Category Archive: Threatened Historic Resources
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Rain Barrels and Rain Gardens: Nine Mile Run Watershed Association Looks Ahead
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Nine Mile Run
This Saturday night, the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association (NMRWA) will celebrate another year of progress at their annual fundraiser.
In lower Frick Park, near the confluence of the Fern Hollow and Nine Mile Run streams, “A Midsummer Night’s Storm” will include food and drink from Point Brugge Café and Make Your Mark Artspace & Coffeehouse. Rick Sebak, the Mon River Ramblers, J. Malls and Hi Top Wrangler will be on hand for the festivities.
The goal will be to raise funds for the association’s environmental stewardship programs, including the Rain Barrel Initiative and Rain Garden Pilot Project.
One of the environmental challenges in the Pittsburgh area is that rain storms cause runoff that brings chemicals and pollutants from our streets and sewers down into the rivers. The Association has been battling that by introducing rain barrels and teaching homeowners to develop rain gardens to keep rainfall on their own property.
“We now have over 1300 rain barrels just in our watershed alone, which is probably one of the highest densities for a rain barrel program in the country,” says Lisa Brown, director of operations and outreach at NMRWA. “Within the watershed, we install and we maintain them. And we continually keep in contact with the rain barrel owners,” to create an ongoing relationship of outreach and teaching.
The Rain Garden project is “sort of a separate project because many, many people don’t necessarily want to use rain barrels. They are interested in something that is, I guess, more aesthetically appealing,” Brown says. “So we teach them to disconnect downspouts and create a rain garden, as part of a suite of options for homeowners.”
Pop City Media
Writer: Melissa Rayworth
Source: Lisa Brown, NMRWA
Images courtesy of NMRWA -
Fight On to Keep Brick Street in Regent Square
By Alyssa Karas
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Signs posted along Macon Avenue in Regent Square detail the residents' fight to keep their brick roads from being paved over by the water company. Andrew Russell | Tribune-Review
The clusters of bright orange cones on Macon Avenue in Regent Square alert motorists and pedestrians of giant holes in the yellow-brick road.
But the cones are warning signs of a battle brewing between Swissvale residents and a water company.
When Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority replaces the water line in the 1400 block of Macon Avenue, the company intends to remove the bricks then pave the street with asphalt. But many residents are adamant that the brick street be restored, and plan to protest the water authority’s decision at the council meeting at 7 p.m. today.
“It will be a fight (with water authority officials) if it has to be,” said Swissvale Borough Council President David Petrarca. “(Residents) want brick. They do not want asphalt. It’s always that way.”
Much of the debate centers on cost. Petrarca said water authority officials put an estimated $270,000 price tag on the project. This includes removing the brick, replacing the main water line and all lateral lines to homes, putting down a new base then paving with asphalt.
The water authority did not provide an estimate for replacing the bricks on the nearly 100-year-old streets, Petrarca said. Brick would be more expensive in the short-run but require less maintenance over time, borough officials said. Water authority Manager Anthony Russo Jr. declined to comment.
The water authority may run into some legal roadblocks. According to Swissvale Solicitor Bob McTiernan, the borough has an ordinance that states materials used to replace a street surface must be of the same covering and the same grade as the originals.
Residents and council members said the bricks keep property values up, make the streets safer and add to the neighborhood’s charm.
“I love this neighborhood,” said resident Ann Walston, 62. “One of the most beautiful things about it is the streets and the trees.”
The issue began after a water main break on June 22 caused sinkholes to cave in. When at least one sinkhole was patched with asphalt, residents took notice, Webber said. Residents began organizing meetings and writing letters to council members and the mayor.
Other communities are facing similar problems. In Aspinwall, Borough Manager Ed Warchol has grappled with what to do about a worn-out brick road for more than a year.
“The problem is the expense,” Warchol said. “It’s astronomical. It keeps the quaintness of everything, but I don’t have the money.” However, it’s important to keep in mind what the community wants, he said.
Arthur Ziegler, president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, said the Regent Square streets could qualify for landmark status. A structure must be at least 50 years old and designed with distinction, Ziegler said.
“I just hope they find a way to keep these bricks that contribute to the uniqueness of this marvelous neighborhood,” he said.
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A Newsmaker You Should Know: Historical Society Chief Links Past to Present
Thursday, July 08, 2010Marilyn Albitz barely passed high school history — a close call she attributes to a teacher who she said wanted her students only to memorize dates.
“I was an A student, but [historical] dates always turned me off. Rather, I’ve always liked to hear stories about the people, what they did, where they came from,” Ms. Albitz recalled.
MARILYN ALBITZAGE: “I’m a senior citizen, that’s all I’ll admit.”
