Welcome to the August 25, 2009 issue of E-News.

In this Issue

	End of Summer Slide Show
	Extreme Snow Boarding with the VYCC!
	Jamie Masefield & Doug Perkins Duo to Perform at 2009 Denim & a Few Diamonds
	Monitor Barn Film Event: Ken Burns’ “The National Parks: America's Best Idea”
	Montpelier Community Crew Recieves a Visit from VSECU
	Fall Brings the Possibility of New VYCC Crews
	On the Land
	NATURE TRIVIA

Faces Behind Our Success

Hillary Boone deserves to be recognized for her tremendous effort as a Crew Leader and School Instructor over the past year with the VYCC. She was both a Wilderness and Community Crew Leader in 2008 and ran the 08-09 CVU crew. Her initiative and organization is only outweighed by her passion for changing young peoples’ lives through conservation work and community dynamics.

The School Program has improved leaps and bounds through Hillary’s work on a new School Instructor Manual, a new curriculum and presentation map, as well as a myriad of small details. We thank Hillary for her energy and perspective and wish her the best of luck in future adventures.

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End of Summer Slide Show

Check out these great pictures from this summer. In this slideshow link, you’ll see what life is really like for the hard-working young people on our crews.

One click and you’re guaranteed to smile! 

Extreme Snow Boarding with the VYCC!

The VYCC is helping to promote Absinthe Films’ Neverland, the latest of extreme snowboarding films. For every person who attends this event, the VYCC will receive one dollar, so tell your friends, tell everyone you know…go to this showing for some mad, rad riding. Follow the link above to see a trailer of the film or to learn more about Neverland.

The Burlington screening will be on Saturday, September 5th at Merrill's Roxy Theatre. The movie lasts about 50 minutes, with rider autographs, film maker commentary before and after the screening, and an environmental quiz.

Jamie Masefield & Doug Perkins Duo to Perform at 2009 Denim & a Few Diamonds

Nationally renowned musicians Jamie Masefield and Doug Perkins will provide musical entertainment for the VYCC’s October 9th, 2009 Denim & a Few Diamonds event.

 Best known as the founder of the Jazz Mandolin Project, Jamie Masefield continues to expand his musical horizons by teaming up with longtime collaborator, Doug Perkins. Having performed together for 15 years in the Northeast, this Vermont-based duo performs in an original, intuitive manner that sets itself apart from Nashville and West Coast styles. Doug and Jamie perform a wide variety of well known bluegrass, jazz and originals tunes; a typical show might include pieces by Bill Monroe, Django Reinhardt, Miles Davis and Antonio Jobim.

Join us, October 9th, 2009 for an evening full of wonderful music, local food, dancing, games and trivia, and fine company in support of Vermont’s leading youth and conservation organization. Additional information about Denim and a Few Diamonds and how to purchase tickets can be found online at www.vycc.org or by contacting Breck Knauft at 802.434.3969 x110.

Monitor Barn Film Event: Ken Burns’ “The National Parks: America's Best Idea”

On Friday, September 18th the VYCC invites you to a showing of Ken Burns’ “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” at the West Monitor Barn. The film will begin at 7:00pm and light refreshments will be served. Please join us as we watch and celebrate the breathtaking scenes from America’s National Parks in Ken Burns’ newest film.

 Filmed over the course of more than six years at some of nature's most spectacular locales — from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the Arctic in Alaska — The National Parks: America's Best Idea is nonetheless a story of people: people from every conceivable background — rich and poor; famous and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people who were willing to devote themselves to saving some precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing so reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning of democracy. (Text taken from PBS website)

This event is an extension of the VYCC’s and Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Park’s on-going partnership which now includes traditional trail crews, a summer camp for local youth, internships, and of course the VermontFutures school program in Woodstock. The only thing more extraordinary than Vermont’s only national park is the staff who work there – I hope you can join us!

Additional information about the evening can be found online at www.vycc.org or by contacting Cailie Burns at 802.434.3969 x113.

Montpelier Community Crew Recieves a Visit from VSECU

For the past two years, the Vermont State Employees Credit Union (VSECU) has generously supported VYCC crews based in the Montpelier area, as well as additional communities served by VSECU. This year, VSECU Executive Assistant Perry Thompson, visited the Montpelier Community Crew to learn more about their work at the Wrightsville Reservoir in Middlesex.

At the Wrightsville Dam, the Middlesex Conservation Commission is planning a multi-year project to build a trail around the dam, with the first phase connecting the boat launch area and the beach. The initial trail corridor was established this summer by volunteers, though further work was needed to improve several stream crossings. The Montpelier Community Crew has now built two 20 and 25 foot bridges, along with improving two stream crossings with stone armoring on the banks and in the stream bed. Once the trail is completed, this loop will offer a valuable resource for local residents and visitors alike, creating easier access to the woods and encouraging recreation in healthy, non-polluting ways.

A big thanks to the VSECU for their continued support of the VYCC, and to the Montpelier Community Crew for their work on this project. If you would like to visit a crew, please call Cailie Burns at 802.434.3969 x113.

Fall Brings the Possibility of New VYCC Crews

This summer, the VYCC AmeriCorps Park Program has been in full swing, with lots of great work and visitor events happening at Elmore and Queeche State Park, as well as Moosalamoo and Hapgood Campgrounds. If you haven’t already stopped by to say hello, we hope you will visit them before the summer comes to an end!

 In just over a month these Crews will transition from the Parks and onto the trails as VYCC Roving Crews. We are excited to announce that we will likely have additional residential Roving Crews joining them. These Crews would run for four weeks, from mid-September to mid-October, and consist of Corps Members traveling throughout Vermont, camping in State Parks or backcountry locations, and completing high-priority conservation projects.

If you are interested in applying or learning more about Fall Crews please contact Abigail Mendenhall at 802.434.3969 x138.

On the Land

Last month’s E-News featured the Richmond Community Crew, which is funded through a Vermont Department of Labor Workforce Investment Act (WIA) grant. Our Barre Community Crew is also funded through this grant. In early August, we piloted a new and exciting leadership event for these two unique crews. The “WIA Work Exchange” took place over a two-day period and involved the two crews visiting each others’ project sites to work alongside new people and learn new skills.

The Richmond Crew traveled to Barre for teambuilding activities and an ambitious carpentry project. The Barre Crew then traveled to our Monitor Barns headquarters here in Richmond and worked together to tackle an array of garden and trail projects, including weeding, preparing CSA shares for Maple Wind Farm, installing a puncheon bridge, and repairing ditches and lean-to drip pads. Both groups demonstrated exceptional leadership by sharing knowledge, skills, and experience with peers from across the state!

NATURE TRIVIA

FROM LAST MONTH: If you have forgotten last month’s trivia, click here to view July’s E-News. STEELHEAD is the fisherman’s term for a migratory rainbow trout that is caught in a stream or lake when it returns from the ocean or a large lake to breed.

 With all of the rain we’ve had this summer, you may have noticed that earthworms spend a lot of time above ground after it rains. This led to the earliest questions I can remember asking about nature when I was a child. Why is it that after a rainstorm we often see large numbers of earthworms crawling above ground, across sidewalks, driveways and roads where they are likely to get squished, or dried up once the sun returns? It seems like it would be smarter for them to stay safely underground! This question was so puzzling, and the association between worms and rainstorms so strong, that I used to describe the familiar smell that freshens the air after a rainstorm as “wormy.” Can you solve the mystery of the enigmatic earthworms? Why do they come above ground after heavy rains? Email Bradley Materick, VYCC Land Stewardship Specialist, if you think you know the answer.