Pocahontas State Park cabin stabilization
A state park seeks assistance in maintaining cabins that are listed on the National Historic Registry. These cabins are over 100 years old. They need help with staining, painting, and prep-work prior to a two-week Youth Conservation Corps project when at-risk youth spend time working on the cabins as part of an outdoor education program.
Why It Matters
Youth groups have been using these cabins as an integral part of their program to teach life skills and environmental appreciation. While enjoying the outdoors, the youth learn teamwork, volunteering, conservation, self-reliance, etc. But as these historic cabins have aged, Pocahontas State Park has had trouble maintaining them with its limited budget. Rain is dripping through the old roofs, and squirrels and mosquitos often find their way inside through holes in the screens and rotten wood. A project to stabilize the cabins was launched 3 years ago with all volunteer labor. The scope of the current project will be to prepare two group cabin sites for the Cabin Work Week project in November. This will involve prepping and painting the exterior of at least four of the five group cabins, staining all the decks and campfire benches, and painting all of the peaks prior to the start of the November project.
The Impact
“While I don’t have a deep personal or family history with the location, I have developed a very close connection with the park and cabins over the last five years. It started out as a place to see my children and grandchildren as they live nearby, but quickly grew into my being the champion for the stabilization of these 50-60 historic buildings so that they continue their mission of supporting youth groups,” said project nominator David Dieter. “Youth are our future and these cabins are an important part of developing many youth in this area. While it may sound like a cliché, many visitors to the park as a whole and the cabins in particular are renewed simply by being surrounded by the all the quiet beauty of the park. Providing this space for reflection, community, education and fun in the outdoors can have a profound effect on those who are privileged to experience it. This project helps make that experience accessible for years to come.”
Providing this space for reflection, community, education and fun in the outdoors can have a profound effect on those who are privileged to experience it. This project helps make that experience accessible for years to come.
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