Lackawanna River Currents - Lackawanna River Corridor Association
Transcription
Lackawanna River Currents - Lackawanna River Corridor Association
Spring 2007 Volume 14 Number 2 Lackawanna River Currents Newsletter of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association RI VER F E S T ‘ 07 Secure Your Vessel for the May 12th Event! Paddlers prepare! Only a few weeks remain to submit your entry for the Lackawanna River Corridor Association’s annual RiverFest. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, May 12th. Vessel launch sites will be the traditional Archbald and Blakely locations (see page 2 for details). Last year, over 200 folks participated in the Canoe-AThon. Canoes are available for rent or you are welcome to bring your own. The competitive and leisurely spirit are both encouraged to join us! As always, the day promises to be filled with excite- ment in the river as well as on the banks of the Olive Street finish line site. Music, food, racing rubber ducks and a fanciful parade of regatta entries will be sure to please all ages! To ensure preregistration and secure equipment rentals, please make sure forms are completed and received by LRCA no later than Wednesday, May 9th. Forms are available in this newsletter as well as for print from our website: www.lrca.org We look forward to seeing you! If you have any ambitions for assisting with the coordination of the event, please call us! INSIDE THIS EDITION Exec. Directors Report Springtime in the Valley Registration Forms Canoe-A-Thon - pg 6 River Regatta - pg 7 Duck-A-Thon - pg 8 Prizes!! Canoe-A-Thon Trophies for 1st, 2nd, 3rd Overall Places Regatta $100 to Winning Entry $25 to Runner-Up $25 to Third Place Duck-A-Thon 1st Place: $500 2nd Place: $200 3rd Place: $50 Event Schedule & Locations Time Activity/Event 8 a.m. Registration Opens Archbald & Blakely Sites 10 a.m. Canoe-A-Thon launch! Archbald & Blakely Sites 11:30 a.m. Canoes & kayaks finish, Regatta registration, live music, food & fun! Finish Line Site, Olive St Levee 3 p.m. 5th Annual Regatta Finish Line Site, Olive St Levee 5 p.m. 8th Annual Duck-A-Thon Finish Line Site, Olive St Levee 1 Location All Things Riverfest... Everything you need to know!! The LRCA is proud to host Riverfest 2007 on Saturday May 12th. We will have a full day of fun and excitement along the Lackawanna with Canoe-a-thon our down river fun paddle and white water canoe and kayak race (see launch site info below), an afternoon of River Rock and Blues, The River Regatta and of course the ever popular Duck-a-thon. Blakely Launch Site: located in the Robert Mellow Park on Keystone Ave (PA Route 247) in the Peckville area. 1. From US Rt 6 (Casey Highway) take exit for PA 247 at Jessup, turn left & follow PA 247 through Jessup to Peckville. 2. Take business Route 6 (Scranton/Carbondale Hwy) to intersection with PA 247 in Eynon, turn right on 247 to Peckville. Archbald Launch Site: located in David Maslyar Park on Laurel Street. 1. From US Rt 6 take the Archbald exit, turn left go down hill, cross RR tracks, left on Church St, follow Church St which becomes Laurel St. Maslyar park is on Laurel one block south of Monroe St. 2. From the Scranton/Carbondale Highway, turn on Betty St in Eynon, follow to Main St, turn left on Main, follow ½ mile north to Kennedy Dr (blinker light), turn right on Kennedy follow 1 ½ mile to Main St Archbald, bear left on Main St, follow north for 1 mile to stop sign at Monroe St, right on Monroe, cross river, right on Laurel, go one block south to park. We have ONE shuttle bus run from the finish line at Olive Street to each of our launch sites. The bus leaves at 8:15 am. There is no second bus. Park across from Memorial Stadium and look for the little yellow school bus. We will have an afternoon bus run back up to the launch sites for those who need to get their cars. That bus will leave at 2pm from Olive Street! The River Rock and Blues is an afternoon with some of our best local rock, blues and jazz musicians. Music begins about noon just as the canoe runs are arriving. The music and fun continue until 6 pm. There will be tents, food vendors and lots of activities for the kids. You are welcome to bring your own picnic lunch and cooler. As always we’ll have tents and tables or spread your blanket on the grass on a choice parcel of river levee! It has been rumored that Col. G. Elwood Beauregard will be in attendance this year with Continued page 5 The Lackawanna River Corridor Association Board of Directors