FOR TWENTY YEARS
Our Mission: Inspire Stewardship of
Pennsylvania's State Parks and Forests


The masthead this week is my own, a bit of the Music on the Beach event at Whipple Dam State Park on Saturday evening. Music by The Crooked Line, refreshments from the Friends of Greenwood Furnace, gorgeous skies by Mother Nature. It did cloud up and we had one rumble of thunder (so no clear night skies for my camping overnight).

Park Manager Mike announced big plans for Whipple Dam in the coming months - an overdue dredging of the lake, reconstruction of the wheelchair ramp into the water and an accessible fishing pier on the "opposite shore," and paving of the park's roads. Next year when you return for the next Music on the Beach series you will see those improved conditions. Do keep an eye on the calendars of events for toe-tappin' to come.

Fridays will be on hiatus next week as I'll be leaving for the PPFF Board annual retreat at Cook Forest State Park on Wednesday afternoon and won't return until Friday afternoon. As Bill would say, "Be governed accordingly."



Pam Metzger
Membership Coordinator

News of Note

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Important to note this morning is that the deadline for entry into the annual Parks & Forests Thru the Seasons photo contest is coming up on September 4. I have added a button to the website home page to take you right to the entry site and would beseech you to read the rules. We are still getting photos that are not named properly (YourName.TheCategory.Park/ForestWhereTaken) but are uploaded with the aklakdi311936391813.jpg your camera assigns. The naming convention helps us identify the photo YEARS from now (we are indeed using photos from the 2010 and 2011 contests to this day). Up to this point I have not been, per the rules, bouncing the photos but have been renaming them myself.  If, as is the usual, we have a flurry of entries at the last minute I don't guarantee that I will have time to do that. So, again, be governed accordingly.

And, just as a suggestion, oddly enough our lightest category for entries is the Selfie category. I am truly dumbfounded. So, be safe in your pursuits of that grand self-portrait but do get them in!

Marci spent the week in Detroit, MI at the annual gathering of state parks foundations (folks just like us across the country) and is making her way home with some great ideas. Yesterday on the phone she hooked me up with the website for the State of Michigan's Outdoor Adventure Center, which is in fact an INDOOR Adventure Center. This amazing place, though, brings a touch of "virtual reality" to learning about ways to enjoy the outdoors. Marci said she got to pretend to be a baby eagle and watched two very young girls gather the courage to walk across a rocky stream. Best of all, park pass purchases from the zip codes surrounding the Adventure Center have seen an increase since the center opened so the confidence being built in a "safe" environment is leading more people to enjoy the wonders of the real thing. 

A reminder that Marci will be at the following parks to talk about maintenance and improvements needed in our parks and forests during the first week in September:

9/4/19 French Creek State Park 1:00 PM Swimming Pool
9/4/19 Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center 3:30 PM
Nolde Mansion
9/5/19 Nockamixon State Park 10:00 AM
Park Office


Search for "Legislative" on our
calendar and the full schedule will be displayed.

A little note of catch-up: you may recall our note a few weeks ago about the Envirothon team from Carmichaels High in Carmichaels, PA going off to the international competition in Raleigh, NC. The bad news is that they did NOT win. The good news, however, is that they took third place - and out of a field of 53 teams from the US, Canada, and China, that's nothing to sneeze at. Congratulations, young persons!



At Work and Play in the State Parks and Forests

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As noted above, I will be away next week, which means you'll be heading into Labor Day without me? No, I couldn't abandon you that way - this first chart will cover this week; the second that follows will focus on Labor Day weekend.

NORTH SOUTH

Learn a little about the impact of the CCC at KETTLE CREEK STATE PARK with a Saturday afternoon visit to the buildings they constructed.

A little bit of history and a little bit of music make up a
concert by Van Wagner, presented on Sunday afternoon
by the Friends of Pine Grove Furnace. One might call Van
"Golden-Throated," which would suggest a logical connection to the Friends' next program on Saturday evening, 8/31, on Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds!




EAST
WEST
Join the Friends of Nockamixon on Saturday night for a salute to International Bat Night and the lovable (yes, I mean that) critters who help keep us free from annoying flying insects. Bless their little pointed ears. Party Time! Star Party that is - with the members of the Pittsburgh Amateur Astronomers Association, setting up at Scenic View at Laurel Hill on Saturday night. 



Labor Day Weekend

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NORTH SOUTH

Say farewell to Summer with a kayak tour and dessert with the Friends of Lyman Run on Saturday evening. Please register in advance; a $10 fee covers the necessaries.

The Friends of Colonel Denning invite you to learn more about coal and folk heritage of our state with a concert and story-telling on Saturday evening.




EAST
WEST
Both the Friends of Nolde Forest and the Friends of White Clay Creek boast a special building under their care and each sponsor a regular open house and tour. Sunday, September 1 is a good day to visit either The toe tapping begun by the Friends of Greenwood Furnace and Friends of Laurel Hill is rounded off with Music in the Mountains from the Friends of Ohiopyle - all weekend by the Falls.



UPCOMING VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
The Friends of Greenwood Furnace are in need of some marketing expertise. If you are a social media whiz with an eye toward publicizing the hard work of involved volunteers - or if you're a volunteer in that corner of Huntingdon County to the northeast of Lewistown - the Friends need you! Contact Chair Mike Rubano to join in!

These and other fun events and fulfilling volunteer opportunities can be found on the PPFF events calendar and DCNR Calendar of Events. Bookmark them and you'll never miss the boat (or hike or festival).



Picture of the Week

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Love this shot of Point State Park's lovely fountain shared by Neighbor Wendy to the Google readers' photo album. As soon as I saw it, I started singing Robert Palmer's Every Kind of People. The Point really is a wonderful place to just sit, people watch, and soak it all in (and I don't just mean wind-blown spray from the fountain). Share your photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/63zYMF2QnCU9JeWx7


Take Five for Trivia

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"Who Were These Guys?" last week stumped most of our readers and I did suggest to Angela that it might have helped if I included some hint like "and he did not care WHAT you did to the toilet paper." That would have been an allusion to "Mr. Whipple" of Charmin bath tissue fame who always begged his customers, "Please don't squeeze the Charmin." Too many young people will not have gotten that reference, I fear. In any event, "the guy" was Osgood Whipple and the place Whipple Dam (which I talked about so much last issue and this that you'll now make sure it's on your list of places to go.)

With two weeks to work on the next question, we'll ask you to delve a little into the "infrastructure study" we talk about so frequently. Download your copy with a click to "Preserving the Legacy" on our home page and then relax in your hammock over the next couple of weeks with a little reading material. I mentioned that Whipple Dam's lake is scheduled for dredging in the next few months. It is only one such lake where sediment is threatening the lake's health. What is the total estimated cost to remedy this issue?

Send in your answer and we'll enter your correct response into our monthly prize drawing. All correct answers each week will go into the hat and at the end of the month we'll draw one lucky winner. The more correct answers you submit in a month (up to four or the occasional five depending on the month), the more chances you'll have to win.

In Closing

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Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation (PPFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization - contributions to which are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. The official registration and financial information of PPFF may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling, toll-free within Pennsylvania, to 800.732.0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.



Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation (PPFF) is a proud member of Earth Share and 1% for the Planet and is a Gold GuideStar participant.


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