Our Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) is a service learning model. One of the goals is to instill the concept of a lifetime of volunteer service. Certainly we hope to inspire that service in the environment and nature, but any volunteer service.
What I like the most is when our adult volunteers work and socialize with the youth. Smith Mountain Lake State Park has one of the most active friends groups in our system. These volunteers actively support and volunteer in the park and work on advocacy issues with the community and state government.
The Friends of Smith Mountain Lake welcomed the youth with a dinner last Sunday and last night (Saturday) the girls came to their Music in the Park series. I spoke with the Lead Supervisor a little while ago and she said the girls had a great time dancing with the cloggers , Friends and visitors who came for the concert.
You can tell from the slide show that there is a lot of work going on. The girls have been clearing a vista so that visitors can enjoy the view of the lake. Mostly we like the park natural, but clearing some vistas keep folks from wandering off the trails and tramping through the more sesnitive areas.
My favorite in the series has to be the ice cream pontoon boat. What a hoot.
Stay tuned for more posts on the program at other parks. Click here for pictures of all the programs.