Cole Saunders of Calais shovels to fill and smooth out a washout on a trail in North Branch Park.
This summer’s Montpelier Youth Conservation Corps members signed up to work on the city’s parks and trails. But when the July 10-11 flood hit, what the 16-member crew got was a sudden immersion in disaster relief, spending days cleaning out muddy, waterlogged basements in the flooded downtown, bucket by bucket, and doing whatever else they were called upon to do working at the Hub on Main Street, from distributing water to gathering information on where volunteers were needed.
When the emergency demands diminished, they were able to go back to their original jobs for the Parks Department, working to restore what the heavy rains and flooding had damaged in city parks and at the FEAST farm. The Parks Department’s James Marino was the MYCC crew leader.
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Above, from left, Anna Blackburn, FEAST farm manager Charlie Watt, Jasper Turner, and Finley Torrens-Martin work on the FEAST farm fence. The farm is in a bend of the Winooski River near where the Stevens Branch enters. In a normal season, produce from the farm goes to the Montpelier Senior Activity Center’s FEAST program, the Montpelier Food Pantry, and the Montpelier Roxbury Schools Backpack Program. Ethan Borland, Lena Donofrio and Anna Blackurn excavate the fence at FEAST Farm. Jasper Turner of Montpelier works on the FEAST farm garden fence. Mayla Landis-Marinello, left, of Middlesex and Ella Thomas of Calais check alignment as they prepare to attach new decking to a flood-damaged bridge in the North Branch Park. Ben Wetherell of Montpelier works on bridge restoration in North Branch Park. Ben Wetherell of Montpelier, left, works with Mayla Landis-Marinello of Middlesex and Ella Thomas of Calais to restore a bridge in North Branch Park. Ryaz Rahman, left, of Montpelier works with Nicholas Robertson and Cole Saunders to rebuild a trail in North Branch Park. Nicholas Robertson, left, and Cole Saunders rebuild a trail in North Branch Park.
