Wilderness Road State Park through an Alternative Spring Break program. That’s right, eight young ladies and two gentlemen from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin school spent their time off replacing nearly 500 feet of the iconic split-rail fencing that encompasses the park.
Although they provided a tremendous amount of labor during their week’s stay, they did find time to see the sights, hike the trails and visit some of Southwest Virginia’s top educational and recreational places such as Southwest Virginia Museum.
On their final full day at the park, and following a lunch where each student was presented a certificate of appreciation as well as a park keychain to remember their time here, the group headed for an 8-mile round trip hike to the top of the picturesque Cumberland Mountain, to the popular Sand Cave and the iconic White Rocks.
“This group has been a pleasure to work with, I wish we had them all summer,” explained head maintenance ranger David Cope. “This has been one of the best groups of kids we’ve ever had here at the park,” added chief ranger John Hartley. The group stayed in the Historic Karlan Mansion, which they said “felt like home”.
The students: Allison Hourigan, Chelsea Keenan, Ciara McHugh, Cindy Paulson, Claire Hackett, Emily Ruthven, Grant Worden, Kaly Mueller, Kelsey Koeppel, Kristen Steinfeld, Philip LaRosa and Caitlin Cervenka also stained the siding on the park’s comfort station during their stay.
Well, enough of me expressing my thoughts, I thought the best way to end this blog would be to allow the students themselves sum up their week at Wilderness Road. Below is a letter left by the group before they departed early Saturday (March 19) morning.
If your school is interested in an alternative spring break experience for next year, please contact our Office of Volunteerism and Community Engagement by emailing them here.