SRU students clean up Ritts Park
While most college students look forward to sleeping in on a frosty Saturday morning, 30 Slippery Rock University undergrads bundled up, donned work gloves and headed to Ritts Park in Butler to improve the recreation venue.
Jeff Smith, Butler city councilman and an SRU trustee, said his goal is to foster collaboration between the city and university and give SRU a presence in Butler.
“I want to generate awareness that Slippery Rock is Butler County's university,” said Smith, who wore a green tassel cap and gloves to ward off Saturday morning's biting temperatures.
Chrissy Pfeil, an SRU graduate assistant, and Alyssa Hilliard, an SRU junior and assessment coordinator for the university's Office for Community-Engaged Learning, said the work was being performed by the student volunteers as part of a pilot program called “Service Saturdays.”
“We created it to have a mutually beneficial relationship between the community and the university,” Hilliard said.
“We're trying to create community involvement in the Butler area, especially,” Pfeil added.
The pair hope to hold two Service Saturdays per semester, one in Butler and one in Slippery Rock.
An upcoming Service Saturday will see SRU student volunteers help with beautification on Main Street in collaboration with Butler Downtown.
Hilliard said the Ritts Park volunteers have various majors, but many are studying parks and recreation.
The eager students started just after 9 a.m. by dragging and carrying fallen branches of all sizes to a large pile along the entry to Ritts Park.
Noah Smokovich, a sophomore criminal justice major, broke long branches apart and threw them in the ever-growing pile of downed lumber.
“I grew up volunteering in the community, so coming here to help out seemed like a good fit to me,” he said.
Alia Anton, a sophomore from Seattle, loves to volunteer.
“It helps me focus on something bigger than myself and stay grounded,” she said.
She appreciates the endless landscape of colorful trees in Western Pennsylvania compared to Seattle, where there are fewer deciduous trees and more evergreens.
“It's stunning,” she said as she gazed at the red and yellow leaves adoring the oaks and maples at Ritts Park.
Nathan Deal, a freshman from Grove City, said he and his classmates in a sustainability course at SRU are learning how to make the world a better place.
“We're the future, so eventually this is all going to be in our hands,” Deal said.
Alison Vlasnik, an SRU graduate student from Cranberry Township, came out because she is a lifelong lover of the outdoors.“I'm always looking to volunteer and give back to the community, so I'm constantly looking for ways to get involved,” Vlasnik said. “This is a good way to get outside before the snow.”Smith watched, smiling, as the students worked to improve the park and its trail.“When young people get involved with community service at a young age, it carries through their lives,” he said.He said well-maintained parks with various ammenities attract families, so the Service Saturday benefited Butler as well.“The parks in Butler are important,” Smith said. “It's a means of economic development.”
