Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint this page

Rock, Possum, and Soddy Segments – February 29 – March 27, 2004

“Feel the Beauty”

The Spring 2004 BreakAway was the biggest ever, with 20 schools, as well as Landmark and Americorps!

This years Spring BreakAway saw many good things! It was a record year in distance, number of students, & distanced traveled. We built a solid 4 miles of trail and we have about half a mile in the work in process stage. The grand total of 275 volunteers includes students, volunteers, Americorps, & Landmark! The distance award goes to the University of Maine who came all the way on a 27 hour Greyhound trip. They were so impressed with the CT and all the volunteers that many of them returned for the BIG DIG.

The first week we began construction on the northern end of the Possum Creek Segment off of Retro Hughes road. We had 44 students representing the University of Maine in Orono; Davidson College in NC; St Benedict in St. Joseph, MN; Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI; & Grand Rapids Community College in MI. About mid week an Americorps team of 11, Silver Four, arrived and stayed until the end of the program. Even though we had one rainy day that forced us to switch their day off, the weather was very pleasant. The students built 1.6 miles of trail and worked on a few bridge projects.

Week 2 we began construction further down into the Possum Creek Gorge where we had to park at the concrete bridge. The teams started at this point and worked north to connect the section previously done the week before. We had 66 students representing University of Illinois in Normal, IL; University of Pittsburgh in PA; Emory in Atlanta, GA; University of Michigan in East Lansing; & Indiana University of Pennsylvania; and 2 with Indiana University. We had a great week of weather, even if some of the mornings were freezing; but this did not stop these hardy veterans of the northern winters to build 1.1 miles of trail.

During Week 3 everyone was “jacked up” on hitting the rock fields. The first two weeks we saw plenty of dirt, now we were seeing a lot more of the typical sandstone that we are getting accustomed to on the CT. We had 58 students representing Iona College in New Rochelle, NY; Manhattan College from Bronx, NY; Our Lady of the Lake from San Antonio, TX; Keene State in NH; University of Wisconsin in Madison; & St Norbert in De Pere, WI; plus 5 from Landmark Volunteers, a high school community service program. We saw one rain out day, so we switched the day off like we did for Week 1. There were rocks to be moved, lumber to be hauled & bridges to be built. The group connected with the trail that was built in week 1 and we had teams to start back south along Possum Creek. We built 1 mile of trail & two bridges. One bridge off of Hwy 111 on Possum Creek southern end & the other in Soddy Creek off of Hotwater road.

“I need a rock-bar!” was the battle cry on the trail for Week 4. Nothing to this caliber has been seen since last years BIG DIG. Rocks, rocks and more rocks! We had 34 students representing Frostburg State University in MD, Hamilton College in Clinton, NY; Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA; and Florida International University in Miami. We even had another Americorp team of 10 on loan from Fall Creek Falls for a day. The weather was great and the flowers were beginning to bloom. It was even warm enough for some of these northerners to take a plunge in the creek! The total for the week was a solid 0.5 miles.

BreakAway 2004WEEK 1 (Feb 29 – Mar 6)

  • Grand Valley State University, MI
  • Grand Rapids Community College, MI
  • College of St Benedict, MN
  • AMERICORPS; arrive Wed Mar 3
  • Davidson College, NC
  • University of Maine, MA

WEEK 2 (Mar 7 – Mar 13)

  • Illinois State University, IL
  • Michigan State University, MI
  • University of Pittsburgh, PA
  • Indiana University of Pennsylvania, PA
  • Emory University, GA
  • AMERICORPS

WEEK 3 (Mar 14 – Mar 20)

  • Iona College, NY
  • St. Norbert College, WI
  • Keene State College, NH
  • AMERICORPS
  • LANDMARK
  • Manhattan College, NY
  • Our Lady of the Lake, TX
  • University of Wisconsin, WI

WEEK 4 (Mar 21 – Mar 27)

  • Frostburg State University, MD
  • MA Institute of Technology, MA
  • AMERICORPS; depart Wed Mar 24
  • Hamilton College, NY
  • Florida International University, FL