| Having trouble reading this newsletter? View in your browser. |
 |
 |
Welcome to the May 27, 2009 issue of E-News. In this Issue Faces Behind Our Success 
Tim Birmingham is a born and raised Vermonter. He graduated from Saint Michael's College with an undergraduate degree in Political Science and has his Master of Arts in Education with a self-designed focus in Adventure Learning from Plymouth State University. Tim has a passion for the outdoors and is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School, the Tom Brown Jr. Wilderness Survival School, and is also a recognized Long Trail thru hiker. This was his first year as a Crew Leader at the VYCC and he is very excited to be working and teaching with students in the outdoors. We would like to congratulate Tim for his recent promotion to School Program Coordinator. Congratulations Tim, and thank you for your hard work! Pass it on Know anyone who might be interested in our e-newsletter? Forward this email to a friend. Donate Make a secure online donation. Online Store Want a VYCC hat or coffee mug? Visit the Online Store. |
|
|
Gail Kimbell, Chief of US Forest Service Visits the VYCC’s West Monitor Barn 
On Monday, May 18, 2009, Gail Kimbell, joined by United States Senator, Patrick Leahy and Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, came to the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps’ West Monitor Barn to announce the 2009 Forest Legacy Grants. The Forest Legacy Program conserves forests by providing funds to purchase conservation easements from willing land owners. Since 1990 when the program was founded, over 185 million acres in 48 states have been conserved. Senator Leahy, who Chief Kimbell called “the father of the Legacy Program,” was instrumental in the bill’s creation. In Vermont, 38 tracts of land totaling nearly 65,000 have been conserved. The Forest Service chose the VYCC’s barn as a site for this announcement because the Forest Service wanted a beautiful building that that reflects Vermont’s proud tradition of conservation and thoughtful environmental stewardship. Joining Chief Kimbell, Senator Leahy, and Governor Douglas were Jonathan Wood, Secretary of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, Steve Sinclair, Vermont’s State Forester, Wright Preston, a VYCC neighbor and Forest Legacy Program beneficiary, Roger Krussman of the Trust for Public Land, as well as a few dozen friends from state and nonprofit conservation organizations. 
On Friday & Saturday, May 8th & 9th, volunteers visited the East and West Monitor Barns. They:
If you missed this opportunity, there are many more ways to get involved at the VYCC! To volunteer in our garden, please contact Erin Seward at 434.5200. To volunteer on our Events Committee, please contact Kristen Kozik at 802.434.3969 x113. VYCC: Critically Important Spring Appeal Sent This Week 
Did you know that the VYCC received over 600 applications for approximately 250 positions? The need for summertime employment is greater than ever and we need your support now to hire as many young people as possible. Please help us offer Vermont youth the opportunity to gain leadership skills, to understand and demonstrate personal responsibility, and to protect the environment. YOU can make a difference! To make your donation in support of Vermont’s Youth, contact Breck Knauft, Development Director at 434-3969 x110 or donate online. 
On the weekend of April 17-19, local Boy Scout Troop 23 spent an adventurous night in our lean-tos for an outing that included many exciting challenges, including map and compass navigation, hiking the VYCC trails, and a three-hour service project to benefit the VYCC. The troop picked up trash throughout the lean-to area and swept out the lean-tos to prep them for the summer crews who will stay there during staff training. They also collected an enormous amount of scrap wood left over from the construction of the lean-tos and carried it to the trailhead nowhere it will be sorted and moved to our woodshed. Many thanks to the scouts for their hard work! We hope this relationship with Troop 23 will continue and grow, another great example of the VYCC land and facilities serving as a community resource! Also…..Scroll to the bottom to see last month's NATURE TRIVIA answer and this month's new question! SAVE THE DATE: Denim & a Few Diamonds 
Denim & a Few Diamonds on Friday, October 9, 2009 This year, we’re adding carrots to our karats. Join us for an evening full of local food (including produce from the Monitor Barn garden), area entertainment, games and trivia, and great company in support of the VYCC at the West Monitor Barn. UVM Students and VYCC Partner to Complete Rock River Watershed Project 
On April 18 and 19, UVM students, with guidance from VYCC staff, completed a high-priority watershed restoration project on the Rock River in Highgate, VT. The crew planted 300 willow live stakes and 700 tree saplings, including sugar maple, red maple, white pine, balsam fir, black cherry, alder, and aspen. This project was unique for the VYCC because UVM students Emily Melander, Ben Kruse, and Colin Gaboriault assumed the primary responsibility for coordinating project logistics, recruiting a crew from among their fellow students, and carrying out the project on the ground. These three students are enrolled in the Environmental Problem Solving (NR206) class at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. In addition to the three NR206 students, Arthur Zahor, Erik Carlson, and Katie Glover also joined the crew as volunteers. The overall partnership with UVM was supervised by our Land Stewardship Specialist, Bradley Materick. Many thanks to Walter Poleman and Steve Libby of the UVM GreenHouse dorm for their help in recruiting, and thanks also to Josh Ryan, whose company Timber and Stone served as the project sponsor! We would like to welcome Caroline Riehl Smith to the VYCC staff. Caroline is the West Monitor Barn's official Event Planner. She comes to us with a wealth of event knowledge. Caroline works with her husband, Ryan, and together they own and operate Fluid Event Services. Caroline and Ryan have a special place in their hearts for the VYCC, as they were married at the West Monitor Barn in September of 2007. VYCC and Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day 
A hearty team of VYCC staff volunteered to scoop ice cream at the Ben & Jerry's plant in Waterbury on Free Cone Day, April 21st. We helped scoop a total of 6,120 cones and two staff were even lucky enough to dress up as the official Ben & Jerry's cow. In exchange for our efforts, Ben & Jerry’s donated $386.28 from the tips to the VYCC. Free ice cream, a great gift to the Annual Fund, and cow costumes...What a day! 
FROM LAST MONTH: Congratulations to those who correctly identified the strange dangling piece of flesh on a wild, male turkey’s face! It is called a SNOOD! If you have forgotten last month’s trivia, click here to view April’s E-News. The photograph at right shows a red eft, of one of the amphibians encountered by our Champlain Valley Union School Crew on their May 1st wetland walk. Red efts are often found by the hundreds at this time of year, calmly crawling across the forest floor. This month’s trivia consists of two intriguing questions about this friend underfoot.
|
|
|
 |
|
| Is this e-mail going to your junk/bulk folder? Add info@vycc.org to your safe senders list or address book to ensure that you receive all future messages in your in-box. |