But where did May and April go? Well, let me tell you.
Mid April was, as previously posted, the culmination of a great school program with the corps supporting 12 Manchester public schools. Check out photos of the Manchester Earthday Event that showcased all the great service learning projects done in those schools: www.manchesterearthday.com [1]
Before we knew it everyone was wrapped-up, both literally and figuratively, in the Wilderness First Responder course in preparation of the conservation field season. That brought us into May with Chain Saw training: the Game of Logging, and Leave No Trace training (lead by our very own Sue Minor and Marni Goodman!) After that the conservation teams headed out to do some Spring Cleaning on their first hitches, while the NH Park Interpreters lead two weeks straight of school field trips to Bear Brook, and the high school leadership program, SCA Manchester went full steam ahead with events, trainings, and more. We also welcomed out two seasonal staff, Hana and Justin. We call them Rovers because they will roam about the state assisting our conservation teams. In The SCA you may know them as Project Leaders but "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
The three spring hitches were out doing a great variety of projects. One team was at St. Gaudens helping the park get ready for Memorial Weekend opening. Another was in the White Moutains preparing the public access ways along the Kangamangus Highway. And a third was clearing winter storm damage in NH Parks in Greenfield/Monadnock.
That team also lead two volunteer days in recognition of Americorps week. One day was spent in the Salem Town forest with ADP (the payroll company) and Earthshare moving 13 yards of gravel and installing a culvert. The other day was at the Children and Family Services of NH, Camp Spaulding; coordinating over 50 CityYear volunteers. We spread 30 yards of bedding chips, did some brushing and clearing around buildings, buried some drainage, and built benches.
I'll stop here and let the photos do the talking with one last plug: We are still looking for funding partners for at least three more hitches in the late summer early fall.
Does any one read these? Bueller, Bueller? These photos will be in two installments...
