Consider it a mission accomplished for the Overmountain East Tennessee Cadet Corps.
Students that take part in the organization, under the guidance of Elizabethton High School SRO Scott Whitmire, were busy over the weekend working with trail maintenance at Roan Mountain State Park.
“One of the park rangers got me in contact with Mr. Whitmire,” Keifer Helle, RMSP ranger who coordinated the event, said. “He’s a regular at that park, too, so we’ve had a professional relationship with Mr. Whitmire already. It was a great experience to have the students take part in the maintenance.”
The Cadets made their way to the park Saturday morning to go through a trail study before taking to the park’s terrain.
“I picked a trail that was in need of some maintenance,” Helle said. “We provided the tools for the students to perform work.”
Helle added the Cadets worked on Forest Road and were able to complete over a half-mile of maintenance in two hours.
“For two people, that section of trail would require 16 to 20 hours worth of maintenance,” he said. “The students were able to knock it out in two hours.”
And working with the high school-aged students was a joy according to the park ranger.
“Oh gosh, they were great,” Helle said with a laugh. “Coming through a military-structured program, like JROTC, the students were very attentive and were quick to work. The attitude instilled in them by Mr. Whitmire is incredible. During the trail work, they knew absolutely what they needed to do and worked nonstop during those two hours.”
Whitmire also praised the work of the students. No strangers to working outdoors, the Cadets recently took part in an expedition a couple of months ago to work an area of Gatlinburg that was affected by the strand of wildfires that occurred in November 2016.
As far as future work, Helle added the Cadets would be back soon to assist and that he appreciated their partnership in helping RMSP’s trail stay in top condition.
Maintenance of trails, along with the variety of programs, by park staff and volunteers, was just a couple of reasons why the park was recently named the state park of the year by the Tennessee State Parks organization.
Helle added RMSP adds a special allure to attendees, where the public can experience each of the four seasons during the year.
Any groups looking to assist with trail maintenance or view the upcoming programming at the park can visit the Roan Mountain State Park Facebook page online or call (423) 772-3030.