Project at Nature Trail

Every spring since 1998, a group of volunteers has gone to Summerton, S.C., to work on community projects, building friendships while building homes and churches. The volunteer project was initiated by the members of Charlotte Congregational Church and friends in 1998 as part of a national response to a rash of burnings of churches in rural South Carolina, and has continued, with students of Champlain Valley Union High School taking an increasing leadership role. With the decision last year that they should consider focussing their volunteer efforts in their Vermont communities, the students tackled new projects this year. When they contacted Michael Clapp of Charlotte, Special Projects Coordinator for Charlotte Shelburne Rotary, to inquire about possible projects in this area, he organized a work party to cut non-native invasive species at the LaPlatte Nature Trail in Shelburne for Saturday morning. Adult volunteers weilded chain saw and three sophomores from CVU hauled the brush to the trailside ready for pickup and chipping.