October 8-10, 2017 – E(ph) for Effort: Community Service Projects!
The long holiday weekend brought around a perfect opportunity for our team to give back to the community and be a part of various service projects throughout Williamstown!
On Sunday we had a group of team members participating in our adopt-a-highway cleanup crew on Route 43. Donned in the brightest of safety vests, some of our Ephs braved the rainy day to help to clear out trash from the roadsides. Monday offered up two different projects, one at the Peace Valley Farm and the other at the Berkshire Food Project, both of which provided assistance to organizations that provide food to members of our community on a daily basis. The skies cleared up on Tuesday, allowing a group to help the Rural Lands organization to rebuild some trails, dig out a river and transport small-ish boulders around, all in an effort to better and preserve Williamstown trail systems.
Thank you to all of our team members who put forth their time, energy & service – Go Ephs!!
the Peace Valley Farm crew!
fully equipped to take on the RRR Brooke’s Trail
Berkshire Food Project’s helpers (part I)
Berkshire Food Project’s helpers (part II)
our stretch of adopted highway has never looked better thanks to these troopers!October 22, 2016 – Community Service
Over Reading Period earlier in the month, the Ephs spent some time doing service programs! A trail crew created new stone steps, another did trash pickup along the team’s adopted stretch of Route 43, and a third helped with fall cleanup at a local farm. This type of service has been an annual tradition for the team for more than a decade now.
The Ephs built a new stone path up a steep trail on Bee Hill.
The Bee Hill trail crew.
The trash removal crew covered a mile of Route 43.
Peace Valley Farm is readying for winter with help from the Ephs.
October 12, 2015 – XC Team Community Service
This past Monday, the team had a great time serving the community in a variety of ways that directly impact both the people in our neighborhood and the environment that we enjoy and appreciate running in. Part of the team chose to do a road clean up on roads close to campus that we run on often. A larger group rode to Peace Valley Farm where much of our local food (eaten in campus dining halls) is grown. Two small groups traveled to nearby North Adams, MA to serve at a soup kitchen. All had a wonderful time continuing our team’s tradition of serving the community around us!
October 2014 – Community Services; Ephs Give Back
Route 43 clean-up crew!
October 2013 – Runners Return for Annual Peace Valley Farm Work Day
Front Row (L-R): Lacey Serletti ’16, Kayla Servin ’17, Anna Ryba ’16, Meredith Sopher ’14, Emily Gaddis ’15, Shayna Barbash ’14, Bijan Mazaheri ’16.
Back Row (L-R): Daquan Daly ’16, Michael Navarrete ’16, Kieran Scannell ’17, Hiroshi Kirby ’17, Bill Stinson, Nina Pande ’17, Matt Tarduno ’16, Julieanne Fontana ’14, Laney Teaford ’17, Will Kirby ’17, Max LaBerge ’14.
October 2013 – Team Serves Lunch at Berkshire Food Project
L-R: Yvonne Bungei ’17, Anna Ryba ’16, Borah Lim ’16, Jared Polens, Emily Shea ’16, Sam Avila ’16, Aldis Inde ’15.
October 2012 – Team Volunteers at Peace Valley Farm
Front Row (L-R): Brian Kirchner ’13, Yasmine Goelzer ’13, Anna Ryba ’16, Amelia Ortiz ’15, Daquan Daly ’16, Olivia Foley ’13. Middle Row (L-R): Megan Steele ’16 and Meredith Sopher ’14. Back Row (L-R): Bijan Mazaheri ’16, Chris Lee ’14, Matt Tarduno ’16, Steve Mendoza ’13, Brian Trelegan ’16, Greg Ferland ’16, Sam Woodbury ’14, Todd Ford ’16, Max LaBerge ’14, Brandon Abasolo ’13, and Peter Drews ’14.
For the second consecutive year, the Ephs took a break from their Reading Period studies to help Williamstown farmer Bill Stinson with some manual labor at Peace Valley Farm. The farm is nestled just off of Berlin Road, one of the many dirt roads in town, where the team had been earlier this season for a workout! Former runner Brian Cole ’11 works full-time at the farm, and, along with Stinson, organized the team to assist with pulling out metal hoops from the ground that had housed this year’s crop of tomatoes. While they worked, Stinson educated the team on the workings of his farm, which has had its greatest-ever delivery of produce to Williams Dining Services this fall. The students regularly eat Peace Valley’s lettuces, kale, leek, tomatoes, peppers, and squash in the campus dining halls. The team was fortunate this year to have a beautiful, crisp fall day in the peak of foliage season and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get their hands dirty!
October 2012 – Team Performs Quarterly Removal of Trash Along Highway
Seven Ephs took a break from their Reading Period studies to remove trash alongside Water Street (Route 43) in Williamstown. The team participates in the Adopt-A-Highway program and collects trash and recyclables 3-4 times every year on one of the town’s most popular road-running stretches.
L-R: Kim Kiplagat ’16, Allie Rowe ’16, Asst. Coach Lance Harden, Nick Wolf ’14, Max Heninger ’14, Michael Navarrete ’16, Taylor Oddleifson ’15, and Scott Rodilitz ’13.
November 2011 – Cross Country Teams Donate $1,000 to The Spruces Community Relief Efforts
Left to Right: Captain Mark Springel ’12, Dave Rebello, Peggy Roth, Cynthia Clermont-Rebello, Captain Natalie Davis ’12, Head Coach Pete Farwell
The Williams College men’s and women’s cross country teams recently donated $1,000 to the Community Fund for the Spruces. The Spruces is a mobile home park in Williamstown that was badly flooded by Hurricane Irene in late August. All of the 273 residents were forced to evacuate their homes, and many of the residences were designated permanently uninhabitable due to the damage, meaning occupants had to relocate in addition to the losses of personal property sustained in the storm.
The teams raised the money by conducting a twelve-hour Run-a-Thon on Plansky Track October 1 from 7 AM-7 PM. Pairs of runners ran 20-minute segments before tagging a teammate to continue the relay. Supporters pledged donations based on the total number of miles covered, and the final tally for the day was 223 miles!
Captains Mark Springel ’12 and Natalie Davis ’12, as well as Head Coach Pete Farwell and Assistant Coach Lance Harden, traveled to The Spruces to meet some of the residents still living in the park and to present a check to help them manage the necessities of life.
October 2011 – Eph Cross Country Teams Assist Local Farmer
How do Williams Cross Country runners spend their Fall Reading Period? Besides studying for midterms? Volunteering to support local business!
On Monday morning, October 10, twenty members of the Williams men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to nearby Peace Valley Farm to help farmer Bill Stinson move firewood in preparation for the coming winter.
The three-acre farm, nestled at the foot of the Taconic Crest range in Williamstown, grows vegetables and herbs that are regularly available in the dining halls at the College and at local restaurants. Sophomore Will Edwards-Mizel organized the trip, continuing a partnership between the team and Peace Valley that has seen numerous runners work on the farm over recent summers.
Bill Stinson, ever the host, took the students on a walking tour of the facility, pointing out the peaks in the surrounding horizon and introducing them to the history of the land. He also had them sample some of the farm’s sweet cherry tomatoes, edible flowers, and pickled peppers. The students gained an appreciation for the operation of a local farm and provided their host with some much-needed man-power and woman-power!
October 2011 – Williams Cross Country Keeps Water Street Clean & Green!
