Teens tackle hot summer job at James River State Park

By Erin McGrath

Published: August 6, 2008

Most 16-year-old boys spend their summer days dreaming of their first car, lounging at the pool or beach, or chasing after 16-year-old girls.

Justin Collier of Charlottesville is spending his swinging a pickax and shoveling dirt.

Collier and a dozen other teenage boys from around the state are working the hottest days of the summer battling wasps, snakes and stubborn plants to build a mile-and-a-half-long section of trail at James River State Park in across the James River from Nelson County north of Gladstone.

“It’s fun,” Collier said in between swings at a root in the middle of the new trail. “But hard work.”

The boys are part of the Virginia State Parks Youth Conservation Corps, a program designed for young adults to learn work skills while making a contribution and experiencing nature.

“The YCC program is really designed to give kids an experience in the outdoors and help foster our future as state parks,” Assistant Park Manager Debbie Coffin said. “We’ve got to start developing an interest in the outdoors and conservation and getting these kids interested in going to college, studying in these fields and coming out to work with us.”

The James River State Park program began July 19 and runs until Aug. 9.

Cameron Lipscomb, 20, is one of three supervisors guiding the teenagers through their workdays around the camp. It’s the sixth day on the job and the team already has the trail ready to be scraped, he said.

“Everything’s doing well,” Lipscomb said. “We’ve got good supervisors, kids are getting together well. No problems really.”

After their workdays, the supervisors take the teens out for other programs such as bird watching, fishing and swims in the James River.

“Most of the kids are from the city and it’s something they’ve never done before,” Lipscomb said.

The team members said that the experience is hard, but also a good time.

“You get to work hard and have a lot of fun,” said Ben White, 18, of Quantico. “It keeps you busy doing something worthwhile.”