OCCUPATION: Community volunteer
EDUCATION: Dormont High School
FAMILY: Husband, Robert; three children; seven grandchildren
WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO YOU? “My family and my borough’s history.”
PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO KNOW: “I was once very shy. Now all I do is talk.”
FIRST JOB: Office supervisor at Prudential Insurance
HOBBIES: Reading and traveling
READING MATERIAL ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND: Romance novels and trivia books
WHAT’S PLAYING ON YOUR TV: “The Mentalist,” “The Good Wife,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Jeopardy!”
GUILTY PLEASURE: Chocolate candy
FAVORITE SPOT IN THE WORLD: Green Tree. “There’s no place like here.”
MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: “I’m sure there have been plenty, but I can’t think of any to share now.”
PROUDEST MOMENT SO FAR: “I’m proud of my family. And I was very proud being invited to Harrisburg.”
Now, as Green Tree Historical Society president, she is learning history the way she likes it: stories of the people who have lived in her community and the surrounding area.
“People influence other people. Our history is like a puzzle, and with each story, you get another piece,” she said.
Ms. Albitz credits former Green Tree librarian Roberta Antin as her greatest influence.
“She took me under her wing,” Ms. Albitz said. “She was our historian before we had the historical society. She collected stories, photos, newspapers, everything she could.”
Ms. Albitz started Green Tree’s historical society 25 years ago and has since helped other local communities start theirs, including Brentwood, Carnegie, Crafton, Dormont, Ingram, Mt. Lebanon and Reserve.
“I’d just take a folder of information and go talk to people about what we do and how we did it,” she said.
She wanted to help other communities start their historical societies for the same reason she wanted to start Green Tree’s.
“It’s important for you to know what your community is and was and where it’s going,” she said. “It’s important to collect more than Green Tree’s history because all these communities were once connected.”
State Rep. Matt Smith, D-Mt. Lebanon, hosted Ms. Albitz in Harrisburg last month to recognize her efforts in organizing Green Tree’s 125th anniversary celebration.
“[Ms. Albitz] herself is a community treasure. She is truly the kind of person that makes Green Tree and surrounding communities so special,” he said.
Mr. Smith was a history major at Rollins College and said there was “a huge advantage to preserving each community’s heritage. [Ms. Albitz] does a great job preserving that history.”
But talking to groups interested in forming their own historical society wasn’t easy for Ms. Albitz decades ago.
“I was so shy,” she said. “I took a public speaking class at the community college to help me get past that.”
During the class, she learned a lesson that she still relies on today.
“Just be yourself. You know more about what you’re talking about than the people you’re telling it to,” she said.
A lot of people have benefited from the information Ms. Albitz has shared and she’s been “very valuable to the community,” according to Dave Montz, Green Tree manager.
“People have been able to trace their roots, and she’s worked with children, too. They’ve learned where they live wasn’t always a traffic-congested, busy town. It was actually once farmland,” he said.
Ms. Albitz said she was a natural organizer growing up in Dormont with three brothers and one sister.
Later, she worked as an office supervisor for 13 years at Prudential Financial Inc. in Kennedy before starting a family. She has three children — David, Linda and Jeffrey — and seven grandchildren, ranging in age from 2 to 22.
As a mother, she served as a leader in the school’s Parent Faculty Organization.
In addition to her leadership in Green Tree’s historical society, she is president of the borough’s seniors’ club and belongs to its women’s club.
“People tell me I do too much and that I should learn to say ‘no.’ But you can’t say ‘no’ to stuff that interests you,” she said.
Reading is another of Ms. Albitz’s interests.
“I love romance novels. So many of them take place in different countries, and I love those settings. I skim over most of the romance. At my age, who cares?” she asked with a laugh.
Ms. Albitz does not disclose her age but did offer that she was married in 1953 to her husband, Robert, at St. Bernard Church in Mt. Lebanon.
“Compromise is the key,” she said of her nearly 60-year marriage. She also joked that it might help that she’s rarely home because of her work with social groups and traveling with the seniors’ club.
“I’m not home much, but I love to bake when I am,” she said.
Her favorite recipe is for her mother’s pumpkin pie, and she also likes to bake cookies.
“Grandma always has a can of cookies in her freezer,” she said.
She would spend more time baking if she had the time, she said, but there’s still too much to be done at the historical society.
“I’ve got to find someone to take this over after I’m gone,” she said. “I thought I’d retire this year, but I can’t. I’m still learning too many new stories.”
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Gettysburg Casino Plan Raises Hackles of Historians
Thursday, July 01, 2010By Dante Anthony Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteHistorical musings about the bloodiest Civil War battle and concerns over a continuing gambling debate intersected yesterday in a poetically timed proclamation.
