Jackson College's men's baseball team put their teamwork skills to use recently when they volunteered to clean the trails at Portage Lake / Waterloo State Recreation Area.Coach Rick Smith, assistant coach Gary Goodwin and 24 baseball players spent six hours Sunday, April 27 clearing away branches, brush and other debris from the winter to widen the trails for the summer season. They also straightened out locator poles for the Michigan Department of Resources.

"Having our team participate in community service projects helps with team bonding and gives us as a group the opportunity to give back to the community," Smith said. "It also gives us as a team a good feeling that we were able to help accomplish a goal for the group that we worked together to complete. The DNR was able to take advantage of a strong group to achieve such a job. All in all it was a good project and we are looking forward again, in the fall months, to do another project with the Michigan DNR."

A representative from the National Resources Commission of the Michigan DNR thanked the team for their efforts, and said it was the most work any volunteer group had ever done in one day at the campground!

"You and Coach Goodwin have really got these young men engaged in team involvement," said Tim Nichols, Natural Resources Commission. "Thank you again for the involvement and awesome effort!"