relocation and wheelchair accessible project in partnership with the Green Mountain Club and the United States Forest Service. Thundering Falls is the second largest waterfall in the state and the new trail will provide universal access to a spectacular view point located just off the Appalachian/Long Trail. This is the ﬁ rst and only accessible portion of the trail in Vermont. With funding through the US Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, and support from the Green Mountain Club the project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2007.

This was the third VYCC crew this season that continued construction on the trail that will re-route hikers off the road and onto the new trail which winds through the forest Josh Ryan, Crew Leader Justin Kenney, Maia Hansen, to the base of the falls. The trail then winds past a timber Crew Leader Kathleen “Kat” Coons, Phil Reynolds, Ra- switch-back and retaining wall to a boardwalk which will chel Kane, Lucas Somers. take hikers over the Ottauqechee River and ﬂ ood plain. The crew took part in the Conservation Leadership curriculum designed by Josh Ryan, former VYCC-staffer and current owner of Timber and Stone LLC. Josh provided technical guidance, on the ground support, and administered the customized leadership curriculum for the crew while they worked on the project for three weeks. The crew took on additional leadership roles within the crew as Crew Leaders of the Day (CLOD) to put new skills into practice daily and debriefed their efforts as a crew to ensure a true growth experience throughout the session.

The crew spike camped on the property of the Mountain Meadows Cross- country Ski Lodge and enjoyed the area during their downtime including going apple-picking. The crew was led by Crew Leader Kathleen “Kat” Coons and Assistant Crew Leader Justin Kenney. The Corps Members on the crew had all been successful on at least two prior VYCC crews. The Corps Members were Lucas Somers, Maia Hansen, Phil Reynolds, and Rachel Kane.

Crew Accomplishments Project Sponsors • Continued construction on the handicapped accessible trail that Wilderness Crews 1 and 3 worked on during the summer ﬁ eld season • Built a 245 foot retaining wall • Hauled 20 yards of gravel for ﬁ ll • Built 32 feet of cribbing • Completed 720 hours of work

News from HQ

Katey Gordon Jennifer Hezel Community Relations Director Administrative Coordinator Katey Gordon joined Jennifer brought a the VYCC in the role of tremendous amount Community Relations of experience and Director from March enthusiasm to her through December of position as Administrative 2006. Originally from Coordinator. With Petoskey, Michigan, Katey a variety of past moved to Vermont in 2005 experiences as well as an along with her 14 year Interdisciplinary Masters old dog, Nanak. An academic at heart, Katey of Science degree from the University of Oregon, received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Jennifer was well equipped to take on any task Studies from the University of Montana, a at the VYCC. As an avid outdoorswoman and a graduate degree in International Environmental dedicated telemark skier, Jennifer became very Policy from Keele University in England, and is a involved in her community in Stowe, VT. She licensed Holistic Health Practitioner. Katey has a was offered a great position for the Town of special knack for connecting with people and she Stowe as the Zoning Assistant and could not has been pivotal in helping the VYCC with our pass up the opportunity. We appreciate all her Capital Campaign. Whether it is in a classroom hard work and dedication during her tenure at or in the ﬁ eld, Katey brings a great deal of the VYCC and wish her the best of luck in every energy, enthusiasm, and passion to everything future endeavor, which we are sure will be many she does. Thank you, Katey, and good luck! and far reaching. Thank you, Jennifer!

John Paul (JP) Grogan Jennifer Trombley Year-Round Programs Manager Program Development Assistant JP, originally from Jennifer, originally Arkansas, came to the from Bellows Falls, VYCC with experience Vermont, graduated from as a Team Leader with Sterling College with the AmeriCorps NCCC an Associates of Art in and a Bachelor’s Degree Resource Management. in History from Hendrix After extensive world College. While with the travels, Vermont called NCCC, John Paul led her back, and Jennifer was teams of young people to complete projects hired ﬁ rst as a 2006 VYCC Community Crew in the areas of environmental conservation, Leader, and as the Program Assistant to the HQ disaster relief, education, and un-met human Year-Round Program Team, a role in which she needs. JP quickly climbed the VYCC ladder, will supervise Disaster Recovery Teams, manage working for the 2006 recruitment season as the fall and winter projects, and assist with the Youth Development Coordinator and quickly implementation of the AmeriCorps Leadership transitioning into his current position as Year- Program. In addition, Jennifer is pursing a degree Round Programs Manager. in Elementary Education.

