Summerton Experience Builds Friendships
by Meg Smith,
May 20, 2010, page 9.....

Ask a group of people to pile into a van for 22 hours to drive down to South Carolina, and you’ll no doubt see grimaces, shaking of heads, and hear some audible groans all interpreted to mean, “No way!” Ask that same question to anyone who has traveled with Volunteer Vermont to Summerton, South Carolina, and nine out of ten of them will break into big broad smiles and say, “When do we go?”

The spirit of Volunteer Vermont, a group that takes high school students to work on building projects in a small rural town in South Carolina, is as exciting and infectious as it was 12 years ago after its first trip in 1998. Called to help an impoverished parish community that had lost its church to arson in the mid-1990s, a group of willing volunteers (mostly Charlotters) headed down over the April spring break on a bus driven by Mark Bolles, the Charlotte Congregational Church’s previous minister.

The experience proved so meaningful to the participants, who ranged from age 14 to 80+, that a subsequent trip was organized the next year. As each year unfolded, Charlotter David Watts rallied his sons, Ethan and Tucker, to gather their friends to go down to Summerton to work on various projects with the Prayer House Mission Church.

Every year the relationship between the Vermonters and the members of the parish community strengthened, and included five reciprocal visits from the South Carolina residents to Vermont.

Today this trip continues to be fueled by the energy and enthusiasm of 24 high school students, along with six adults who feel extremely youthful for this one special week of the year. Serious construction projects were accomplished: framing and roofing an addition to a neighboring church, putting up interior walls and vinyl siding on a carport project from last year, as well as painting and maintenance to the Prayer House Mission Community Center, a spacious building constructed entirely by Volunteer Vermont and the Prayer House Mission Church community.

In the past three years, with the Prayer House Mission Church as our home base, we’ve developed new relationships with community leaders and members of the greater Summerton community. Most significant is our deepening connection with the Scott’s Branch High School and its students. This is the Summerton public high school that is 98% black (as opposed to the private all-white Christian academy on the other side of town).

Thanks to Charlotter Vince Crockenberg, who led the effort a few years ago by contacting a fellow history teacher at Scott’s Branch, we now meet and work with teachers and students from the school as a regular and important part of our experience. This year, Scott’s Branch students were allowed to leave school and work with us on the community service projects for the full week we were in town. The Summerton students enjoyed their work-study for the same reasons our kids do, whether it’s learning how to use a power tool or feeling the satisfaction of putting a fresh coat of paint on a wall.

Underlying this joint work effort is the fact that for both the Vermont and Summerton kids it is often the first bi-racial social interaction for them. As senior CVU student Annie Jackson said, “It was a little awkward at first, but as soon as we started working together, it felt easier and easier to find things to talk about. By the end of the day and definitely by the end of the week, real friendships were made.” Annie and sister Laura Jackson are finishing up their fourth year with Volunteer Vermont. “I’m getting texts from the kids in Summerton now, and they all want to come visit Vermont!”

Perhaps the hardest part of the trip is having to say goodbye to one another upon our return. When we get into those vans and drive south, we form this cohesive, respectful, fun group that shares every part of the day together. We’re like a tribe where everyone has a place at the table. When we disband at the end of the journey, as happy as I am to be back in Vermont, I miss the company and camaraderie of my fellow tribe members. It’s a wonderful bonding experience like no other. When we gathered for our reunion barbecue, we began planning for next year’s trip.

Summerton “Graduates” Thanked

We want to honor and thank our graduating seniors, many of whom have dedicated their spring break vacation to working with Volunteer Vermont for several years. (The parentheses after each student’s name indicates how many years they’ve gone on the trip.) They are:
Annie Jackson (4), Laura Jackson (4), Caleb Ladue (4), Hayden Carpenter (3), Anika Ades (2), Sean Keenan (2), Chris McGinnis (1).

Other students who participated this year are: Zackary Adams, Sophie Barrett, Kendall Berry, Katlyn Davis, Sierra Frisbie, Daniel Hebert, Will Kiendl, Erick MacLean, Jake Marston, Jeff Palmer, Teddy Rose, AnnaClare Smith, Nick Spencer, Meghen Sullivan, Nathaniel Wells, Jeffrey Wettstein.

Special mention: We were lucky enough to have three CVU graduates help with this year’s trip, arriving ahead of time to set up project work and meet with community members. It was a tremendous help to the group and great fun to have them there with us again: Erick Crockenberg (5!), Tad Cooke (3), Zach Wells (3).
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Photo: Annie Jackson, Sierra Frisbie, Anika Ades, Laura Jackson, Renee Canty and Tia Morris shared hard work and new friendships during the April spring break trip of Volunteer Vermont to Summerton, South Carolina. Photo by Caleb Ladue.