Wednesday March 4

March 4 2020
Michaela McGovern:
Hi! My name is Michaela and I am a sophomore Finance and Real Estate major from Long Island, NY. Today was our first full day at Rocky Creek Ranch, and we had so much fun. We started off our day as usual, with an early group breakfast before we packed into the vans. At Rocky Creek we split into different groups and rotated between painting the big spools, spray painting the trail decorations, sprucing up the stations at the trail, and painting a manure spreader. No matter what work we were doing we had so much fun the entire time just simply laughing and spending time together. We also got to spend part of our day with students from the life skills class at CSD, the Community School of Davidson. We worked with the students to revitalize a life size checkerboard located on the Discovery Trail that CSD students had originally painted years ago. I loved getting to speak to Greg, one of their teachers, about how the students utilize Rocky Creek Ranch and what they have gotten out of their time spent there. Working alongside the students, who not only visit the ranch but also have a hand in creating aspects of it really helped to put this part of our trip into perspective. After lunch we got to learn from Brian Muscarella, a Villanova alum, about how to ride paracycles and then got to ride them around the insanely beautiful lake on the ranch. Later on we left for Tracy and Bob Byrnes, another Villanova alum’s, house for an amazing dinner, a Villanova basketball game watch and a trivia competition. Fun fact- the all-time leading Villanova basketball scorer is cloistered nun Shelly Penefather! I cannot wait to see all that the next few days bring us!



Brynne Wacker:

Hi everyone! I’m Brynne and I am a sophomore from Collegeville, PA. Today we had an amazing day! We ate a gourmet hotel breakfast and headed off to Rocky Creek for our first full day of service. When we got there, we started off by diving right into the Discovery Trail and repairing it through painting and landscaping. Then we spent the rest of the day painting different elements for the trail stations, painting a manure spreader, and painting big spools all to help decorate the farm. Just being surrounded by great company and having endless laughs made the day go by so fast and it was unforgettable. As always, we spent great hours with Denver and Lucy (the two amazing Golden Retrievers) who bring so much joy to every project we do. The Community School of Davidson came and joined us for part of the day. It was incredible to work with them and learn more about each of their lives and their stories. We also got the amazing opportunity to ride paracycles with the help of Villanova alum, Brian Muscarella. This took all of the upper arm strength that I simply do not have. After and exhausting but incredible day at Rocky Creek we went back to the hotel, showered, and headed to Tracy and Bob Byrnes house to have a Villanova Basketball watch party. We ate great food, watched an intense game, and Mom if you’re reading this, we played Villanova trivia and I knew that Villanova has had three Rhodes Scholars (I do listen!). It was one of the few amazing days we have been here and I cannot to see what the few days we have left bring!

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