2852 This year the VYCC was awarded eight AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service to America) Members to join the existing 2005-06 VISTAs who were already serving at VYCC. VISTA Members have been serving the country for more than forty years to build capacity and infrastructure in nonproﬁ t organizations and public agencies. The eight new National Service Members will continue making it possible for the VYCC to expand its capacity to serve more youth and increase the sustainability of its programs. The VISTA Members will serve the VYCC for one year while earning a modest living stipend and an education award, working on speciﬁ c projects in both the Development Department and in Field Programs. Many, many thanks to the VYCC VISTAs who are responsible for an enormous amount of invaluable work at VYCC, work that could not be completed without their help!

The VYCC VISTA members for 2006 are: Andrew Magee Keegan Tierney Youth Development VISTA Facilities & Events VISTA Andrew Magee, originally Keegan Tierney from Connecticut, came to started at the VYCC the VYCC as a Community in the summer of 2005 Crew Leader in 2005. After as Park Manager at the fi eld season, he quickly Elmore State Park. transitioned into HQ as the After participating on fi rst Youth Development several VYCC fall crews, AmeriCorps *VISTA. Keegan accepted the In his role as a VISTA position of Facilities Andrew worked to lay the and Events AmeriCorps ground work for VYCC’s developing school year VISTA, helping the VYCC transition into our programs, as well as to create and implement a new Leadership, Education & Training Center. leadership curriculum for VYCC Crews. Andrew Keegan grew up in Starksboro, VT and received also took the lead in the development and a Bachelors of Science degree in Wildlife Biology planning of VYCC’s fi rst ever Leadership Retreat from the University of Vermont. At UVM, he in which more than 50 Corps Members were served as Director of the University’s Alternative able to come together for a weekend of refl ection Spring Break program and as a member of and further leadership development. The VYCC Volunteers in Action. His interest in service would like to thank Andrew for his amazing led him to the AmeriCorps’ NCCC program in dedication and positive energy, and the countless Denver, Colorado where he educated elementary hours he committed to the development of the school students at a historic farm museum organization and Vermont’s youth. Although and taught adaptive skiing. We are thrilled we will miss his energy and enthusiasm for Keegan has accepted the position of Program the VYCC, we wish him luck in his future Coordinator starting in February 2007, where he adventures! Thanks again Andrew! will lead the hiring, planning and supervision of our State Parks Program.

5329 Matthew Brantner Justin Kenney Youth Development VISTA Operations VISTA After a one year hiatus, Matthew Brantner Justin Kenney grew up in Somerset, rejoined the VYCC this fall as the Youth Massachusetts. He graduated from the Development AmeriCorps*VISTA. Originally University of Vermont in 2003 with a B.S. in from Wisconsin, Matt earned his Bachelor of Environmental Science and a concentration Science in Biology at the University of Wisconsin in Ecological Design. He worked as a Corps La Crosse. Matthew fi rst came to VYCC in the Member on the 2002 summer of 2005 as a Roving Crew Leader. He Burlington Community Crew brings with him a background in environmental and, upon graduation, he science that has taken worked for the VYCC in the him from fi eld research in offi ce as both a recruitment Voyageurs National Park and administrative assistant. in Minnesota to the Hixon Since then, Justin has worked Forest Nature Center in professionally in the fi eld of La Crosse to the Vermont conservation and natural resource management. Institute of Natural Science Justin’s belief on the VYCC mission landed him in Montpelier. This year, the role of VYCC Operations A*VISTA where Matthew will focus on he will work with our partners to solidify and developing a VYCC experience for visually- set up trail and construction projects for crews as impaired youth along with supporting the Youth well as assist with logistics and the many moving Development Staff. Welcome back Matt! pieces of our Summer Program. Welcome Aboard, Justin!

