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Freshman Service Day 2003: What a Difference a Day Can Make
"Who did all this for y'all?" That was a common question parents of after-school students at the Stephens-Lee Center in Asheville were asking staff members after seeing the center's playground and park in the wake of the WWC Freshman Service Day Aug. 23.
The same question might have been asked of old man Swannanoa River and his sidekick - OK, tributary - Gashes Creek after the other half of the Service Day whirlwind swept through a one-mile section of river in east Asheville the same day. The work there was done in partnership with RiverLink.
All told, about 375 students, faculty and staff, orchestrated by Service-Learning Director Carolyn Wallace and her own trusty sidekick Franklin Tate, descended upon Stephens-Lee and the Swannanoa for a day of good old-fashioned work and service. By the time the dust had settled on a muggy summer day, both the center and the river were looking downright spiffy.
At Stephens-Lee - the restored gymnasium and vocational education wing of the city's African-American high school during segregation - tasks included mulching, edging, drainage work and painting a playground fence. But the volume of debris hauled away was almost as remarkable as what was left behind: Fifteen - yes, 15 - dump-truck loads of vines and other vegetable matter, trash not included.
"Probably the biggest difference is the walkway from the parking lot going toward city hall," said Ken Kendall of Asheville Parks and Recreation who coordinated the work at Stephens-Lee. "The steps going up to the (Calvary Presbyterian) church are open again, and the edible garden (Edible Forest Ecosystem) is manageable again. The community is very appreciative."
The situation is every bit as bright on the one-mile stretch of the Swannanoa. The final tally of castoffs removed from the river included a refrigerator, TV set, furnace, an oil skimmer, a couple of toilets and, remarkably, about 150 tires. On the invasive-exotics front, one of the bittersweet trunks pulled out had an all-too-impressive diameter of about 5 inches.
"We accomplished so much that needed to be done," Kendall said, referring to the work at Stephens-Lee. "It was just the nicest group of folks and great to work with. I hope we can work together again in the future - one student has already asked me when he can come back. It really was an amazing day." -Ben Anderson.