ESCANABA — A team of five hard-working AmeriCorps members recently completed much-needed work at the U.P. State Fairgrounds.

The AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) Maple 2 team worked in two buildings on the fairgrounds during their 14-day visit in June. Their first tasks included scraping and removing of deteriorating paint in the dilapidated restrooms and shower stalls in the Miracle of Life building, followed by cleaning and re-painting. Next, the team cleaned and re-painted the commercial kitchen in the Ruth Butler Building, and replaced many of the kitchen’s damaged ceiling tiles.

Since both the Miracle of Life building and the Butler Building serve as county emergency evacuation shelters, the priority to finish work on them was elevated. The Ruth Butler Building also has the distinction of being the county’s only year-round emergency evacuation shelter.

When the team first arrived, they were given their work plan and an introduction to the Escanaba area from Matthew Valiquette, U.P. State Fair Operations Manager, and Chamber Executive Director Vickie Micheau. Next, they received training from a Sherwin Williams paint expert on proper paint removal and the appropriate type of paint to use in the shower stalls, floors, and kitchen walls.

The team worked each weekday from June 13 through June 26 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. During non-work days (weekends and evenings), they enjoyed the sights and natural beauty of the Delta County area.

“This was also an important and unique opportunity for us to showcase our community,” said Valiquette, who supervised the team members. “The team got to sample pasties, visit Sayklly’s Candy Factory and sample chocolates, visit Ludington Park, and even attend a Monster Truck Show and Escanaba Speedway race.

AmeriCorps Team leader Manny Lamarche said he had a strategy for keeping his team members motivated while doing a job that would seem undesirable for many–cleaning, removing mold, and painting four shower rooms and three bathrooms.

“I wanted everyone to have a sense of individual pride in a project that was also team-focused, so I had each of my team members paint their own bathroom or shower stall,” he explained. “When they finished, my team members were comparing their bathrooms, saying, ‘Mine looks better than yours,'” he smiled. “The project went very well, and we worked really well together. We are a small, but mighty group. We were able to accomplish a lot with a small amount of people.”

Valiquette agreed that the group worked extremely well together. “They seemed to really enjoy their time here, and brought a lot of energy and different perspectives with them,” he said. “They’re a great group of diverse young adults, and have inspired all of us to do better on the fairgrounds and in our community.” He noted that along with completing the work at the Fairgrounds and visiting our local attractions, the team also volunteered with the Northern Lights YMCA in the evenings during their visit.

Part of Valiquette’s job as Operations Manager is making sure that the valuable resources of the U.P. State Fairgrounds–including those of the U.P. State Fair Authority–are used as efficiently as possible.

“We estimated that labor for a project of this size would have cost approximately $12,000, which was not in the U.P. State Fair Authority’s budget,” he explained. “We are fortunate to have been awarded an AmeriCorps team to do this work,” Valiquette said, adding, “To my knowledge, we have the only AmeriCorps team to have done work in the Upper Peninsula so far this year.”

He noted that though the Fairgrounds did not have to pay for any of the labor, the Fairgrounds did provide billeting for the five team members onsite using one of the barns, and paid for all of the materials and supplies they needed for the projects.

According to the organization’s website, AmeriCorps is a national service program designed to strengthen citizenship and the ethic of service by engaging thousands of Americans on a full-time or part-time basis to help communities address their toughest challenges. To support the placement of AmeriCorps members…the AmeriCorps agency administers grants at the federal level and works in partnership with states to develop service programs and create a community-based national service network.

The U.P. Welcome Center/Delta County Commerce Center is located at 1001 N. Lincoln Rd., Escanaba and is home to the Chamber of Commerce, the Delta County EDA, Visit Escanaba, Webster Marble’s Inventing the Outdoors Museum, the Upper Peninsula Military Museum, and the U.P. State Fair office. For more information, call (906) 786-2192 or search ‘Delta County, Michigan–Chamber of Commerce’ on Facebook or visit deltami.org.

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Victoria LaFave is with the Delta County Chamber of Commerce