STORM LAKE PARKS

Shovels scraping against concrete as a song from Zac Brown Band drowns out the silence. The piles of mulch progressively shrink as they develop a system of shoveling piles into buckets to dump and spread around the countless trees in the park running alongside the lake. The men’s soccer team spends the morning of Earth Day (April 22) to clean up Sunset Park near campus.

 

Despite playing Central through double overtime the night before, BVU men’s soccer was up and ready to help where they could. From park cleanup to meal packaging and straight to residence hall clean-up, the team exemplified what Buenafication Day is all about.

 

Further down the road, BVU women’s soccer team covers Chautauqua Park, picking up garbage, sticks, and laying down new mulch. Staff members from University Development and Alumni Engagement repaint the walls at the tennis courts. Regardless of the slight nip of the wind, it was a beautiful day by the picturesque lake. 

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The long-standing BVU tradition of Buenafication Day is a day dedicated to service, where the campus comes together to do their part in making both campus and the city of Storm Lake better. During a year of uncertainty and physical distancing, Buenafication Day brought back a semblance of normalcy to campus. For freshmen and sophomores, it was their first taste of Buenafication Day, for seniors their last as students.

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As the men’s soccer team finished up at Sunset Park, the song Lean On Me coming through the speaker perfectly sums up the purpose of Buenafication Day and its significance following the past year. “You just call on me brother when you need a hand, we all need somebody to lean on.” This year’s Buenafication Day is a step towards a brighter future that allows to come together and serve our community, beating the odds to come back stronger than last year. Lastly, our efforts are a reminder to live up to the namesake of Storm Lake as “City Beautiful.”