Summer has kicked into high gear here in Connellsville! This month was another step in creating a presence in our River Towns to build relationships with the people who live and work in these communities. We had all of our town assessments in June including California on June 6. Each assessment welcomed community members to come and walk around their communities to gain a new vision of what is great about their town and what needs improving. Each individual filled out an assessment and we came back after our walk around town to discuss what was needed. When this was finished and our program was introduced I began attending town council meetings in both California and Coal Center and also the monthly Parks and Recreation Committee meetings. My satellite office in town is now located in the Parks and Recreation building and I will be in town for a day at least once a week. This month also included some fun activities on the river which I was very excited about. We kayaked Ten Mile Creek which is a tributary of the Monongahela River near Millsboro, PA and also adventured through the white water rapids in Ohiopyle State Park. Both were great experiences and now I can tell people how much fun it can be to recreate on the river. There are a couple of projects that are just in the beginning stages that I'm working on in California and Coal Center. In California I have begun writing a grant to see if I can get funding to put a fishing/boating dock in the town so there can be more access to the river than there currently is. In Coal Center I am working with an eager business owner who has land and the funds to get started on some business and river front projects that he has always dreamed of doing. Both projects are exciting and I hope to make a lot of progress on them in the coming weeks.
