The Civilian Conservation Corps, one of the best-known "alphabet soup" initiatives created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression, was such a popular work relief program that it operated in every state at its prime, and was active here in Westchester during the 1930s.

While the CCC may be a thing of the past, today there are numerous youth conservation corps programs throughout the country. Like the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps from which they take their name, they primarily engage in conservation-oriented work in local, state, and national parks.

The one unifying principle that seems to define all existing youth conservation corps programs is that they use conservation and service work as a medium for youth development. The programs' goals include instilling the values of hard work, responsibility, service, respect for the environment, and education. To achieve these goals, the programs are not confined merely to physically challenging work, but also typically involve environmental education, team-building activities, career and leadership training, and recreational activity involving outdoor pursuits and visits to museums and historical sites.

Now, a new youth education and empowerment program dedicated to those principles and modeled on FDR's famed Civilian Conservation Corps is taking place right here in Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown.

Known as the Historic Hudson Valley Youth Conversation Corps, the Corps -- launched on June 30 -- is a job readiness program that seeks to instill the twin values of a strong work ethic and conservation in area youth.

The students taking part, ages 15-18 from the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester and from a wide range of social, economic, and educational backgrounds, are working on various projects at Washington Irving's Sunnyside and Philipsburg Manor such as grounds and trail work, riverbed cleanup, erosion control, and more.

All of the work has an environmental component, but there's an interesting artistic element to it as well, as you can see from the images here. Besides clearing trails and helping control erosion, the group is creating life-size animals out of fallen twigs and logs, under the direction of Michael Natiello, creative guru behind HHV's Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. Nice job guys!

More on the YCC later this week...

 

The last week of Blaze was, as you may well imagine, a rather busy time for the folks at Historic Hudson Valley.

As you'll recall, Martha Stewart featured the event in a 12-minute segment on her Thursday show that included Michael Natiello carving with her in the studio. You can now view the entire show here.

Then, Martha came by on Sunday for a 7:30 tour, which she thoroughly enjoyed. She talks about it here on her blog.  

The New York Times featured Blaze on the cover of its Westchester/Connecticut/New Jersey etc. regional sections on Sunday.

The Weather Channel stopped by on Monday evening to do some live on location reporting at 8 and 9 p.m.

And, last but not least, Halloween was the scene for the FOURTH marriage proposal that took place at Van Cortlandt Manor via carved pumpkin. From what we can tell, the proposers' record is four for four. Keep that in mind for next year, lovebirds.

And yes, there's more to come on the Blaze Blog, including at least one more carver profile. Stay tuned.

Yes, The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze is a good thing. And now Martha Stewart will make sure the world knows it...or at least her very devoted fan base.

Tomorrow's Martha Stewart Show will feature a lengthy segment on Blaze and Celtic knot carving. First, you'll see footage from Blaze that the good folks at Martha shot last week on location. Then, our own Michael Natiello will be IN THE STUDIO carving Celtic knots with Martha.

I know, I know. It's really exciting and it's a great reward for all of those who have worked so hard to put Blaze together.

Want to see a preview on Martha's web site? Go here and click on Thursday, Oct. 25.

The show is syndicated nationally and airs in the tri-state area at 1 p.m. on NBC channel 4. It will be repeated at 8 p.m. on Friday on the Fine Living Network. If you can't view it live and don't have Tivo, don't despair. After the show airs, you'll be able to view it marthastewart.com.

Many of you have asked about the carvers whose magical fingers make The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze such a satisfying spectacle. To that end, I dug out my trusty reporter's notebook and went behind the scenes to dig up some info on the folks behind the knives. The Blaze Blog's new series, Meet the Carvers, begins today with Blaze Creative Director and head carver Michael Natiello.

BB: What's your day job?
MN: Professional coffee drinker.

BB: What kind of carvings are you working on for Blaze 2007?
MN: Top secret experimental kind.

BB: Are you working on any other Blaze-related items?
MN: I'm currently working with a lighting designer (Jay Woods) and musicians (Jim Keyes and Cosmic Moth) to create new special effects and a new musical score for the event. 

BB: What are your preferred carving tools and methods?
MN: For tools, I prefer a cordless drill, woodworking routers, a utility knife, a "leatherman," and linoleum block cutters. My preferred method? Carefully.

BB: Got any carving tips for a novice?
MN: Carve quickly but carefully

BB: What's your favorite pumpkin-based food?
MN: Pizza.
BB: Ewww...
MN: Sorry.

BB: What's your favorite Halloween movie?
MN: Frank Zappa's Baby Snakes.

BB: Toasted pumpkin seeds: Salt or no salt?
MN: Sea salt, preferably from the Dead Sea.

BB: What makes pumpkins so special?
MN: Their native spirit.

BB: If I were a carved pumpkin, I'd be...
MN: Composted.

BB: Thank you, Michael!

My my, you Blaze Blog readers have been very active with comments of late. Must be getting close to October!

Several have asked about the artists involved in the event, Michael Natiello (Blaze creative director) in particular, and whether the artists will be exhibiting work at the event.

Well, the event itself is a large-scale work in and of itself, so I think that counts.

For those of you who might be curious about the non-pumpkin mediums Michael works in, I've got two cool examples to share, both of a theme, it seems. At left is "Wheel of Fortune" and on the right is "Untitled."

Let Michael know what you think. Post your comments here. I'm pretty sure he reads this.