The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps is proud to announce the acquisition of the East Monitor Barn Property with help from the Vermont Community Foundation. The VYCC will have two years to raise the purchase price and develop a plan for the site. The property is adjacent to the VYCC’s Leadership, Education and Training Center at the West Monitor Barn on Route 2 in Richmond.

On May 8th, at 6 p.m., the VYCC, Richmond Land Trust, Richmond Area Business Association, Richmond Historical Society and the Richmond Creative Communities are co-convening a public forum regarding this property. There will be site tours, refreshments, and an informational meeting aimed at giving the community the chance to help envision the programmatic uses for the property.

Download the event flyer or contact East Monitor Barn Project Manager Ginny McGrath at 434.3969 ext. 115 or gmcgrath@vycc.org for more information.

On Thursday, May 1st, Keeping Track will present a Wildlife Event at the Mount Mansfield Union High School gymnasium in Jericho. A Keeping Track Wildlife Event gives people, especially families, an opportunity to enjoy an educational and inspiring evening. People of all ages and from all walks of life are encouraged to attend, including loggers, skiers, hunters, hikers, farmers, local businesspeople, teachers, nature enthusiasts - anyone with an interest in wildlife and the desire to learn more.

The Wildlife Event serves as an introduction to wildlife conservation and habitat monitoring for local citizens. At the Wildlife Event, the public can browse extensive hands-on exhibits consisting of track molds, examples of wildlife sign, pelts, skulls, and feet of North American mammals from the least weasel to the polar bear. Participants will be able to ask questions of Keeping Track’s expert staff. Keeping Track founder and Program and Research Director Susan Morse presents a spectacular show of her slides that introduces participants to the wildlife of Vermont and the importance of landscape-level planning for wildlife conservation, and incorporates an interactive and moving segment on carnivore biology and ecology. Susan is a nationally recognized naturalist and habitat specialist with thirty years of experience tracking and interpreting wildlife uses of habitat.

You can also learn more about the Wildlife Event and Keeping Track at their website: www.keepingtrack.org. This event is sponsored by the Bolton Conservation Commission, the Duxbury Land Trust, the Jericho Conservation Commission, the Richmond Land Trust and the VYCC. For more information contact Bradley Meterick at bmaterick@vycc.org or 802.434.3969 ext. 149.

Download the event flyer.

The Administrative Coordinator is a part-time position that assists the Administrative Department with regular tasks, including fiscal bookkeeping, office supply inventory and purchasing, equipment management, technology user support, and the day-to-day operations of the VYCC office. The Administrative Coordinator administers accounts payable, accounts receivable, reconciliations, and other accounting tasks as needed. Additionally, this person will play an integral part in managing administrative tasks for the field program, including employee hiring paperwork, Corps Member payroll and timesheets, field accounting, and administrative tracking sheets. This is an ideal position for a highly motivated team player with good computer skills who is interested in executing fiscal and day-to day operations independently. Additionally, there is potential for more hours or full-time status in 2009.

Administrative Coordinator Job Description

The Learn, Earn, and Prosper (LEAP) Program is expanding for the 2008 summer field season!

In the summer of 2007, the VYCC piloted the first ever LEAP Crew for youth who are blind or visually impaired. This four week session was a resounding success and the VYCC will be expanding the scope of the program this summer. The VYCC will continue to offer the same type of experience that was offered in 2007 for six individuals with visual impairments. This crew will live in an apartment style suite in Burlington and work with ReCycle North for the duration of the four week program.

During the second session of the summer field season, the VYCC will offer an Inclusive Crew comprised of four youth who have visual impairments and four youth who do not. For three weeks, this crew, based out of the West Monitor Barn, will work on typical Roving Crew projects which may include erosion control and bridge building in the greater Burlington area.

Special thanks to the Gibney Family Foundation, State of Vermont Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired, ReCycle North, Linking Learning to Life, Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, AmeriCorps VISTA and the Vermont Association of Business, Industry and Rehabilitation for being involved and making the LEAP Program possible.

For more information about the LEAP Program contact Matt Brantner at (802) 434 – 3969 ext. 138 or mbrantner@vycc.org.

In March, Bridge Street Café became the lead donor to the West Monitor Barn Community Fund, where they will donate 10% of the tab for every West Monitor Barn event they cater. This Community Fund will allow the VYCC to provide the West Monitor Barn to non-profit, school, and community groups at a very low cost or for free. Vermont Tent Company, who is the official rental vendor for the West Monitor Barn, has enthusiastically agreed to join this effort and will also be placing 10% of the revenues they receive from West Monitor Barn events into the fund. These two hope that many more businesses will join them.The VYCC has provided this service to the community to date, although dates fill up fast on the calendar and demand has been so high to rent the space at market rates, that it simply cannot afford to continue. This fund will make all the difference – truly keeping the West Monitor Barn a local community treasure!

If you would like to make a donation to the West Monitor Barn Community Fund or have your business join a growing list of donors, please contact Kate Villa at 434.3969 ext. 110 or kate@vycc.org.

This month the VYCC invested in a green house, with the support of the S&C Harvest Foundation and the Vermont Community Foundation, to help build the capacity of the Farm and Nursery at the West Monitor Barn property. The 26’ X 48’ structure will be used to grow seedlings in the cool months leading into summer and then serve as a hothouse for a few specific varieties during the warmest months. The CTE Spring Crew has been building cold frames in the workshop this month that will help aid in seed growth as well, and will help with the construction of the greenhouse and the preparing and planting of the half acre plot.

Aside from traditional vegetables, the crew will also be growing trial plants for new varieties of eggplant, tomato, and peppers for High Mowing Seeds this summer.

Generosity has abounded with donations of rain barrels for irrigation, a grow-light and stand for starting seedlings, and many different seed varieties for the VYCC garden this summer. If you would like to donate to the project please contact Farm and Nursery AmeriCorps VISTA Lindsay Arbuckle at (802) 434 – 3969 ext. 142 or by email at larbuckle@vycc.org.