Lisa Passerello Matthew Dragon Alumni, Agriculture & Natural Resources Technical Skills VISTA VISTA Matt Dragon, originally from Eastern Lisa Passerello, originally hailing from Pennsylvania, came to the VYCC with several Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, holds a B.S. in years of experience as a Crew Leader with the Biology from the University of Michigan. In Student Conservation Association (SCA). While the pursuit of understanding the natural world with the SCA, Matt led crews of young people around her and supporting that to complete trail and conservation projects in curiosity in young people she Arkansas, Pennsylvania, has traveled and worked as British Columbia, and Alaska. an ecologist at the University Matt joined the VYCC as a of Hawaii and the University Technical Skills AmeriCorps of California at Davis and as VISTA in the spring of 2006, an educator at the Institute led two Wilderness Crews in of Ecosystem Studies in the summer, and is working New York and Ferry Beach to develop new technical Ecology School in Maine. She recently received programs for the VYCC this her M.S. in the Field Naturalist Program at the fall and winter. Matt earned a degree in Outdoor University of Vermont. Lisa joined the VYCC Education from Northland College in Northern as an AmeriCorps*VISTA in May 2006 by Wisconsin. Matt has worked for the Forest co-leading two Wilderness Crews that broke Service as a Wilderness Ranger and Wildland ground on a handicapped-accessible section of Fire Fighter and has conducted wildlife research the Appalachian Trail. This fall she transitioned in Canada and Hawaii. Welcome aboard Matt! into her new role as the Alumni, Agriculture, and Natural Resources VISTA. In this role, she

54 will develop an on-site agriculture and natural taxidermist for the school. For the last four resources program for the VYCC’s West Monitor summers she has worked for the Vermont Fish Barn property. Welcome aboard Lisa! and Wildlife Department as a Natural Resources Instructor at the Green Mountain Conservation Kristen Kozik Camp Kehoe on Lake Bomoseen. There she Facilities & Events VISTA taught outdoor skills to adolescents including hunter education, canoeing and fl y tying. In the Kristen Kozik, originally from Westfi eld, upcoming year Cara will focus her service on the Massachusetts, began working with the development and implementation of VYCCs fi rst VYCC in 2006 as a leader on the Burlington ever school year programs. Welcome aboard Community Crew. Beginning in August, she Cara! transitioned into the Facility & Events AmeriCorps VISTA Sara Armstrong position. Prior to joining Agriculture & Natural Resources VISTA the VYCC, Kristen was an Assistant Crew Leader for Sara Armstrong, originally from the Northeast the Green Mountain Club Kingdom of Vermont, recently joined VYCC’s of Waterbury Center, VT. HQ team as an AmeriCorps VISTA working She was also a member of with VYCC’s developing the Appalachian Mountain school-year programs Sara’s Club’s Professional Trail Crew, which is based fi rst experience with VYCC out of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. was as a Wilderness Crew Kristen attended college at Colorado State Corps Member in 2001. Sara University, in Fort Collins, CO, and graduated attended the University with a Bachelor of Science in Parks and Protected of Vermont where she Area Management. Kristen’s current position graduated this past May with a Bachelor of carries forward with the duties of the previous Science in Environmental Studies. Her combined Facilities & Events VISTA. She is responsible passions for service, working with youth, and her for the maintenance and upkeep of the Training deep concern for Vermont’s agricultural future Center as well as for helping to launch the Events make Sara a great fi t for developing VYCC’s Department for the West Monitor Barn that Agriculture and Natural Resources Programs. rents the facility to the public for various events. Welcome Sara! Welcome Kristen!

Cara Butterly Agriculture & Natural Resources VISTA VYCC welcomed Cara Butterly back for the fourth time this past fall. Having spent three summers serving with VYCC Park Crews, we welcome Cara to the VYCC HQ team as an AmeriCorps VISTA working with VYCC’s newly developing Agriculture Programs. Cara holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Unity College in Maine focusing on Ecology and Environmental Writing where she she edited and improved the college’s newspaper and spent time as a waterfowl

