Trail Towns Outreach Corps 2011

Emma and Phil performed a sustainability assessment of the Rockwood Trail House and Bike Shop for admittance into the Great Allegheny Passage Sustainable Business Network. The businesses earned a sufficient score on the assessment to become the newest members of the network.

-Phil Wu

October has been an eventful month in West Newton. At the beginning of the month, DWNI celebrated Oktoberfest with an annual dinner fundraiser with live music. A car cruise followed the next day in Vine Street Park, but unfortunately this was an incredibly rainy weekend so attendance was low. At this time, DWNI is actively working on “Miracle on Main Street.” DWNI has themed is as a “Country Christmas” – going back to a more traditional time with hopes of a good fundraising effort. Also, WYTC continues to do weekly rides on the trail to taken in the fall foliage. At the end of September, they held the second oldies dance at the Palisades in McKeesport.
WYTC recently renovated one of their bulletin boards located right next to GAP and the West Newton Visitors Center. It is easier to get in and out of than the previous set-up. One concern of both WYTC and DWNI has been the maintenance and information provided inside the boards. I offered my help to design and put together some poster and information regarding information about the trail and town of West Newton. Inside the bulletin board I included a photo welcome sign, a GAP map, an available properties poster, a flyer on WYTC, a West Newton brochure with town map and business list, Trail Town Ice Cream flyer, and there’s still room for more.
As for the West Newton Historic District PA Historic Resource Survey for eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, I am very very very close to submitting. This has been an ongoing project since April. It has included a lot of research, but also interpretive thinking to realize what makes West Newton unique and significant. During October, I added the last few building descriptions and edited the entire list of 46 resources to the district (45 buildings and 1 structure – with only 4 being non-contributing to the district). Another step was to finalize my final set of current photographs, historic photographs, and series of maps. As for the official form, most of it involved copying and pasting my statement of significance/history and descriptions (but with some edits of course) and filling out other information such as County, Period of Significance, Types of Materials, Architecture Styles, Historic Functions, Photo List, and so on. I am finalizing the last edition with Erin Hammerstadt of Preservation Pennsylvania before I send it into the State Historic Preservation Office, hopefully by the end of this week.
It takes about three to four weeks to find out the results of eligibility from the State Historic Preservation Office in Harrisburg. Once I know if my proposed historic district focusing on the transportation evolution and commercial corridor of West Newton is eligible or not eligible, I or the next year’s TTOC can prepare the National Register nomination.

-William Prince

The cold winds blew in October as the Connellsville Community Gardens focused on thanking our volunteers, putting the gardens to bed, and preparing for next year. Along with beautiful fall foliage, we enjoyed warm and sunny weather for only a week or two this year, before the cold rain blew in. We took a few of these golden days to harvest the remaining dry beans and bag those that still needed to dry out of the rain.
On October 20th, we celebrated the growing season and the harvest with a Volunteer Thank-you potluck for all of the garden and trail volunteers. This friendly feast met in the Blue Building along the bike trail, thanks to the YTRC. Two outstanding volunteers were acknowledged, Dave Stupka and the Sherwood family, with a Thank-you card and seed gifts. Dave Stupka has been a great teacher and project-leader this year by teaching the Youth Action Crew and leading projects like the creation and installation of the Bean Bike. The Sherwood family has adopted the Crawford Ave and Pittsburgh corner plot, keeping the corner flourishing with colorful flowers and herbs through the entire season. We have heard so many compliments for the beauty of this garden, which is all the work of this wonderful family!
Our other October activities included turning the garden beds and seeding Winter Rye to restore nutrients to the soil and deter weeds from returning to the beds. This week, a few volunteers from my office and Dave Stupka transplanted strawberry plants from 3rd St. to the Community center garden. Also, we plan to receive leaf mulch from the public works department to spread over the beds before the frost comes. In preparation for next year, we have been harvesting seed throughout the season and I am working to catalog this for next year’s gardeners along with the remainders of the Herman’s Garden seed box. I will be continuing this project as well as planning for next year’s gardens in November. If you would like to be involved in this planning process, learn about saving seeds, or volunteer in the garden next season – e-mail me at sca.maadams@gmail.com!

