Ashley's August Update

Lots of projects underway in our River Towns. At the start of the month we had Point Marion's first Action Team Clean Up at the park. About 15 people were in attendance on that bleak, rainy day. But despite the torrential downpour, everyone's motivation was still high. We managed to not only clean up the park, but we also got 4 new grills installed. Each time the Action Team has gotten together, there has been more people showing up. It has been exciting getting new people informed & getting their inputs on what the community needs. Every Saturday I have also been volunteering with the Point Marion Park Commission, assisting with park clean up & maintenance. I have been able to ride some exciting equipment around and work with some great individuals.

During the early part of the month I was trying to organize an event for the park & luckily after discussion with PA Fish & Boat, we were able to determine we are going to be having a Family Fishing Program at the Point Marion Park in October. This will be a great opportunity for families to come out & utilize their park! A few other projects underway in Point Marion are the public art & recycling in the park. These are on ongoing thing & we hope to have some finish products shortly.

As part of what the River Towns goal is to help with economic development, therefore I have completed an inventory of available properties that I am aware of in downtown Point Marion, that would be useful for small business'. This an ongoing project as well, considering I am constantly finding out more information. Hopefully we can make it easier & more attractive to investors by doing smaller projects.

The entire team also attended a planning meeting at Friendship Hill National Historic Site in mid August. It was one of the annual meetings for Friends of FHNHS as well as a chance for members and volunteers to get together & plan for their big Festifall event in mid September. There is going to be all kinds of activities, and this year they are having a lot of the area schools involved too, so it will be great for the whole family. Another event we did as whole team was ride the Mon River Trail from Fairmont, West Virginia to Point Marion, PA, a total of about 30 miles. It was a well maintained trail with lots of nice waterfalls along it as well as amazing views of the Mon. We had a lunch break in Morgantown, at the amphitheater. It was nice seeing active users on this trail!