Et cetera : Cedar 7 on the Trail in Jeffersonville, Indiana

Corps Member Masuzyo Mhango digs out weeds at a bioswale along the greenway.

Corps Member Aderonke Coker disposes of a picked weed on the greenway bioswale.

By Alex Bissell

On Friday, August 9, Cedar 7 arrived in Jeffersonville, Indiana to help the Ohio River Greenway Commission. Their service includes trail maintenance, bridge maintenance, graffiti removal and removing invasive plant species like Johnson grass. In addition, Cedar 7 is doing more behind-the-scenes activities like assisting with social media design and marketing.

Already, the members of Cedar 7 have set to work on restoring a “bioswale,” a plant-based drainage system designed to filter runoff from the greenway. They spent their first week clearing 110 yards of weeds, then went back through and dug out individual roots from the area. Not only that, but they began brainstorming and dialoguing with project coordinator Shaunna Graf about ideas for expanding the commission’s presence on the web.

“This project is probably the biggest we’ve worked on yet, and it’s exciting to think about how years from now, we can say, ‘I helped make that happen,’” says Corps Member Masuzyo Mhango from Newton, Mass.

The commission is tasked with planning, building and maintaining a seven mile bike and pedestrian trail called the Ohio River Greenway, which connects local communities and even spans state borders to reach Kentucky. The trail, both finished and unfinished segments, runs through Jeffersonville, New Albany and Corydon, Indiana, and crosses the Ohio River along the Big Four Bridge to Louisville, Kentucky.