Et cetera : Out of the Woods and into the City—NCCC Team Handles It All

Oak 5 builds a new trail at Kickapoo State Recreation Area.

Tony Moore chainsaws a fallen tree in order to remove it from a bike trail at Kickapoo.

By Tyler Wroblewski

Driving in their fully-loaded, grey van, NCCC team Oak 5 arrived in Detroit on August 6. With its towering buildings and tightly-packed highways, the city environment seemed like a strange new world to the seven team members. Less than three days prior, the team had been camping in Kickapoo State Recreation Area in Oakwood, Illinois, surrounded by luscious forests and few other people.

While at Kickapoo, the team served with Trails for Illinois, a non-profit dedicated to expanding trail systems statewide, to improve over 12 miles of the park’s hiking and biking trails. From June 29 to August 3, Oak 5 created drainage systems, lopped overgrown vegetation, repaired a broken and rotten staircase and rerouted numerous trails, all while combating swarms of mosquitos and sleeping in tents every night.

Now, however, Oak 5 is aiding the YMCAs in one of the biggest cities in the NCCC North Central Region. The team is painting, flooring and refurbishing several YMCA locations, as well as acting as counselors at the Y’s day camps.

“Variety is the spice of life,” says team leader Tony Moore. “Our team has been lucky enough to be sent to two very unique locations and gets to give back to each community in an important way.”

With these two incredibly different projects back-to-back, Oak 5 is truly experiencing the vast diversity the Midwest has to offer. From the forest depths of Kickapoo to the urban jungle of Detroit, Oak 5 handles it all with confidence and bright smiles in order to get things done.