Vermont State Parks

Open for business! - The Lake St. Catherine Concession Stand Jonas Rosenthal, the town manager of Poultney for over 25 years has another tough job, organizing and running the Lake St. Catherine State Park concession stand. This isn't an ordinary concession stand though; it's a unique opportunity for high school students to gain work experience. It all started six summers ago, when Jonas, who also runs an extensive summer recreation program for youth, heard alot of complaints from kids about wanting to work, but unable to find jobs. A request for proposal (RFP) came up for the concession stand and Jonas applied with the angle of a youth employment program. The selectboard approved with the stipulation that he could run the program as long as he didn't lose any money. Paddleboating at Lake St. Catherine Jonas clarifies that a person managing it could make money, but after paying the expenses for equipment and supplies, and wages of the kids, he really doesn...

Wood up close Let it be known that today, Sunday, June 12th I have built a fire outdoors with damp firewood. This is my first fire starting ever. It took more fire starters then probably acceptable for a boy scout but I needed a fire to dry off my long socks, the two pairs of shoes I brought and my warmest sweatshirt so I was persistent. The wood was sizzling, foaming and dripping water from the end of its logs for a long time and for quite a while the wood was just some coals and then all of a sudden it became a lasting fire and I kept running back to the car to get more things to dry off. It's so nice to have these articles of clothing back. When your outside everything somehow gets wet. I wanted to have a dog when I went camping but my loyal car which I call Siddhartha is just like one. It travels with me as a companion, it protects me, and smells like a wet dog. I don't know if that means I smell dog like but I try to keep it under control. pink lady's slipper T...

Stick collecting was fun at Lake St. Catherine The first volunteer day of the season was a tough one! The weather at Lake St. Catherine State Park was cold, cloudy, and very windy, but this didn't dampen the spirits of eight hard-working individuals. Five AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) volunteers and three Green Mountain College students spent the day collecting broken branches and picking up trash. Having an extra sixteen hands makes getting a park ready for the season a much less daunting task. Lesley Porter,  Branbury State Park's Ranger, was with the group during the day and commented on how great a job everyone did. She couldn't thank them enough! The whole crew after a great day's work For their generosity and efforts, each volunteer received a Vermont State Parks punch card , good for 10-day use visits to any Vermont State Park.  If you are interested in volunteering for parks, there are a few volunteer days coming up just ar...