Many students from schools all over the country are traveling to exotic destinations for a week of frolic and fun. Many…but not all. Some end up in Chattanooga.
I hooked up with eight students from Kansas State University at The Ice Cream Show this week and discussed their “Alternative Spring Break”. These young people have joined students from five or six other universities across the U.S. to work for a week on the Cumberland Trail.
How did they get interested in a project like this?
“I just wanted to do something meaningful on Spring Break,” stated Caitlyn.
None of them had ever done anything quite like this before. They had to come up with $250 of their own money and drive all the way in a school van, just to work hard all week.
Their room and board is taken care of, even if they do sleep in a local Chattanooga church while they are here. Evenings are spent in seminars on local conservation and last night they were entertained by folks from our zoo and even got to pet hedgehogs. They loved it.
They were glad to have one night off to enjoy a great meal at Sticky Fingers and then some awesome ice cream. While playing a game of Apples to Apples, they took time out to tell me about how important their work is on the 300-mile trail that runs from Chattanooga to Cumberland Gap. Wanting to make a difference had brought them all the way from Kansas just to volunteer to work on our trail, in our state.
Recruited by folks from the Cumberland Trail Conference, they will work on approximately 4,000 feet of trail this week, clearing brush, building drains and stonewalls.
Though all admitted that they were not hikers, Nate said, “It makes me want to hike and I sure appreciate the trails more.”
It was clearly evident that they were enjoying the “Alternative Spring Break”. Not one of them even mentioned the beach.
Check out: www.cumberlandtrail.org
Roger Curtis
mail@stbespresso.com