Leonard Gorney President Michael Morin 1 Vice President st Anita Lohin nd 2 Vice President Kathleen Cullinane Secretary Robert Ballot Treasurer Bernard McGurl Executive Director Patrick Cuff James Dadey Ned Fetcher John Gable David Gromelski Michael Hanley Douglas Heller Michelene Kennedy Angela Lambert Kevin Leibold Ruthann Martin Robert M. McLaine Dr. Barry Minora Kathleen O’Hara Dr. Douglas Sheldon Anthony Zaleski Lackawanna River Corridor Association Post Office Box 368 Scranton, Pennsylvania 18501 570.207.7608 [email protected] www.lrca.org Advisory Board Stephanie Bass Alex Belavitz Fr Timothy J Cadigan SJ Cindy Campbell Ali Duffy Robert Durkin Wayne Evans Dawn Karam Cindy Klenk Paul Macknosky Thomas McLane Edward Michalski Colleen Reardon LRCA's mission is to involve citizens of our watershed with conservation and stewardship of the River, its tributaries and water resources. Four goals define our mission: clean up the River environment; aid in the development of the 40-mile Lackawanna River Heritage Trail; create partnerships among local, state, and federal agencies, businesses and community groups promoting conservation and recreation; and develop partnerships with schools, universities, and the general public to promote environmental and conservation education to better understand our relationship with the local environment. Newsletter edited by: A.A. Serio, Program Manager 2 Executive Director’s Notes Spring is returning to the Lackawanna Valley. We are preparing for Riverfest ‘07 to be held on Saturday May 12th. There’ a lot to do so check out the volunteer needs and fun opportunities in some of the other articles in this special Riverfest ‘07 edition of River Currents! As the snow melts and the spring rains fall, the river flows with a tremendous load of sediment. All of the anti skid and de icing salts that we were ever so anxious to have our road crews spread as we tried to drive home last month in that evening rush hour snow storm are now flowing into our river and streams. Add to that all of the drips of motor oil, gas and diesel, anti freeze, hydraulic fluids, cigarette butts, candy wrappers burger-joint trash and pet waste and we’ve got quite a ripe urban storm water stew flowing into the Lackawanna! Yet, the River runs crisp and clear on many of these warm and sunny days. But then in the matter of a few moments of rainfall, it turns a murky grey. Many of its smaller tributary streams quickly turn milk chocolaty brown with mud and sediments from less than adequate controls at some construction sites. Rivers have always carried a sedimentary load and they always will. This urban cocktail of chemicals in stormwater and the aggressive flows of urban storm water continue to degrade the natural habitats in our rivers and in streams all across the planet. The symptoms of urban storm water pollution like the symptoms of urban sprawl are typical of the unsustainable relationships that our society has with the ecosystems and the planet that we depend on for life… another “Inconvenient Truth”. We need a new set of paradigms to guide a recovery and engender sustainable relationships among our economic and social interactions. I haven’t seen Al Gore’s movie yet but I just read a couple of books that put some perspective on it. How can we approach changing our values and behaviors so that they are more sustainable and perhaps more just? The first is “1491” a fascinating survey of current studies in the anthropology and archaeology of pre-Colombian America by Charles C. Mann (www.vintagebooks.com). The work underway by researchers across the Americas to peal back the mists and misconceptions of time is impressive. The work provides many opportunities to compare the intellectual and technological positions of the Inca, Maya and Spanish societies with one another and look at their positions relative to their natural environments. There is much evidence presented to refute the noble savage concept and to reveal the influence of Native Americans on their “pristine” environments. The rise of agriculture and its spread had parallels and differences with that of the Old World. There did seem to be a sustainable symbiotic relationship in the farming of corn, gourds and beans particularly in northern Mexico and into the Mississippi Valley. The related socioeconomic structures that were developed immediately prior to European contact by the Cherokee in the southeast and the Iroquois in our region continue to have relevance for our future. I’m now