-Maggie Adams

•The Sustainable Energy Fair was very successful. The GAP SBN table drew many onlookers who were interested about TTOC projects as well as the GAP SBN.
•At the TTOC office, we are currently planning the GAP SBN annual member networking event. This year the event will be taking place at Levi Deal Mansion Bed and Breakfast in Meyersdale, PA. We are excited to have Carl Knoblock from the Small Business Administration join us to talk about co-operative purchasing.
•We have continued SBN assessments into the fall, and are happy to announce that our newest member of the SBN is Oddly Enough in Ohiopyle. This business sells handmade jewelry and clothing. We have many more assessments scheduled for the end of October and into November.
•We have continued with the SBN blog, which you can find at www.gapsbn.com. Check it out for innovative sustainability ideas and how-tos.

-Emma Strong & Phil Wu

Daily and weekly updates continue to occur on the SCA TrailTowns Facebook friend and like pages. Earlier in the fall, the Great Allegheny Passage did a plug on its page for the GAPSBN page resulting in new fans that are not normally in our core town contacts. On this page, we continue to post our weekly blog that are housed on gapsbn.com. In addition to our weekly blog, we’ve added a “Green Communities” page with the Herald Standard newspaper’s website that is based in Uniontown, Fayette County. Each week, both TTOC and RTOC members write articles related to sustainability and greening your business, home, and community. Check it out at http://www.heraldstandard.com/green_communities/

-William Prince

With warmer weather came much activity in May for the Connellsville Community Gardens (CCG). On the 7th, a high school club called the Youth Action Crew (YAC) partnered with the SCA Trail Towns Outreach Corps (TTOC) to beautify Connellsville before Mother’s Day with an event called “Paint, Plant, and Chalk.” The planting occurred at CCG’s garden outside of the community center, where YAC volunteers donated a beautiful mix of geraniums, mums, hens and chicks, marigolds, black-eyed susans, snap-dragons and more! Even though it rained lightly, everyone enjoyed turning an empty plot into a colorful flowerbed. Dave Stupka, a local master gardener, helped to lead volunteers in planting Arugula, Mustard greens, Spaghetti Squash, and Emerald Gem melons (the seeds of which were donated from the Seed Savers Exchange’s Herman’s Garden program). The Paint, Plant, and Chalk event was covered by the Daily Courier with a picture included. In all, it was a fun event that cheered up the community center and the volunteers!
The seedlings within CCG’s Indoor Greenhouse grew steadily in May and several wonderful volunteers helped to till and mow the newest community garden space across the street from the Armory. Much needed rain came in May for the peas, onions, horseradish, raspberries, strawberries, Jerusalem Artichokes, greens, etc. in the beds along 3rd street.
Towards the end of May, a stifling heat inspired beautiful blossoms all around the city, including gorgeous red roses in the Lions’ bed along 3rd street. Following the Garden Club’s Geranium Festival, participants were able to try the delicious wines invented by winemakers around Connellsville and industry professionals judged 5 categories. The evening was a great success as a community event and fundraiser for the gardens.
With June, I look forward to getting our seedlings into the gardens and watching them grow! I plan to gather an e-mail list of volunteers and pick a day for weekly volunteer nights in the gardens. Thanks for your interest in our growing gardens!

