AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps teams are serving in Vicksburg in droves, and thanks to them the city’s parks, schools and communities are better for it. 

Four teams of members from across the country have been working on projects at the Vicksburg National Military Park, Crawford Street United Methodist Church, Sherman Avenue Elementary and with the City of Vicksburg since March 7 and will be wrapping up this week.

“NCCC is more committed than ever to having Vicksburg residents benefit from hosting our campus,” Rich Smith, Deputy Region Director for Programming for the Southern Region, said. “Our teams this month are improving our city’s parks, providing more attention and encouragement to our children, and enabling critical home improvements to take place this summer.”

Team River One has been working directly with the city of Vicksburg to improve public parks and neighborhood playgrounds like Halls Ferry, Fuzzy Johnson and City parks by making minor repairs, as well as painting and providing maintenance. The project, which is classified as infrastructure improvement has a double effect of promoting exercise and health in children, said team leader Elizabeth Reitzell.

Reitzell, who is from San Dimas, Calif., has soaked up the culture during her time in Vicksburg, but also has a new view of city workers and manual labor, she said.

“I think I’m going to take away a respect for southern culture and I’ve grown respect for my team too,” she said. “I’ve definitely learned respect for this kind of work too, it’s a lot harder than you think.”

Meanwhile, across town, Team Delta One has been hard at work at the Vicksburg National Military Park rehabilitating the 12 mile Al Scheller Primitive Hiking Trail, which has fallen into disrepair and even become inaccessible at certain points over the past few years. In 2009 the trail was restored by a prior NCCC team, but not much maintenance has been done since.

The team has braved snakes, ticks and one bad case of poison ivy over the last month in an effort to restore an unsung treasure to nature enthusiasts in Vicksburg.

The main objective in getting the trail cleared is to get more people using it, said Delta One team leader Cayde Sprecker.

“I think it’s a beautiful trail that’s very under-utilized,” Sprecker said. “It’s a great way for people to vary up their exercise routines.”

The team has gotten the trail to a point where it can now be accessed easily, but it hasn’t come without a price. Fallen trees taken down by storms has slowed the project down a bit, but staying healthy while working every day in the Mississippi bush has proved to be the bigger challenge.

“We’ve had a few people get poison ivy, we’ve seen a lot of snakes, ticks, environmental hazards that come with being out in the woods,” Sprecker said. “With us being out there every day it’s taken a toll.”

The teams in Vicksburg are winding down and putting their finishing touches on projects this week before heading out to their next sites in new locations around the Southeast. New teams, with large shoes to fill, will come in and take their place, continuing to help Vicksburg continue to better itself and maybe recover another lost gem.