In other development news, the VYCC is excited to announce that we have a new development director, Breck Knauft. Breck brings a true passion for youth-oriented outdoor programs. Prior to the VYCC, he worked as the development director at Woodbury College. Breck lives in Huntington with his wife and two young daughters. Welcome Breck!

The Woodstock School Crew is building upon a strong foundation of partnership with Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historic Park by adding the Vermont Land Trust’s King Farm and Woodstock Union High School to the mix. This crew of five males, freshmen thru senior, is solo-led by Kevin Chap, Community Crew Leader, ’08. The crew focused their first quarter of work on building their community through construction of a 30’ x 6’ stone turnpike, designed to elevate trail tread above a perpetually wet drainage on the One Less Traveled Trail within the park. They are now setting their sights on designing a work-plan for the park’s new Stewardship Trail. The Corps Members are all resident experts on animal tracking, anything related to hunting, and many features of trail design and drainage. They will be hosting a Solstice celebration in collaboration with WUHS’ Agriculture and Earth Beat clubs as well as the Farm to School Committee. The crew hopes to team with Farm to School to establish a garden in the spring that will feed students in the cafeteria next year.

The VYCC is actively pursuing applications for work projects for the 2009 season and beyond. Now is a critical planning period for the VYCC Operations staff as we work together with prospective sponsors to develop projects for our crews to complete starting as early as next spring. Whether your project is ready to go as soon as the snow melts or it’s just in the idea stage, contact us. We can help develop your project – from layout or design to collaborative fundraising. The VYCC again anticipates receiving funding from the Vermont Agency of Transportation for the completion of transportation enhancement projects and we have extended our application deadline for these types of projects to January 15th, 2009. For more information, visit the project page on our website or contact Justin Kenney, Operations Coordinator, at 802-434-3969 x 140 or jkenney@vycc.org.