September was a busy month for me and West Newton. Starting on Labor Day, Westmoreland Yough Trail Chapter held their 18th Annual Poker Run fundraiser. It was a rainy morning, but people still came out for this fun event. My main duty was to help pre-registers to sign in and get their t-shirt. Over 250 people were in attendance and over 100 prizes were given out to bikers and walkers.
The following weekend was the West Newton Community Festival. Between myself, DWNI members, and Erin of Preservation Pennsylvania staffed this booth. Together we were promoting each others’ efforts in West Newton. DWNI was selling flavored popcorn as well as raffles to attract visitors to their booth. My section of the booth had information about the Great Allegheny Passage, Trail Town Ice Cream, Simmeral Square, Historic Preservation, and much more. I talked to several community members and visitors about all the interesting things happening in this Trail Town. Many people were excited about new things such as the Ice Cream and new sections of Trail. Also, I put together a photo hunt activity for people to try. I didn’t expect people to go into Main Street from the Vine Street Park venue, but many looked through and gave me their guesses. Several were surprised and unsure of the architectural details in their own hometown. DWNI, Preservation PA, and I were pleased with our efforts of educating and engaging community members about West Newton and its assets.
I have also been continue been continuing on the Historic Resource Survey Form for a historic district in West Newton. I have made a lot of progress this month. Thinking about what makes West Newton unique and significant, not just its history, took me a bit more time to realize, but I had an epiphany. Unlike many of the other Trail and Industrial towns in the area, West Newton’s industrial history is dependent on its smaller scale factories and processes that developed a final product unlike other places that continued transporting its good into the Pittsburgh area. At a recent DWNI meeting, we reviewed my statement of significance so far and I am taking their feedback since many of the members are native and know the town history. I’ve also finalized most of my photos and have started copying and pasting my drafts into the official form. I plan to have this submitted in October. Once I have my reviewed results back from the State Historic Preservation Office of Pennsylvania, I will know if my proposed historic district is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

GAP SBN
• During the month of September, we continued to assess potential SBN members. Our newest members of the GAP SBN are ArtWorks Connellsville, El Canelo Mexican Restaurant in Connellsville, and Bright Morning Bed and Breakfast in West Newton. We are still reviewing assessments for other businesses we assessed.
• The GAP SBN will have an informational table at the Ohiopyle Sustainable Energy Fair on October 8, 2011.
• We are working hard to schedule re-assessments for the remaining un-ranked SBN members.
• Our annual member networking event is scheduled for Tuesday, October 8 at Levi Deal Mansion Bed & Breakfast in Meyersdale. This event will include a tour of the house and its sustainability features and improvements, a small presentation by TTOC and Carl Knoblock from the Small Business Administration, food, and refreshments.
• For more information or to read our weekly blog, check out our website www.gapsbn.com.

-Emma Stong and Phil Wu

September Harvest!
September brought in a vast harvest from the Connellsville Community Gardens. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there for most of the harvesting festivities but I came home to find a mound of brightly colored peppers and squash. The weather in September has turned colder with plenty of rain. Because of the rain, we will soon be pulling the bean plants to dry indoors before we harvest our gorgeous variety of dry beans.
Last weekend, at the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs, I got the chance to thank a few Seed Savers Exchange staff in person for the seed donations! Earlier in the year, I applied for a seed donation through their Herman’s Garden Seed Donation program and it was granted. Because of that, we were able to grow an amazing variety of plants and still have seed left-over as well as seed freshly saved for next year’s gardens. The SSE staff enjoyed hearing about our Bean Bike and Youth Action Crew adventures.
Fall for the Connellsville Community Gardens also means pot-luck time! We are planning a thank-you potluck for all of our garden volunteers as well as the volunteers for our other events. I am looking forward to cooking with the squash, beans, peppers, and herbs we are still harvesting from the Armory plot garden and 3rd St. gardens.
October will be focused on preparing the beds for cold weather. This will mean turning over the existing plants to compost and planting cover crops which will preserve and enhance soil fertility until next year’s planting. We are also beginning to plan garden lay-outs and plant placement for next year! If you would like to be involved in this planning process, learn about saving seeds, or volunteer in the garden next season – e-mail me at sca.maadams@gmail.com!

-Maggie Adams