Tag Archives: Volunteering

2023 Ice Age Trail and Ice Age Trail Alliance Volunteer Recognition

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National Park Service Volunteer-in-Parks (VIP) Recognition. 

In 2023, a total of 220 volunteers for the Ice Age Trail earned recognition for the National Park Service’s VIP program. Photo by Dave Caliebe.
In 2023, a total of 220 volunteers for the Ice Age Trail earned recognition for the National Park Service’s VIP program. Photo by Dave Caliebe.
In 2023, a total of 220 volunteers for the Ice Age Trail earned recognition for the National Park Service’s  VIP program.  VIP volunteers receive recognition when they attain certain volunteer hour milestones (as long as their volunteer form is current!) Hours accrue, year over year.

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Volunteer Meet and Greet – Walworth/Jefferson Chapter

Take your membership to the next level!

Join us at Second Salem Brewing Co. in Whitewater for the Walworth/Jefferson Chapter’s Volunteer Meet and Greet! Mingle with fellow chapter members and volunteers, enjoy a drink or appetizer, and learn how you can contribute to the Trail. Local chapter volunteers and Alliance staff will be happy to answer all your questions on how to get more involved.

The Walworth/Jefferson Chapter has volunteer opportunities for everyone, including…

  • Trailbuilding and maintenance
  • Leading or planning outreach events
  • Organizing hikes
  • Helping with social media
  • Working with Scout groups
  • Contributing stories to Mammoth Tales, local papers, and chapter newsletters
  • and much more!

Come for the beer, and leave a volunteer! More details to come, soon.

Questions? 

Contact Lisa Szela, Volunteer Support Coordinator at lisa@iceagetrail.org.

 

Featured image photos by: Dave Caliebe and Cameron Gillie

2021: A Successful Trailbuilding & Stewardship Season!

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One of our skilled sawyer Mobile Skills Crew volunteers, Anne Helsley-Marchbanks. Photo by Dave Caliebe.
One of our skilled sawyer Mobile Skills Crew volunteers, Anne Helsley-Marchbanks. Photo by Dave Caliebe.
After months of uncertainty, the familiar smiles of volunteers returned in a big way as 2021 progressed. Small events at the beginning of the year built toward the return of our large-scale projects. Despite shifting circumstances, trust quickly emerged as the season theme. Trust the plan. Trust Crew Leaders to lead. Trust volunteers to work carefully. Trust the skills, dedication, and passion of everyone who showed up to an event. As a result, we greeted August with a rousing return to near normalcy – hosting almost 100 volunteers and spanning two segments – that added three new miles of Trail in Dane County. A few months later, the ribbon (and cake) was cut on the newly minted Ringle Segment, an achievement worthy of a year filled with smiles.

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Volunteers Ensure Successful 2020 Trailbuilding Season

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Ice Age Trail Alliance, Ice Age National Scenic Trail, Ringle Segment, Marathon County, Stone Steps, Trailbuilding, Volunteers
Volunteers spent 7,727 hours building and improving segments of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail this trailbuilding season, including these beautifully crafted stone steps on the Ringle Segment. Photo by Dave Caliebe.
In an especially trying year, we learned how valuable the work we perform is as countless people discovered adventure near home. Parking lots filled and overflowed. Quiet, little known segments awoke with the footsteps and chatter of newly initiated hikers.

In May, after an unsettling absence, volunteers reconnected with the Ice Age Trail. Your skills and efforts were needed – and appreciated – more than ever. With our productive start to the year in the rearview mirror, we regrouped and accomplished quite a bit – and did it safely. Thank you for everything you did this year, and in the previous decades, to create one of the Midwest’s best hiking trails.

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