Norwich
Karleskint, of Charlestown, brought along his 12-year-old daughter, Phoenix, to help out.
“We going hiking ourselves all the time, so this is a way for us to give back,” the red-bearded Karleskint said. “Plus, it’s another way for us to get outside and be in nature together.”
Karleskint was part of an eight-person team devoted to repairing a moderately steep staircase on Montshire’s Blood Brook Trail, which suffered damages during heavy rains last October.
With guidance by UVTA trails programs coordinator John Taylor, the group reinforced the wooden steps, leveling and smoothing them over with packed dirt and digging water bars to prevent further damage. The Trails Alliance brought along tools and equipment for the job, including combination pro hoes — hoes with up to three sides of various shapes.
Taylor, an experienced builder and repairer of trails, delegated tasks while performing plenty of the work himself.
“This is a great three-way partnership and something that we haven’t done before with these particular groups,” UVTA executive director Russell Hirschler said. “It’s a way for us to offer our expertise to a group that’s actively managing and maintaining a trail. Montshire has excellent facilities and grounds crewmen, but Taylor has the kind of technical skills to be able to oversee a project like this. It makes sense for us to be out here helping get the trails ready for the season. It’s win-win-win.”
Hypertherm’s volunteers split into groups of four to six. On the 0.8-mile River Loop Trail — a popular, easy stroll with pristine views of the Connecticut River — one group thoroughly raked the path of leaves and debris piled up since last autumn. Another relocated logs that had been left behind during a recent forestry project, so much wood it took six men several hours to move it 30 to 40 feet from the trail so it would be out of view for hikers.
“Back-breaking work, you can’t beat it,” joked Hanover resident Jason Veracka, a Hypertherm machine operator who often brings his two daughters to Montshire, where admission is required to access the trails.
While the work may seem simple, making the trails aesthetically pleasing, not to mention safer, is important to Montshire on trails heavily used by families, many with young children.
“We really try to make the trails comfortable for people with strollers and make them (wheelchair) accessible,” Montshire Executive Director Marcos Stafne said. “It’s a lot more comfortable when you’re not rolling over leaves or going past a big pile of rotting trees.”
While some of Friday’s volunteers, such as Veracka, were already familiar with Montshire’s trails, others were like many of the museum’s visitors — frequent users of the building and its exhibits, but unaware of the miles of trails laid out within the museum’s 110 acres.
Jennifer Donovan, of Windsor, and Canaan’s Bethany Robinson had both patronized Montshire without being privy to its hiking opportunities.
“This is awesome out here; I can’t believe I didn’t know about it,” said Donovan, who was part of the crew fixing the Blood Brook Trail’s staircase. “I’ll definitely be back (to hike).”
Robinson, who worked up a sweat with her work on the stairs, said the workday was helping her understand how much effort is needed for proper trail maintenance.
“Usually you come out to places like this and you don’t really think about the work that goes into it,” she said. “This is definitely helping me appreciate it.”
Hypertherm’s presence at Montshire was only a small part of the company’s Earth Day efforts. It had nearly 300 employees performing roadside cleanups in Hanover and Lebanon, as well as a project to help Valley Quest — a geocaching program administered by the Vital Communities nonprofit — prepare for the coming season.
“Our associates get 24 hours of paid community service, and a lot of them do more than that on their own,” said Hypertherm’s community citizenship manager, Stacey Chiocchio.
“Last year, we had an 81 percent participation rate and more than 18,000 combined hours (of community service).”
Everett Adams, of Claremont, has been part of other trail volunteer initiatives with his Hypertherm colleagues, including similar trail maintenance projects at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) in Quechee as well as a home repair outing through a veterans assistance program.
“Getting out and helping people, making a difference, that’s the most rewarding part,” Adams said. “At the same time, it’s great to get away from the routine at work.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.