On the eve of the Battle of Gettysburg’s 147th anniversary, a group of prominent American historians sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board stressing that a proposed casino near Gettysburg battleground will “unavoidably conflict” with the area’s historical significance.
Urging board chairman Gregory Fajt to deny the proposed casino’s application, the letter kindles a modern-day battle between preservationists and casino supporters that opened in 2005, when another application for a casino in the area from the same developer was put forth.
Building a casino close to the battleground “would be an insult to the men who died there,” said James McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era” and professor emeritus of United States history at Princeton University.
Some 160,000 Union and Confederate troops fought and 50,000 died at the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest and largest of the Civil War. It started on today’s date in 1863 and ended on July 3.
“The idea of a gambling casino on or even near [the battleground] is totally incompatible with the nature of that historic site, which is special and unique,” Dr. McPherson said.
“A casino can be put anywhere, but there’s only one Gettysburg,” he added, a message echoed in the letter that he and 271 other historians signed.
Many historians claim the battle was a pivotal part of the Civil War, not just because it was the largest and bloodiest but also since President Abraham Lincoln four months later uttered his famous “Gettysburg Address” there at the dedication of a national cemetery.
If granted a state license, Mason-Dixon Resorts & Casino will be at the existing Eisenhower Hotel & Conference Center in Cumberland Township.
The casino would be a half-mile from the 6,000-acre Gettysburg National Military Park, five miles from the borough of Gettysburg’s center and three miles north of the Mason-Dixon line. The application — asking for a gambling parlor with up to 600 slots — is currently being reviewed by the state’s gaming control board.
Though the casino would not be placed within Gettysburg National Military Park, the letter contends that putting a casino “so close to the Battlefield at Gettysburg is simply incomprehensible.” The casino’s proposed site would be next to where Union cavalry advanced toward the South Cavalry Field, which saw substantial fighting on July 3, according to the Civil War Preservation Trust. Claiming “that history stops where the park ends is a modern idea, and it just isn’t true,” said Mary Koik, spokesperson for the battlefield preservation organization.
The letter alludes to a similar debate in 2005, when David LeVan, a Gettysburg businessman and a developer of the proposed casino, applied for a 5,000-slot casino a few miles northeast of Gettysburg’s town center. The state did not grant that casino a license at the end of 2006, largely because of widespread public opposition, said Richard McGarvey, Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board spokesperson. Historians, including Dr. McPherson, expressed similar opposition over the last application in a debate that lasted 20 months.
Other historians signing yesterday’s letter include Garry Willis, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America”; Carol Reardon, who directs Penn State’s graduate studies in history; and Edwin C. Bearss, chief historian emeritus of the National Park Service.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board hopes to reach a decision by the end of the year, but it first needs to have public meetings — where people can voice concerns and approval — for the proposed casino’s application and the three others that have filed for the same license, Mr. McGarvey said. No more than one license will be granted, and it’s possible that none will be, he added.
So far, though, this proposed casino has gotten support in the region, said David La Torre, spokesperson for the proposed casino. The Gettysburg-Adams Chamber of Commerce last week expressed support for the casino, and the Cumberland Township Board of Supervisors did the same in April, Mr. La Torre said.
Pro-Casino Adams County has backed the proposed casino, claiming that the area has suffered job losses and could benefit from the gambling parlor’s 900 jobs. And 62 percent of those in Adams County support the proposal, according to a study conducted by Franklin & Marshall College that polled 600 county residents.
But others claim that the casino would have a negative impact on the area, namely in pushing away heritage tourists, who are different from typical tourists because “they travel for meaning,” said No Casino Gettysburg spokeswoman Susan Star Paddock.
“Those tourists have told us in droves that they are offended [by] the casino,” she said. “I don’t believe that anyone in this country outside of these investors and their cheerleaders would be OK with a casino at Ground Zero or at Arlington Cemetery or the sight of Pearl Harbor.”
Mr. La Torre said that there wasn’t the same kind of outcry when a Comfort Inn was recently built in a spot close to a cemetery and where Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address, or when a 120-acre parcel of land in the national park was purchased recently by a high-density housing development.
Ms. Paddock said, however, that these points are insignificant in light of bigger issues.
“All the major Civil War historians have come out in opposition. That’s the real story,” she said in response. “The rest is just distraction.”
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Many Suggest Ways to Save Mellon Arena
Wednesday, June 23, 2010By Patricia Lowry, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteWhen I asked for ideas for reusing Mellon Arena on June 13, I hoped to get at least a handful of responses. But almost 60 of you e-mailed or called with suggestions or simply encouragement to find a way to save the arena.