55 Alumni Updates Over the past 21 years, the VYCC Projects Director and Program what is actually out there, and has employed almost 4,000 Director respectively in ‘95. They for giving me the opportunity to amazing individuals as Corps then move to CA to work with see that conservation work really Members, Field Staff, and HQ crews based out of Yosemite is what I want to do for the rest staff. Have you ever wondered National Park where they still of my life. The VYCC is the most what those folks are doing now? currently reside. Edward works valuable program I have ever been Well here’s a snapshot of just a few VYCC Alums from the past 20 for the National Park Service in the privileged enough to take part in. years, and where they are today. Trails Division and Andrea teaches Thank you!” Natural Resources for California Conservation Corps crews and is Aaron Fishbone Katherine Bittner the town librarian. They have two Aaron was on a Roving Crew Katherine was on the Wilderness daughters (Maya-7 and Dawn- in the summer of 2002 that did Crew in Jamaica State Park in 2000. 5) and as a family enjoy many watershed restoration projects Since then she graduated from the outdoor adventures and enjoy life throughout Vermont. Though University of Richmond, VA in in the Merced River Canyon. he has been out of touch with 2005 with a degree in international VYCC for some time, he loved studies. Then she spent a year James Chitwood his time with VYCC and feels volunteering in Central America James was on two Wilderness it is important to offer youth with a community development Crews in 2003 and loved every high-quality programming and NGO for women. minute of it. He is in the Army opportunities to take charge of Infantry and is currently deployed their environment. Aaron has Meagon Burnham to Afghanistan. He thinks back also participated in the Student Meagon was on Roving 2 working on his summer with VYCC often Conservation Association, on trail projects in the Waterbury as it was when he fell in love Outward Bound, and NOLS but and Stowe areas in 2005 and then with nature and Vermont. His has a special appreciation for spent 2006 on Roving 3 working experience with VYCC is what has VYCC. He lives in Washington, on restoring old cemeteries helped him decide that Vermont DC and works to develop youth throughout Vermont. She currently is where he will return and attend programming in a variety of attends Paul Smith’s College in college when he is done with settings. He has worked in eight NY. the Army life. Thank you for the countries on projects related to services you offer to your alumni! youth advocacy, human rights, and NGO capacity-building. He Elizabeth Dana is employed by the Open Society Elizabeth spent two seasons Institute and the International working for the VYCC in 2005 Debate Project. He also serves on and 2006. She is currently a the Board of Directors for the DC freshman at the University of Urban Debate League. New Hampshire majoring in Environmental Conservation Alantha (Williams) Garrison Studies. “I wanted to thank you for Alantha was a member for the giving me this great opportunity Burlington Community Crew in to work for the VYCC. I learned 1999 and then moved to Colorado so much, and I can safely say that to graduate from Western State if I hadn’t had the opportunity to College of Colorado with a Edward and Andrea Canapary spend the past two summers out degree in Geology and a minor in Edward Canapary and Andrea in the mud, rolling in poison ivy, Biology. She currently works as Wieschenberg Canapary worked and laughing all the way, I would an Engineering Geologist in Los for the VYCC for two seasons still have no clue what I wanted Angeles County, CA. Her duties as Wilderness Crew Leaders in to do with my life. Thank you for evaluating erosion damage and ‘93 and ‘94 and then became the giving me the opportunity to see ecosystems remind her of her days

3256 with the VYCC. “I feel grateful that plans on returning to school in Tym McGuire I was able to be a part of the VYCC August 2007 to pursue another Tym greatly enjoyed the privilege because it taught me to respect my undergraduate degree in nutrition of being associated with the VYCC environment and love everything in order to apply for Graduate over the years, and says “I think about it! Thanks for the memories! school in the area of sports you all are doing a great job.” Tym nutrition She lives in Boulder, CO is currently putting his VYCC Amy Grotta and is training for the Vermont experience to work in his position Amy was a Wilderness Crew City Marathon in the fall. with the Peace Corps in the West Leader in 1993 and 1995. After Indies. working for VYCC she spent Krista Landrigan two years in the Peace Corps in Krista headed to Australia at the Cormac Meenehan Paraguay, and then moved to end of her term of service with Cormac recalls his time with the west coast to attend graduate AmeriCorps at VYCC and reports VYCC fondly and incorporates school. She is an Extension Forester that it has been a great year so far. much of his VYCC experience into for Washington State University in Since being in Australia, she has his current position in fi sheries the Seattle area. She married her taught in the Torres Strait Islands protection in England. VYCC co-leader Dave Dreher in in an area known as Thursday 1999 and they have two kids, Anna Island (an Aboriginal community) Sara Moore (b. 2002) and Eben (b. 2006). where the majority of the students Sara recently completed one did not wear shoes, spoke 2 and a half years of community Nate Hart languages, and were full of life and organizing in low income Nate, a Park Assistant at Silver at a school in New South Wales neighborhoods in Burlington, Lake State Park in 2004, currently in a grade 1 and 2 classroom. She VT as an AmeriCorps VISTA. lives in Hawaii. He started out then started an internship and She currently works with Mercy with an internship with a kayak plans to be in Australia until June Connections and assists in the company and is now a senior 2007. running of the center, running a guide and running kayak tours out new young moms support group on the bay. He lives in Kailua, on Jack Larkin and doing general outreach for the east shore of Oahu and enjoys Jack, a Park Assistant at Branbury the new program and the center in life there. State Park in 2004, recently general. It is hectic and wonderful! fi nished his credential program Carol Haskins and works at Oakland Technical Sarah Beth Zisa Carol graduated from University High School as a Freshman History Sarah Beth is currently a graduate of Maine, Farmington and the teacher. student in environmental policy at served two terms with the Maine Brown University. Conservation Corps before leading a water education program in classrooms of Portland, ME. Carol is currently working on a drinking water study for the National If you would like to contact any of Center for Disease Control based these folks, please email us at out of Augusta, ME. She looks [email protected] and we will put forward to reconnecting with you in touch. Or, if you are one friends from VYCC. “I am very excited about beginning of the VYCC’s many alumni and my fi rst year of teaching. I still have news to share with the VYCC Katie Kissane regard my time with the VYCC as community, please visit the alumni Katie was on the Burlington a great experience that helped me page of our website at www.vycc. Community Crew in 2004. She in many ways, including helping org and drop us a line! graduated in May from the guide me towards a career in University of Colorado and teaching.” We welcome your updates!

