SKOWHEGAN — Alanna Wacome and Travis Basora of Skowhegan AmeriCorps Outdoor Recreation Program spent Sunday morning cleaning up the Heselton Street Trail with the help of a local community member, Pam McDermott.

Wacome and Basora’s work for AmeriCorps is part of an initiative to revitalize the town. Wacome, a Skowhegan native, received her degree from the University of Maine in the spring and was excited that a position in her career field opened up in her hometown.

Basora moved to Maine from New York City over the summer as jobs in his desired field were hard to come by in his hometown.

“I was interested in outdoor recreation, but I was very limited in what I could do with that in the city,” he said. “So I was looking for a place where I could do it and do well, and Maine was the perfect place.”

“I found this program, I came up and then started in May. I’m a rock climber, and I didn’t have any water experience, I didn’t even know how to swim. I’ve learned so much here, and it’s just been so many different learning experiences for me and I’ve also been able to teach what I do know. It’s been such a cool experience.” Basora said.

Workers from left Alanna Wacome, Pam McDermott and Travis Basora clear leaves and debris from a handicapped accessible trail that is part of the Haselton Street Trails in Skowhegan on Saturday. Wacome and Basora are with the Skowhegan Americorps Outdoor Recreation Program. McDermott lives near the trail. Staff photo by Rich Abrahamson

Their positions allow them to help teach the community that outdoor recreation can be for everyone through programming and learning outdoor skills.

“We hope that we can encourage people to use our trails more because we have at least five trails systems in town, but they’re not all heavily used.” Wacome said.

Pam McDermott has lived in her home for 34 years, located just down the street from the beginning of the trail. She says that her and her husband used to maintain the trails themselves, but due to an increase in homeless residents staying in the woods, they decided to focus their energy elsewhere.

She arrived on Sunday with gloves, ready to help. Though the group was small, the trio was able to clear several overgrown branches, trash and clothing out of the way of walkers and hikers.

“A lot of families don’t use this trail anymore because it’s so overgrown and messy,” she said. What used to be a good walking trail, located next to the Margaret Chase Smith School, is no longer a heavily walked area. She hopes that the efforts done by the three will continue regularly so that she can use the trails again to walk with her dog and husband.

The three walked through the woods, cutting branches, moving fallen trees and picking up clothing and other trash left behind. Within an hour, the group had a couple of trash bags filled.  After the work was complete, they made plans to come back another day with more equipment to cut bigger trees out of the way.

Wacome and Basora hope that their efforts will encourage others to come by the trails to see what other things the town has to offer.

Pam McDermott clears leaves and debris from a handicapped accessible trail that is part of the Haselton Street Trails in Skowhegan on Saturday. (Staff photo by Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel)

One of their biggest projects for Main Street Skowhegan has been the Run of River project according to Wacome, which will be located in and around the Kennebec River Gorge and help to make the town a tourist destination.

The project calls for the creation of white water waves at man-made structures in three spots along the Kennebec River as a way to bring boaters, surfers and kayakers into the community.

While some people in the community are hesitant about the project, Wacome says that studies have shown that building these types of programs bring in over a million dollars annually.

“It’s partly tourism and it brings people into the restaurants in town. It’s just a good way to get people here, maybe they’ll want to stop for breakfast and lunch and see something in town that catches their eye enough to bring them back.”

According to executive director of Maine Street Skowhegan Kristina Cannon, there are no plans to charge people to use the park when it is completed.

Additionally, having The Forks nearby for white water rafting will help draw people into Skowhegan, Wacome says. More information on the project can be found on their website, mainstreetskowhegan.org.

Correction: This article previously stated that the Run of River project would be done with AmeriCorps. Fundraising and management is being done by Main Street Skowhegan.

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