On September 10th, it was announced that Elmore State Park was the recipient of this year’s Forest, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) Park of the Year award for Region IV. This is the first time the park has won the award during Elmore’s eighteen year history and also the first time a VYCC-run park has won in Region IV!

There were many contributing factors to Elmore’s success during this 2009 season: the decisive leadership of the Park Rangers Chris Brader and Tiffany Soukup, the high profile visitor programming that reached over 1,500 campers led by Park Educators Anthony Christiano and Travis Quetel, and the hard work and attention to detail of the seven Crew Members throughout the summer. All of these points came together to the backdrop of supportive Headquarters staff in Richmond and friendly FPR regional supervisors.

The single most important theme that set Elmore above the rest, however, was the crew’s ability to find the fun in their work. They garnered such a positive reaction from visitors that they received over three hundred praise-filled comment cards, upbeat word of mouth publicity, and high attendance numbers at park events. It was obvious to everyone that they were hard working and quick to laugh, truly exemplifying the spirit of the Youth Corps at its best. Winning Region IV Park of the Year for 2009 is a true lesson in how hard work can pay off and an experience that the Elmore crew can take with them for the rest of their lives.

Thanks for a great 2009 Summer Season,
The Elmore Crew

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, it is free of charge, 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.

On Sept. 2 the VYCC’s School Program jumped into action with the program’s largest Circle Up to date! Over 80 Corps Members joined our School Instructors and HQ staff at the West Monitor Barn for a day of orientation, team-building, and “get to know you” activities. For the 2009-10 school year, the School Program expanded to include Harwood Union, Spaulding High, Twinfield/Cabot, and U32/Montpelier in addition to our previous partnerships with Center for Technology – Essex, Champlain Valley Union, Lamoille Union, Mount Mansfield Union, and Woodstock Union. If yesterday was a preview for things to come, this year’s School Program will be bursting with energy, hard work, and great hands-on learning.

Good luck to our School Corps Members and School Instructors in the coming Fall semester!

For more information about our School Program, please contact Kat Coons (kat.coons@vycc.org), Christina Goodwin (christina.goodwin@vycc.org), or Tim Birmingham (tim.birmingham@vycc.org).

Over 80 School Corps Members joined us at the West Monitor Barn for Start Up!