Share our Story!!!

A nice article and photo is posted to the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Daily Update! Check it out!
http://www.hws.edu/dailyupdate/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=11735

Also, Stacey and Sam are working on an article for the HWS Herald! Keep your eye out for that!

If anyone would like copies of my photos (seen in the slideshow to the right) just let me know and I will make up a CD for you!

Also, crew, could you please remember to submit your feedback via the End of Trip Survey (sent link to you via email) Thanks!!! :)
-sarah :)

In Trip Withdrawl?

Thursday was our final work day with LLW. We spent it on the shores of the river in this particularly muddy spot. Part of the group spent some of the day pulling out an entire building's wall from the canopy of a tall tree. Chad made a good point that now that it is removed every passerby will recognize the improvements we have made -big and small. It was amazing how much lumber had been strewn about the woods along the river! At the end of the work day, Shannon and Chad passed out a framed photo of this week's volunteers as a parting gift and delivered a huge 'Thank You' to all of us for coming. 

Although it was the end of the work day, our crew still had a full evening planned. Arrangements had been made by Stacey for us to meet with Coe College's student environmental club! On our arrival we were greeted and given a tour of campus, including the library, student center, gymnasium, and a dorm. As special guest to the club meeting, we exchanged ideas for greening each of our campuses. It was great to connect with a college that has similar goals, accomplishments, and challenges as HWS. Coe College has a bike program, optional tray-less dining, an Earth Week celebration, and individual programs that have brought awareness to their campus, such as a plastic bag drive and campus garden. That same evening the club was making recycled notebooks and tablets out of one-sided printed-on paper. Their hope was to give each faculty and staff member one in their mailbox in hopes to remind them to reuse and recycle paper.

Friday morning we left Cedar Rapids at 7 am with a quick stop at Starbucks for a wake up call of caffeine! On the road to Ohio! Ten hours later we arrived at the hostel. The students weren't very inspired to cook their own dinner so we made a stop at Applebees. Generously, Barb, the hostel hostess, provided dry lumber for the students to have a campfire with S'mores that night -their final night together. It was something the students had been hoping to have on their final night every since they had left the hostel last Sunday! I'm glad it worked out.

Total mileage for the trip = 2,233.2 miles! 

It went pretty smoothly with the students having a spelling bee and playing Never Ever Have I...  in the back of the van and sleeping the rest of the time. I have to give my thanks to Deirdre and Sam for keeping me company up in the front ---I knew it wasn't exactly the prime seat in the van! :)

When I got home (Saturday at 4pm) I was exhausted from the long drive. I'm sure most of the students were well rested or at least better rested than I since they slept in the van. I gave my email a quick check when I got home and realized that Stacey Rice had already requested my friendship on Facebook! Her status was, "In Trip Withdrawl". It had only been about an hour or two since I had dropped her and the other students off at Medbery Parking lot! She was already missing everyone! LOL We all grew together as a strong team over the week. I hope that the friendships that were built continue on especially for our first year students.  I've since gotten a few more friend requests from my crew which will hopefully help us all keep in touch as we plan for next years Spring Break with LLW.

I'd like to give my thanks to all of the students who participated in this service trip. You made it fun, eventful, and entertaining! I hope that your dedication, energy, sincerity, and motivation can continue to be effective and beneficial to you and the communities and natural environment you serve in the future.

 -Sarah :)

I wanted to let our supporters and blog readers know that I have uploaded a slideshow of photos from our week-long adventure. Many of the students were camera shy or just plain annoyed with my camera-happy self but I did manage to get a few good shots! Also, under "Learn More" on the right menu bar, I've provided a link to a Cedar Rapids news channel which did a feature story on us on Thursday night. Many of our students are either seen in the video or quoted in the article. Check it out!

