J. Gregory Gerdel
Several of the infrastructure projects in the city’s parks were accelerated by the arrival of eight AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps service members in late September.
The crew built three bridges, two wetland boardwalks, and helped repair the severe washouts on the Sparrow Farm Road, a popular year-round trail that climbs northward in the North Branch Park. In return, they received training with building and woodland tools, but learning to drive a tractor was apparently the most popular skill acquired.
Parks Director Alec Ellsworth, who last spring doubted Montpelier had any chance to host an AmeriCorps crew this year, reported that the time and work accomplished by the group in one month was equivalent to having a fulltime employee for six months.
The crew stayed in dorms on the Greenway Institute Campus; discovered coffee shops, stores, and bakeries downtown; and left on Oct. 29 for their next assignment in Highpoint, North Carolina, where they will work with Habitat for Humanity applying the building skills they acquired in Vermont.