reading “Eco-Villages by Jan Martin Bang” (www.newsociety.com). He starts out with tales from hippie/counter-cultural communes from his undergraduate days at the University of Manchester. After graduation and work across Europe as an elementary teacher, he gradually became involved with newer alternative communities, Findhorn in Scotland, Kibbutz’s in Israel, to some very innovative middle class working urban/ suburban Eco-villages in Germany and Norway and of course the FARM in Tennessee. He reviews the development of what is now known as perma-culture. He shows that this practice, which begins with organic agriculture, involves looking at all of our life sustaining systems in an interrelated and comprehensive manner. He examines the creation of social and economic structures using perma-culture design principles derived through a process of consensus. As a scientist, I keep asking questions, yet the evidence of patterns between these two randomly selected books is compelling. There are choices to be made and answers to be understood for sure. The poet in me thinks that perhaps the key to a sustainable future for our species may just be in understanding that we’ve known these answers for a long time. We need the consensus to put them into practice. That’s one part of what the LRCA is all about. Our relationships with our river and the waters that flow through our lives are metaphors for all of our relationships. Water is a carrier of messages; across the universe it is an indicator of life. Let’s act as if life itself were in the balance…it just may be. 3 4 12 S 695 S 11 9 8 7 8-Mile Course Blakely (B) to Scranton (S) 10 6 700 ft 800 ft B E l e v a t i o n C o u r s e 5 - River Miles - 4 B 795 900 ft 2 1 Upper Portion of the 12-Mile Course Archbald (A) to Blakely 3 A 0 A 890 In keeping with tradition, this year’s Canoe-A-Thon features both the 12-mile course and the popular 8-miler. The 12-miler launches at Maslyar Park, also known as Laurel Street Park, in Archbald. These additional 4 miles of river are recommended only for the more experienced paddler. The 8-miler takes off from Mellow Park in Blakely. Rental canoes and kayaks are available at Mellow Park. Lackawanna River Canoe-A-Thon: Course Elevation & Distance Fish Grow On Trees LRCA’s Collaborative Community Art Project LRCA is partnering with Heart to Art on an educational program: Fish Grow on Trees. The counterintuitive statement is meant to stimulate critical thinking by both adults and children about the interdependent relationships in our cycles of life. In particular, the statement is intended to promote an awareness of ecological relationships and clean water in the Lackawanna Valley. Over the next five years, the project will become a major component in the watershed education work of the LRCA. The project is similar to the Miles of Mules project that was conducted along the Delaware-Lehigh and Lackawanna Valley Heritage Corridors several years ago. Heart to Art coordinated the Lackawanna Valley portion of Miles of Mules. The Mules and Metamorphosis Art in the Park (last year) engendered a significant amount of citizen and business participation and a large amount of media attention. LRCA’s goal of this collaborative project is to stimulate public awareness about river conservation and water resource issues related to environmental sustainability, individual and community decision making. Fish Grow on Trees will involve residents of several communities along the Lackawanna River in the creation of colorful dragonflies and trout, which will be placed in trees along the riverbank in the spring and summer. Children and adults will be involved in painting and decorating the trout and dragonflies. These trout and dragonflies will be deemed “totems” of the Lackawanna River. Elected officials and community organizations from Old Forge, Scranton, Dickson City, Jessup, and Carbondale have expressed interest in participating with the initial phase of the project. In addition to the displays, public mural painting works will be created by facilitating the participation of individuals in a collective community work of art produced as part of planned community events such as Riverfest and Pioneer Days. The project will also involve local writers to work with participants to create poetry to accompany the Fish and Dragonflies on their journey through the watershed. Look for more information from LRCA on this exciting project at RiverFest. River Watch It’s easy to see what lives around