Sports and Outdoors

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Civilian Conservation Corps tour at Ouabache State Park May 3

From the Indiana Department of Natural Resources:

Visitors to Ouabache State Park can learn how the Civilian Conservation Corps helped develop the park during the Great Depression at a presentation and park tour, May 3.

The presentation is at 3:30 p.m. at the park lodge, which was built by the CCC. The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Friends of Ouabache State Park group and Ouabache State Park.

The CCC was a government work program that provided jobs to young, unemployed men during the Great Depression. The workers developed parks; built roads, trails and fire towers; planted trees and more.

The Friends group will show the audience historic photos and CCC memorabilia, including an original CCC uniform. After the presentation, participants can tour the park to view structures built by the CCC at designated stops. Those that visit all stops will receive a prize.

The Friends of Ouabache State Park group is raising funds to install a CCC statue at the park. There is currently only one statue located in Indiana, at Versailles State Park. Bluffton resident Wayne Lydy, 91, and his daughter, Myra Myrtle, Friends group president, are the driving force to get the statue. Lydy is one of the oldest surviving CCC veterans in Indiana.

The May 3 event is the first of a series of CCC programs presented by the Friends group in anticipation of the statue.

Admission on May 3 to all state parks and reservoirs is free for veterans and military personnel. For all other visitors the standard admission fee of $5 per in-state vehicle and $7 per out-of-state vehicle applies.

No comments: