Root cellars in Elliston being repaired

The town of Elliston calls itself the root cellar capital of the world, and a project has a group of students repairing the structures around town.

Jordan Hicks, the leader of the Green Team behind the project, said the project isn't so hard once you figure out how to do it.

"It's a matter of getting a hang of it. It’s just like a jigsaw puzzle, putting everything together," Hicks said.

The group of students is spending their summer piecing together rock and cement, renovating the cellars so they'll hold up longer.

Calvin Hayley, with tourism Elliston, said the students have already accomplished more than was expected.

"We figured if they do two cellars, and build one completely new one — that would be great," he said.

"But they have far exceeded our expectations, and they're doing a tremendous job for us."

While the members of the Green Team are all under the age of 22, the older generation is happy to see them learning the traditions of the community.

"It's important that we pass this on to the younger generation in order that, not only from an environmental perspective, but from a traditional, that this root cellaring concept continues, in particular in the community of Elliston," Hayley said.

The team will wrap up their summer project with by building what will be the community's 136th root cellar.

If the project goes well, the town hopes that there will be a new root cellar built every year to keep the tradition alive.