-sarah

Team Sweet Cereal

It hasn't been easy to find free moments to connect to the internet to make a blog entry this week. We have all been consumed with our daily activities of either -travel and cleaning the river! The first few days of the trip were travel to Iowa. After the 7 hour drive, we pulled into the very small town of Lucas, Ohio -home of Malabar Farm State Park. We stayed overnight at Malabar Farm Hostel, which is on the grounds of the 700 acre historic organic farm property. The sweet beginnings of our Spring Break included shots of pure maple syrup and maple candy! The crew loaded up onto a horse drawn wagon and enjoyed a casual ride into the sugar bush to enjoy the festivities of the farm's annual Maple Festival. Because the hostel didn't open until 5 pm, the crew ventured off into the woods for a short hike! Nothing better than a little exercise after a long drive. Barb, the hostel manager, greeted us at the door later on and showed us our "home" away from home! As she described the restaurants in the area she couldn't quite remember the name of the place that "grills everything". Hibachi? No. Ponderosa? -No. "Burger King! That's it!" The whole team cracked up!
The accommodations were very nice with bunk beds and a full use kitchen. I think all of the syrup earlier in the day inspired cravings for pancakes for dinner so we loaded up the van to drive to town for a little grocery shopping. Breakfast for dinner was a great idea! The crew filled the kitchen, working as a great team, to prepare a hardy "breakfast" of eggs, pancakes, fresh fruit, bacon, juice, and toast! Although most of the food was gone by the time my team called me for dinner, what food I was able to fend for myself was tasty! Mary did a wonderful job on the blueberry pancakes--I know that! As for the bacon, eggs, and toast, you'll have to ask the rest of the crew how that was. All I remember is seeking fresh air when the fire alarms went off! LOL
After dinner the students went outside to play hide and seek, at least I think that was what they were playing. I heard a lot of laughter! Meanwhile I was upstairs winding down for the night and trying to get rested for the 10 drive the following day. The students could afford to stay up later than I to play our new game "Whoonu" since they could sleep in the van on the way from Ohio to Iowa!
On Sunday morning we headed out early with a quick breakfast and a big Thanks to Barb. We knew we would see her again on our return through town on our way back to NY on Friday night.
So all of the travel here was safe and sound! We played a few games in the car, listened to the radio (when an actual good station could be found), stopped for gas, and grabbed Subway in Hobart, Indiana! We passed a bunch of cities as we kept driving through Illinois and later Iowa, such places as Utica, Rochester, Seneca, Oswego, Syracuse, Waterloo, Geneva, Hobart, and others. It seems like each state shared a common name with a town or city of New York.
The students have done wonders with making journal entries into our written journal. I made sure to pass that around the back of the van on the way here so that they could "express themselves with games of hangman and jotting down memories and quotes. As we drove through Indiana we saw a billboard giving directions to a nearby business by saying "Take a dog leg right at the light". I've been meaning to Google that terminology! We arrived at about 5 pm Sunday and met up at The Shack Tavern for a dinner of chicken fried steak and gravy hosted by Living Lands and Waters. The team was introduced to Chad Pregracke, the organization's founder, and his wacky crew members - Shannon, Joe, Jeff, daNoz, Mike, Meghan, and Tammy! We were also introduced to the Shack's owner who just recently rebuilt his restaurant since the June 2008 floods. Across the street from the Shack we saw the LLW temporary worksite, which includes a few 4 wheel drive trucks, a box truck, camper, dumpster, and trailer. This is where we would end up meeting each morning to hear our motivational speech from daNoz, or stretch with Jeff, and set off on the boats to various locations along the Cedar River shoreline.

On Monday...The LLW crew took us on a river tour to see what we were up against this week. We saw picnic tables twisted in the branches of trees, blue 55 gal. drums tossed up on the steep slopes of the river, wooden pallets washed up on shore, and plastic bags blowing in the wind like streamers from the tree tops. A closer look would show bottles and cans, household waste, cardboard, toys of all kinds, garbage bags, gardening supplies, yard fencing, signs, containers, fishing lures and bobbers, office materials, pens, caps, wrappers, dog houses, pals, bins and other stuff, all covered in MUD!

Tuesday was a festive day! All 9 of us dressed up as the Lucky Charms for St. Patrick's Day! We decorated t-shirts the night prior with fabric markers for our special début of the sweet cereal! Jonathan was loaned a wonderful pea-green leprechaun outfit to wear for the day also! What fun! We joked that our boat's team name should be -- Team Sweet Cereal!!! The boat loads of trash keep coming in!

