Just finished building a new trail exit are the Y2V (Year to Volunteer) crew along with staff members of Palisades State Park. The Y2V visitors started work on Monday July 27th and worked in Palisades until Thursday, July 30th. Pictured are: (left) Vince Padilla, Amy Padilla, Dylan Nelson (park staff), Valerie Odegaard, Tom Odegaard, Logan Jurrens (staff), Shar Roos, Phil Roos, and Caden Picquet (staff). To see more of the adventures of the Y2V, check out their Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/ayeartovolunteer.
Palisades State Park has had a record numbers of visitors this year. With the pandemic limiting what people can do for vacation, camping and hiking out in the great outdoors has been a popular choice this summer. But a group of campers arrived last week whose purpose was something other than just relaxing and enjoying the park.
The Crew for Y2V (Year to Volunteer) started work on Monday July 27, and worked in the park for the next four days.
“As you can see here they’ve just helped us with some trail work, putting a new exit on our south wall trail,” said Logan Jurrens of Palisades State Park staff. “New rock, and new wood chips overlaying the exit. Before that they helped with clearing debris, hauling twenty plus truckloads of rock and other debris. They helped cut down a few trees and trim branches with us all over the park. It’s an impressive amount of work that they’ve gotten done in just a few days. They’re great people and we’re very happy that they came to help us out.”
The Y2V crew started their work in South Dakota at Custer State Park working to remove trees and maintain the buffalo pens. They then crossed the state and came to our neck of the woods. The last 95 days they’ve worked in parks in Florida, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and now South Dakota. When done at Palisades their next destination will be in Illinois.
“Our team here is small but mighty,” said Shar Roos of Y2V. “We arrived Sunday night and started work Monday morning. I really want to complement this park and the people who work here. State parks are usually not half so well maintained. We’ve been places where things are not so good. Compared with other state parks, there is very little trash and litter. Everything here is really well maintained and the park itself is pristine. It’s a real gem, extremely beautiful and everything you want in a park, but I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that.
“Our volunteers are some the best we’ve ever had this year and the staff here has been amazing. Honestly, we want to come back again!”
Jurrens said that with the park’s expansion project, they’d happily have this crew come back again, especially since this year they’ve been busier than ever.
“It’s been nuts out here,” he said. “For RV and camping, we’re always full, and booked solid. Day use has been way up too, people are out here hiking every day in droves. Getting outside and enjoying the fresh air is something people can do in relative safety, so they are certainly taking advantage of that.”
You can follow the progress and adventures of the Y2V team on their Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/ayeartovolunteer.