the Lackawanna River but ever wonder what lurks beneath the surface? River Watch is an opportunity to get to know your river through field visits and benthic sampling. If interested in participating , please contact the LRCA for upcoming dates & locations. All Things Riverfest continued from page 2 stories from his recent decent of the Rio Ustamacinta from its headwaters in the Petan Highlands along the Belize-Guatemala border all the way to the Gulf of Campeche. We’re also expecting George Esperaza’s “Great Wahoo Medicine Show and Flea Circus” direct from a sold out performances at the San Antonio River front! Finish Line festivities are FREE. Everyone on the planet is welcome to attend as long as they behave themselves and Promise to enjoy themselves. Riverfest is held at the Riverfront in Scranton at the Olive Street Bridge. It is near Scranton High School, Memorial Stadium and the Ice Box Complex just off the Seventh Ave.-Providence Road exit of US Route 11, the North Scranton (McDade)Expressway. Everyone is invited to catch the race. Just stop at any spot along the river. Park your car safely and walk out along the sidewalk of one of the many bridges over the Lackawanna or walk along a section of river bank and from 10 am through the noon hour you will see some of the many dedicated race participants paddling down stream. Any way, we encourage them to paddle down stream, it’s easier that way and that’s where the finish line is. SEE YOU THERE !!! 5 2007 Canoe-A-Thon - Registration Form 1. Personal Information Paddler I Paddler II NAME ______________________________ ______________________________ ADDRESS ______________________________ ______________________________ CITY/STATE/ZIP ________________________ ______________________________ DRIVERS LICENSE # _______________________ ______________________________ PHONE __________________ PHONE _____________ (Required if renting a canoe or kayak) Age ____ (Participants much be at least 14) Age ___ (Participants much be at least 14) 2. Course 3. Categories 12-Miler Archbald to Scranton Two Men Female Kayak Two Women Male Kayak Men/Women Mixed Youth (14-18) Experienced paddlers only 8-Miler Blakely to Scranton Adult/Youth Mixed All levels of experience 4. Waiver-Release Please read & sign to acknowledge agreement I/We hereby acknowledge that participation in the Lackawanna River RiverFest—Canoe-A-Thon will require extreme physical exertion and exposure to dangerous conditions. I/We hereby assume all risk of injury or damage to person or property resulting from or in connection with the use of any of the facilities, equipment, or premises of the course or associated areas. Specifically, I/we recognize that the race sponsors and organizers have little control over road, traffic or river conditions. I/We hereby release the LRCA, local municipalities, their agents, officers, employees, representatives and insurers, and agree to defend, indemnify and hold them harmless of and from all claim, demand, action, or cause of action for injury, damage, or loss to person or property asserted by or accruing in favor of me. I/We certify that I/we are physically fit and have trained sufficiently for this event. If I am renting a canoe or kayak, I agree to be held financially responsible for any loss, theft or damage incurred to a rental canoe or kayak or any company. This release is signed voluntarily and is binding upon the below signed, his/her heirs, executors or assigns. Paddler I Signature _________________________ Paddler II Signature_________________________ Parent Sign Below If Under 18 Years Old Signature Date Parent Sign Below If Under 18 Years Old ____________________________ __________ Signature Date ____________________________ __________ By signing this release, I acknowledge that I/we have read the LRCA RiverFest/Canoe-A-Thon rules and agree to abide by them. 5. Registration Fee 6. Mail Completed Form and Check to: Entrants Cost Count Total Single Paddler $30 _____ $_________ Two Paddler Team $60 _____ $_________ Lackawanna River Corridor Association PO Box 368 Scranton, PA 18501-0368 In order to accommodate all entrants, registration forms should be received on or before May 10, 2007. Equipment Canoe Rental $46 _____ __________ Single Kayak Rental $30 _____ __________ Total Amount Enclosed: $____________ *Please make check payable to LRCA* 6 2007 River Regatta - Registration Form I/We hereby register for and state our intentions to participate in the Lackawanna River Regatta 2007. I/We agree to hold