Et cetera : Trail-Blazing the Queen City

By: Phil and Gaby, Maple 4

Maple 4 Dinosaurs from AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) are tearing up Porkopolis. That’s right, the ‘saurs are in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The group is working with Gorman Heritage Farms to beautify the landscape. Gorman Heritage Farm occupies over 100 acres of farmland. This farm was built in the 19th century but now is primarily an educational facility open to the public. One of the problems on the farm is the dreaded honeysuckle bush that has invaded the quiet suburb of Evendale (northern Cincinnati). Maple 4’s job is to find it and destroy it, by any means necessary. 
 

When they are not obliterating honeysuckle, the Dinosaurs are fixing and constructing trails. The trail that Maple 4 is currently working on is quarter of a mile along the side of the rather steep hill. The path leads to an area overlooking all of Evendale. Any thoughts that Maple 4 had over what kind of work trail building would entail were drastically skewed. Team member Phil Schaefer comments “It is a lot of manual labor, more than I thought it would be, but we are still having fun.” Maple 4 is looking to finish that trail up this week and begin to move on to various projects surrounding the farm before returning back to Vinton, Iowa on April 29th.