Summer ended with a full work schedule in the month of September! I worked with my fellow River Town Outreach Corps members tackle invasive and messy plant life along the 5.5 miles of the Greene River Trail between Rices Landing and Fredericktown. We also spent an afternoon on the Lock Wall in Rices Landing, scraping and re-painting the stage building in preparation for the 2013 RiverFest. With my freshly refined painting skills, I helped Marah in California for a of couple days, prepping and painting the caboose near the library. I met with the new Fredericktown Landscape Subcommittee to discuss project ideas for the funds of the Port of Pittsburgh grant. A lot of great ideas were discussed for the area between the township building and the Mon; we hope to begin the project in October! For our September regional meeting, we hosted a speaker to educate business owners on using social media as a way to connect with customers and promote their business. I learned some neat and creative ideas for promoting the River Town Program newsletter and Facebook page! After our Trail Town co-worker encountered a bear on the GAP, we all decided to take a Wildlife Safety Training class in Ohiopyle from our friends at the DCNR; we learned some useful information while spending time in the great outdoors of Pennsylvania! Marah, Ryan, and I led guided hikes through the grounds of Friendship Hill during Festifall. Later that evening, the Rices Landing Concert Series came to a close with The Split playing at the gazebo. Bly from Rivers of Steel, kindly gave guided tours and demos of the W.A. Sons Machine Shop and Foundry, the Lock #6 Museum was open for self-guided tours, and Kyle from the Greene Co. food bank set up a table to give residents important information. I attended the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, where I learned some valuable information about sustainable living practices from gardening to raising ducks! Ted and Linda from the SCA came down to our Connellsville office for a day of training on volunteer project management and Excel spreadsheet making. I spent a day visiting local businesses in the Fredericktown area looking for sponsors for our fall paddle trip. The Izaak Walton League of America invited me to an event called Is Ten Mile Creek Clean? in Amity, which I attended and learned some valuable information about the environment in our region. I ended the month by going on the Ohio River Water Networker Cruise in Pittsburgh. I met a great deal of people who care about the environment as much as I do and heard some great talks by the invited speakers. September also called for some last minute summer fun including a camping trip on Lake Michigan, attending a college friends’ wedding, watching my brother participate in marching band for the first time, and I also became the Godmother of my sister’s three daughters. Although September was a lot of fun, I hope to catch my breath in October!