the Lackawanna River Corridor Association harmless from any liabilities which may arise from the ridiculous, sublimely absurd or sardonically evocative nature of our Regatta entry, its methods of navigation, communication, decoration or our techniques in the use of duct tape; whether or not we use duct tape or admit that we use duct tape. I/We also acknowledge that we are aware of Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission regulations requiring all small craft crew and passengers to have a Personal Floatation Device and a whistle or horn at hand. Please Print or Type Name of Vessel: ____________________________________________________________________ Theme of Vessel (optional): __________________________________________________________ Name of Family/Sponsor: ___________________________________________________________ Bernie’s notes on the infamous Regatta! Who doesn’t like to Regatta. Like we say along the Lackawanna, “Ya Gotta Regatta !” Do we say that? “You Betcha!” We do now. A few years back, some of the guys from the Scranton Fire department decided to make a float out of ping-pong tables and inner tubes complete with lawn chairs and that was the first Regatta in RiverFest’s living memory but it wasn’t the last. In recent years the Regatta has become a high point of the afternoon while everyone is waiting for the duck race. We have had River dragons, a huge pink elephant, the crew from Gilligan’s Island, a great Green Turtle, a Steamboat from Steamtown, Amelia Earhart and an eclectic Garbage’ barge’a. Entries are FREE. You can win a hundred bucks. If the judges decide that you and your crew has topped all of the other participants by using two things … no three things… Your imagination; your sense of humor; and your favorite brand of Duck Tape. For special rules, navigational advisories and other regatta information, please visit www.lrca.org click on the Riverfest 2007 page, and then click on Regatta 2007. Call or e-mail your query to the LRCA and ask to speak with one of our naval attachés. Thank You New & Renewing Members! IRWIN & DONNA ADLER FRED J BABARSKY ROBERT BALLOT BALON FAMILY JOHN BOGDANOVICZ WILLIAM V BURKE VICTOR J CAPOOCI JOHN & ALICE CARLING CHARLES & DAURICE CASTELLI WALTER & SUSAN CHECEFSKY PETE CHICK WILLIAM & JUDITH COLLINS KATHLEEN CULLINANE MARGARET DERMODY ERIC DUFFY ROBERT EMMI CAROLYN ENGLISH WAYNE EVANS JOSEPH X FLANNERY SONIA FORRY EDWARD J FORTUNA ESTHER K FRIEDMANN JIM GORDON JOHN GRABOWSKI VINCENT J GREGA JR CRINA GSCHWANDTNER SUZANNE HARPER ANNE HATALA DOUGLAS HELLER JERRY HICKEY PETER & JEAN HORGER ED & THERESA HUGHES ANDY & GAIL HURCHICK MARTIN HYZINSKI DOM & KATHY KEATING MICHELENE & JOHN KENNEDY ANDY & DEBBIE KOHUT AMY& PAUL KOWALSKI GARY & LIGIA KWIECINSKI RICHARD LASKE 7 ANDREW LASKOWSKI WILLIAM T LEGGAT ANNE D LEWIS ALBERT MAGNOTTA RUTHANN MARTIN JANET T MCCABE MARK & MICHELE MCDADE JIM MCDONNELL ROSEMARIE MECCA SALVATORE & MARY ANN MECCA JIM & ALICE NOONE ROBERT PHILBIN BOB & JUDY QUINLAN ROBBINS FAMILY ELSIE SCHWEITZER JOSEPH SICONOLLI PETER S SMITH ROBERT SNYDER DAVID J WENZEL TONY ZALESKI Lackawanna River Corridor Association JOIN US! NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID SCRANTON, PA PERMIT NO. 232 P.O. Box 368 Scranton, PA 18501-0368 Not a member yet? Complete & mail this form today! ________________________________________________________________ Name ________________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________________ City State Zip ________________________________________________ Phone ________________________________________________ Email Choose Your level (Any Amount Gladly Appreciated) Senior $10 ___ Student $10 ___ Individual $ 15 ___ Family $25 ___ Sojourner $50 ___ Trail Blazer $100 ___ Make Check or Money Order Payable to LRCA and Mail To: Lackawanna River Corridor Association P.O. Box 368 Scranton, PA 18501-0368 Ducks for Sale - Singles or in Bulk! It’s so easy!! No Ticket or Stub to Win. When we receive your order, numbered ducks will be assigned to you. The Ducks Do All the Work! You Could Win $500, $100, or $50!!! 1. Your Info Name: ____________________________________ Address: _______________________________ City ______________ State ___ ZIP _________ 2. Duck Info Duck Choice Cost Per Count Total Cost Single Duck $5 _____ $___________ Ducks in Bulk (8) $20 _____ $___________ 3. Send Check Please make check payable to LRCA and send to: LRCA PO Box 368 Scranton, PA 18501 8
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