The Yestermorrow Design/Build School kicked off its 25th year with a weekend of festivities from July 1-4 at its Warren campus. The event included a reunion of alumni, present and past instructors, board members, and other friends of the school. The weekend?s highlight was a Saturday, July 2, dinner honoring the school?s founder, John Connell, as well as founding board members, and early instructors and staff.

Our Community Design/Build class recently completed a "trailside lounge" for the Mad River Path Association. Located across the river from Yestermorrow's campus, this project is located on the Kingsbury Bridge Greenway. This new, one-mile, section of trail links Warren?s Riverside Park and the Sugarbush snowmaking pond. Since founding in the early 1990?s, the MRPA has successfully built and maintained over 12 miles of trail in Waitsfield, Fayston and Warren. Led by instructors Steve Badanes, Bill Bialosky and Jim Adamson, the 14 students in the class worked furiously for two weeks on the design and construction of a structure which will provide a resting spot overlooking the snowmaking pond. In addition to providing shelter to path users, it will also provide information about the Mad River Path in general.

Yestermorrow has partnered with ReCycle North of Burlington, VT to host a ground-breaking training program for the deconstruction and materials re-use industry. This project will develop a national train-the- trainer program for Habitat for Humanity (HfH) affiliates and related non-profit housing or environmental organizations for building deconstruction and the use of reclaimed building materials. With major funding from the US EPA, we will host two 5-day sessions in late April 2006 for a national audience of targeted HfH ReStore managers who are in early stages of, or will begin via this training, regional and local building deconstruction and materials reuse programs.