It is now Wednesday! --Time flies when you have a ton of trash to pick up!!!---

This week has been an awesome experience for us! We have been able to befriend other volunteers from SUNY Geneseo, Purdue, University of Iowa, and Bradley University as we've cleaned the shores of the Cedar! Often times its been in the form of a lended hand while shoveling a refrigerator out of the mud or rolling a giant tire onto the boat, or a reached out hand for an aid in balance, assistance in prepping lunch or company at a hosted potluck or cookout! It really has been wonderful to come together for a cause that has been greatly appreciated by the local community. On our first night here, Brittany, a local, invited us to her temporary home for a cookout with her family and friends! Just about 30 us filled every lawn chair she had and her hammock to share a meal together. Brittany had us go around the circle to introduce ourselves and state the reason why we wanted to come on Alternative Spring Break in Cedar Rapids. We definitely have a common interest --- to help out a cause and make a difference! After dinner, as Brittany walked us through Cedar Rapids Czech Village, a random car pulled aside the shoulder of the road. The woman driver rolled down the window and asked if we were volunteers. She hollered huge thanks and drove off! --I think it made all of us very much appreciated and recognized. We've gotten similar thanks from cyclists riding along the river's edge, cars passing by our worksite, and recognition given by local TV stations. We have had the warmest welcome! It feels great to be part of such a mission -to clean up this river!

Tomorrow is Thursday, our last work day on the river! We'll be up and at the worksite by 9 am and pick up trash through the day until about 4:30 pm. Shannon has orchestrated awesome noontime hot lunches for the entire crew each day! A great midday bonus!!! After work tomorrow we plan to visit Coe College's Sustainability Council to share and exchange ideas about campus sustainability ---hopefully the information we gather will be shared with HWS, Campus Greens, and our Sustainability Coordinator!!

I apologize for the lack of submissions to this blog. The team has been so focused on the river and has pretty exhausted by days end that we haven't had a chance to reflect electronically to our supporters! Hopefully, you will hear my teammate's thoughts soon!
-sarah :)

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, Tomorrow!

Hi All,

Just thought I would say my last word before we take off. I wanted to address a few last questions I’ve been given.

-Linens are available at the hostel but you will need to bring a bath towel if you plan to shower Sunday morning.

-Boots are pretty necessary. I don’t know what we would have done without them last year especially given the rainy weather. Maybe you could borrow a pair from a last year participant. I hear Walmart is selling them for less than $20.

-I’ll be doing all of the driving for the trip but if anyone wants to stay up to keep me company or to navigate, I would really love that! LOL

-I have run out of time this week to be able to fit in the movie with you guys this evening. Too many chores are calling my name before I leave Geneva for a week so I think I better take care of my personal business and get a good night’s rest. Anyone that is still planning on going to the movie can still meet at 6:35 pm in front of the FLI to gather and walk together.

-The van will leave AT 7:00 am so please be on time! If we are on schedule, we can fit in a stop for breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. Whatever you are up for! We will make a few bathroom stops and a lunch stop so if you want to bring snacks feel free to!

-There isn’t really a need to bring your laptops (we have very little room in the van) so please go without them if you can. I will bring a laptop for use by the team while at the hotel. Plus, I think the hotel has a business center for online access.

See you tomorrow morning at 7 am in Medbery Parking Lot….van #42.

-Sarah

 

Departure TIME!

HI All!

So we are mere days away until our departure. I thought I would post our meeting time for this Saturday! I thought we should leave at 7 am so to get to Malabar Farm for the Maple Festival by 1 pm. The festival only runs from noon to 4 pm so I wanted to give us enough time to grab lunch, participate in the festivities, and maybe later go for a hike or visit the aviary. You can visit the Malabar Maple Festival information here to learn more. So let’s plan to meet at the big white HWS van in the Medbery Parking Lot at 7 am on Saturday, March 14^th.  

            As for Friday’s (3/13) movie night to see Ben Button, let’s all meet at the Finger Lakes Institute at 6:35 pm to walk together to the Smith Opera House. The movie begins at 7:00 pm and is fairly long. Could you please let me know if we should expect you? If there are no takers, we won’t go. Maybe everyone will be wanting to pack that night?

            Stacey, our HWS Campus Greens President, has worked very hard to make arrangements with the Coe College Sustainability Council to meet with us while we are in Cedar Rapids, possibly on Thursday (3/19) night. I think it is a great idea for all of us to participate in so let’s save the date! We’ll be able to share our greening stories and learn from their students as to what has worked for them.

            OK! Remember to pack light and in a duffle!!!! And remember your rain gear and rubber boots!

Did anyone become van driver certified as requested in your applications?

-Sarah