5733 Partnerships

The VYCC partners with agencies, non-proﬁ ts, schools, and organizations with complementary missions to reach into diverse communities and complete work on a wide range of projects while employing youth from various demographics across Vermont. Partnerships create ﬁ nancial and programmatic opportunities to maximize opportunities for youth.

The VYCC is proud to partner with the following organizations, which is just a sampling of the many we have worked with since 1985:

AmeriCorps Missisquoi River Basin Town of Cambridge Bett er Backroads Program Association Town of Essex Burlington Department of Parks Moosalamoo Association Town of Milton and Recreation Mount Mansﬁ eld Union High Trust for Public Land City of South Burlington School U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service City of Vergennes National Association of Service U.S. Forest Service City of Winooski and Conservation Corps University of Vermont Cross Vermont Trail Association National Park Service Valley Cares Easter Seals Natural Resources Board Vermont Agency of Friends of the West River Trail Natural Resources Conservation Transportation Friends of the Winooski River Service Vermont Clean and Clear Environmental Protection Agency The Nature Conservancy Vermont Department of Goddard College Norwich Land Management Environmental Conservation Green Mountain Club Council Vermont Department of Forests, Green Mountain National Public Land Corps Parks & Recreation Forest Reach Up Vermont Department of Labor Jericho Research Forest ReCycle North Vermont Old Cemetery John and Grace Hogle Wildlife Retreat Healthcare Association Irrevocable Trust Revitalizing Waterbury Vermont Student Assistance Lake Champlain Basin Program Richmond Land Trust Corporation Lamoille Union High School Smokey House Project Village of Essex Junction Linking Learning to Life Timber and Stone, LLC Windham Foundation Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Town of Arlington National Historical Park Town of Barre

In addition to our project partners, the gifts of over 1,000 foundations, local businesses and generous individuals raised over $443,000 in 2006 to support the VYCC’s annual budget of $1.9 million*.

With contributions big and small, the extraordinary support of our friends enables each of the youth that participate in the Field Season to return to their everyday lives with a better understanding of the importance of education, teamwork, and personal responsibility, and the knowledge that they have participated in the stewardship of Vermont’s landscape.

*Each one of our donors who made a gift to support the VYCC during ﬁ scal year 2006 (between January 1 and December 31, 2006) will be listed in our 2006 Annual Report. Th is report will also contain detailed ﬁ nancial information regarding funding revenues and expenses.

5834 Alumni Rendezvous

To build upon the sense of community and camaraderie among VYCC Alumni, we hosted our 2nd annual Alumni Rendezvous on Sunday of Columbus Day Weekend this fall. Aft er our 1st Alumni Rendezvous last year, which involved building six lean-tos in 480F and pouring rain, the 2006 Alumni Rendezvous could not have been more diﬀ erent!

The Columbus Day weather this year was superb - the skies were blue, the sun was shining, and the temperatures were in the 60’s! We welcomed about 100 alumni to the 2006 Rendezvous to take part in some projects on the trails and property at the Training Center and then compete in the ﬁ rst annual Cross-Cut Saw Competition followed by a pot luck dinner and dancing in the barn.

SAVE THE DATE! VYCC’S 3rd Annual Alumni Rendezvous October 6, 2007

59 Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (802) 434-3969 www.vycc.org