Last year, Members of The Class of 2010 cut and hauled in 3 hours wood that would have taken Pleasant Hill Outdoor Center’s two-person volunteer team a week to do. The wood was used later in the winter to boil sap from maple trees in order to make maple syrup. The selling of maple syrup products is a major source of income for Pleasant Hill Outdoors Center.

Other first-year students, working at Wooster Memorial Park, contributed 600 volunteer hours, saving the Wooster Parks and Recreation Bureau $8,400 (600 hours x $14.00 per hour = $8,400). They opened ¾ mile of a new Sassafras trail by cleaning debris and trimming a pre-designed path; loaded, by hand, and removed three 10-ton dumps trucks of debris from the demolition of old restroom facilities; shoveled and transported approximately 25 tons of gravel to fill the eroded trail areas along the Holtman access to assist with erosion control; and performed many additional tasks to beautify the park and make it safe for guests.

This year Members of The Class of 2011 will work at several sites throughout the community. All first-year students are required to participate in the service project program. The program is on Saturday, August 25, 2007. Your First-Year Seminar group will be pre-assigned to a service site. Lemonade and cookies will be served at the Lilly House immediately following the service project. The service sites this year are:

WOOSTER PARKS AND RECREATION

www.woosteroh.com/parks.php

This year's projects will focus on promoting access to the natural beauty of Wooster Memorial Park and protecting and enhancing the riparian corridor of the Apple Creek through Grosjean Park.

One group will be working in Wooster Memorial Park, a 300 acre tract of pristine woodland for hiking and nature study. There are over five miles of trails and scenic overlooks. The park includes a large section of the Rathburn Run, a tributary of the Killbuck River. Students and volunteers will be hiking into the park to create a new interlinking loop trail. Others will be assisting in the dismantling of an old shed that will be recycled into an information kiosk for the park. Some groups will be doing much needed trail repairs to remote sections of the park. To accomplish the day's projects, participants will need to be prepared for an aggressive hike on primitive trails which may include fording the Rathburn Run.

A second work group will be focusing on Grosjean Park, an 80 acre naturalized park that contains a one mile stretch of the Apple Creek, another subsidiary of the Killbuck River. In cooperation with the Wooster Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Wooster Parks now stocks this stream with trout to encourage catch and release fly fishing. The projects at Grosjean will focus on water quality sampling, litter clean up, and stream bank stabilization. This park also requires trail hiking, naturalized areas and stream work.

We look forward to our partnership and hope it provides you with a challenge along with a better appreciation of the natural resources available to the Wooster Community. Please come prepared to spend a day in nature. Volunteers should be prepared to work in natural wooded areas. Proper clothing and footwear should be considered.

THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER SALVAGE YARD

www.wooster.edu/grounds

The Department of Campus Grounds is responsible for maintaining the Salvage Yard. The mission of the Campus Grounds is to provide a safe and pleasant outdoor environment for students, faculty, staff and visitors through the maintenance of the campus grounds. There are several on-going projects which will only increase the safety of our community and ensure its pleasant outdoor environment. Those projects include; site preparation for the College’s Power Plant Project, reconstructing existing brick sidewalks in the Oak Grove, and landscape design and installation at Culbertson House, the home of the offices for Residence Life, Safety, Security, and Keys and IDs.

http://admissions.wooster.edu/traditions/bricks.php

Bricks have been synonymous with The College of Wooster for nearly a century and have become a symbol for the school. The College has long been marked by brick pathways intersecting the different parts of campus. For years, the brick paths were made with bricks manufactured at the Wooster Brick Yards in town. These bricks were marked with the words "Wooster, Ohio." Since bricks are no longer made at the Wooster Brick Yards, these particular bricks have become more scarce as time has gone on, and in turn, are now collector's items to many Wooster loyalists.

Members of The Class of 2011, in keeping with the goal of historic preservation, will be stacking historically-significant brick pavers on pallets. These bricks are old pavers that were recovered from brick sidewalks and various other campus projects on campus and will be re-cycled and used in current and upcoming campus projects. Wooster Pavers are an enduring symbol of Wooster.

NOTE: If you are assigned to Wooster Memorial Park, Grosjean Park or The College of Wooster Salvage Yard, it is recommended that volunteers have comfortable hiking shoes that can get wet since stream work and crossings are part of the day's adventures. Work gloves are also highly advised. You will be working in natural areas where insect bites and exposure to poison ivy are possible. They are remote wooded sites with slippery streams where trips and falls over uneven ground are commonplace. It is our desire for everyone to have a SAFE, enjoyable experience. Please do your part to ensure your own safety by being prepared and closely following instructions given to you that day!

UNITED WAY OF WAYNE & HOLMES COUNTIES, INC.

www.uwwayneholmes.org

United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties feels privileged to work with the College of Wooster to introduce you to volunteerism in your new community. You will be volunteering with one of the network of local non-profit health and human service agencies that is working together with United Way to develop a plan to help people get onto solid ground. Each agency focuses on programmatic strategies which provide both immediate and long-term benefits to community members.

The range of organizations runs the gamut: youth programs, job training programs, programs for mentally challenged adults, art programs, domestic violence programs, and fitness programs. You name it, and we work with it. Locally, one out of four people will have their lives touched by one of programs provided by the agencies you will be helping.

You pass the way of many College of Wooster students before you. Our partner agencies know that the legacy of volunteerism provided by the COW students is part of the very fabric of our community. Welcome to Wooster. We look forward to you being a part of this very special community.

Please fill out the Acknowledgement of Risk and Release of Liability Form. If you are under 18 years of age, have a parent sign the Acknowledgement of Risk and Release of Liability Form for Minors. If you are 18 years old or older, please fill out the form entitled Acknowledgement of Risk and Release of Liability Form. If you have any questions you may contact us by phone at 330-263-2545.

We look forward to working with you and building stronger relationships between the College and the community.

NOTE: Information sessions will be held on Friday, August 24, 2007, from 3:45 p.m. to 4:15 pm and 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. These sessions will provide you with additional details regarding the service project. You must attend one of these sessions.

» Acknowledgement of Risk and Release of Liability Form

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