Operation High Ground: Youth(ful) Restoration

Shortly after assuming the Head Steward duties of Tolland Conservation Corp’s from retiring Ken Hankinson, my settling-in was abruptly interrupted by my computer announcing the arrival of a new email informing me that the Campbell Mountain Overlook had been spray painted in Day-Glo colors. My heart sank, as this certainly wasn’t exactly the harbinger of spring’s arrival that I was looking forward to. Over the course of the next several days, my email box filled with increasingly strident requests for ‘action’. When the ‘taggers’ struck a second time, evidently in an escalating effort to win the attention of two, would-be, prom dates named “Meg & Samm”, the tenor of the emails reached an all-time low and the matter was placed on the Tolland Conservation Commission’s official agenda.

With the kickoff of TCC’s Spring Work Sessions focused on clean-up of the past year’s considerable storm damage to Tolland’s ~20 miles of hiking trails the weekend before, the timing of the Campbell Mountain ‘tagging’ couldn’t have been worse. During their meeting, Conservation Commissioners wrestled with what to do with not just the graffiti, but also the escalation of ATV and motor bike traffic on the Town’s 1000+ acres of Open Space, everyone’s mood settled to a dark place of “kids now-a-days”. The exact opposite place I wanted my tenure as Head Steward to be remembered for, as I firmly believe the long-term viability of our wild places, figuring prominently in Tolland’s quality-of-life equation , very much lies in the hands of the next generation of stewards:  our youth. What to do?

Problems as Opportunities in Disguise

As a believer in ‘problems dressed up as opportunities in disguise’, I turned to my network of friends in Scouting circles, the High School Vision Club and the Friends of Tolland Schools arguing, “wouldn’t it be cool to allow the youth of our community to gain the ‘high ground’ in this debate by helping to clean the graffiti from Campbell Rock.” As the community rallied, a day and a half after the Conservation Commission’s meeting, Operation High Ground was in full swing with youth participants:  Nicholas Audette (TCC, junior steward), Tyler Kolb (Troop 15) and brothers, Aidan and Ryan Doyle. Youth(ful) adult participants included:  Dorothy Mickiewicz (Conservation Commission), Jackie Kolb, and Ray McKenna (Tolland Conservation Corp) and Chuck Carter (Northern CT Land Trust). Three hours later, after judicious application of environmentally friendly ‘graffiti remover’, elbow grease, wire brushing and 6 gallons of water, one of Tolland’s finest Open Space overlooks began to re-emerge to its former glory. And with every layer of paint removed, a weight came off our hearts and our pride and smiles returned and as if to thank us for our toils, the sun came out from behind the morning’s clouds!

Building Character and Communities

Leaving the mountain that day, though exhausted from our labor, our spirits were high knowing we had all contributed in doing something important; not huge, but important. From atop that mountain, thinking about our community’s fiscal woes and the angst and polarization of our budgetary debates, this little project restored my faith in the people of Tolland;  a community,  that when faced with devastation of multiple ‘100 year storms’ or the devastation wreaked by a couple of less-inspired individuals, comes together to do what they can. In the big scheme of things, who knows the impact of this past weekend’s ‘little ripples of sacrifice’. Will Campbell’s Overlook remain unblemished? Perhaps, not. But when I think of the leadership and spirit of young people like Nicholas, Tyler, Aidan and Ryan, I’m heartened by this small ‘band-of-brothers’ as they will be our next generation of community leaders and stewards.

Epilog

Shortly after the publication of this article in the Tolland Patch, nonplussed by their would-be dates’ poor judgment, ‘Meg and Samm’, dumped them and announced their intentions to attend the Prom with ‘real men’ the likes of which of Ryan, Aidan, Tyler and Nick!

Bob Rubino, Tolland, CT
Tolland Conservation Corp, Head Steward
Friends of Tolland Schools, Leadership Team
Tolland Fence Viewer