Courtesy of David Julian Roth Architect David Roth's very preliminary concept study suggesting that the Mellon Arena become an urban greenhouse in partnership with the Swedish company Plantagon, which aims to produce food where much of it is consumed, in cities.
Convert it to a market house, “a large open floor filled with vendor stalls of fresh produce,” writes computer programmer Joel Hess of Etna. “Imagine that, when the weather permits, the roof of the dome would be opened to create an instant fresh-air market. … Pittsburgh would have the most impressive market house in the nation along with the recognition that goes with reusing and preserving a historic piece of architecture.”
And both the Hill and Downtown would have something they’ve long needed — a grocery store. A dedicated shuttle service and walk-ins from the new surrounding neighborhood could eliminate the need for massive amounts of parking.
Architect David Roth took the market house idea a step further, suggesting the Igloo become an urban greenhouse in partnership with the Swedish company Plantagon, which aims to produce food where much of it is consumed, in cities.
“Our arena installation would be a self-funded food agora, with Plantagon produce and local farmers market stalls in each of the perimeter bays,” Mr. Roth writes.
Although his design shows the dome replaced by a new structure, the existing dome could be glazed.
Some of you think the arena’s best use is as a transit hub.
“The arena would make an excellent regional transit center in which the T (on its future way out to the East End, of course), Amtrak rail, bus services, and (hopefully at some point!) a high-speed line out to the airport, could meet,” writes Carnegie Mellon public policy student Sam Lavery.
“The building could easily be connected to the T system along with the bus system coming in from the far corners of the county and beyond,” writes figure skating coach Bob Mock of Turtle Creek. “The building would contain a Grand Central type of atmosphere with a retail/mall corridor for commuters. In addition this would connect all of the sports venues by the T. The T could then be extended to the airport, South Side, Oakland and Monroeville.”
“There has been considerable talk about an experimental maglev train between Greensburg and the airport. I thought that the arena would be a great location for a Downtown station,” writes Gordon Marshall of Belle Vernon. “The roof could be left partially open with glass panel inserts for natural lighting and a view of the city.”
Several people mentioned the lack of natural light inside the dome when it’s closed and also suggested replacing some of the stainless-steel panels with transparent or translucent ones.
Artist Carol Skinger of Fox Chapel writes, “I can imagine a new skin that is more like a white mesh or some slightly knocked down version of white. It would be possibly perforated or, by the character of the material, be simply translucent, so when you are inside it is luminous even on a gray day.
“At night the interior lighting could be various colors so it would not always appear to be a white or yellow glow. The overall color could and would change at night as light comes through the translucent skin. I think a yellowish light dimmed way down at late night would give it such a beautiful feeling of a candle lantern.”
A retail or mixed-use development appealed to some.
“Turn it into a shopping, dining, living and entertainment area,” writes retired teacher Colleen Kinevey of Mt. Lebanon. “In the middle of the arena, in a spot which would be most convenient to the Hill District, make an open thruway connecting the Hill District to Downtown. It could be enclosed like the Jenkins Arcade or open in the fashion of a courtyard/thruway. The thruway would have to be convenient and available at all times. On both sides of the thruway could be shops, restaurants, spas, lofts, offices and theaters. There are endless possibilities.”
“A giant mall,” writes Mary Segal of West View, that “includes retail shops, food court, grocery store, child care center, movie theater and something like a fun fest place for kids with blow-up bouncies, miniature golf, a place for families to have kids’ birthday parties.”
How about a recreational use?
Retired Kennywood president Carl Hughes of Mount Washington called to suggest an indoor water park, an idea that also appealed to Avonworth High student Krystina Thomas.
“We don’t have one in the city, and during the summer you could open up the roof,” Ms. Thomas writes.
Artist Phil Rostek of Shadyside and his mother, Margaret, suggest “a major venue devoted to upscale public dancing,” with a dance floor surrounded by tables for dining, stars projected on the interior of the dome and dancing under the real stars when weather permits. The name would remain the Igloo, “where the ‘Burgh chills.” There would be dance and movement classes, too, for adults and kids.
Patricia Faloon, a professional clown who lives in Beechview, envisions a large indoor miniature golf course, with each hole interpreting one of the bridges, buildings, inclines or some other aspect of Pittsburgh.
An ice arena for kids’ hockey, figure skating and open skating would take advantage of what’s already there, two of you suggested. Or maybe an arena for professional boxing events, writes M.A. Johnson-Vaughn, passing along a friend’s idea.
Some ideas seem too similar to what Pittsburgh already has to be viable, such as a Pittsburgh Sports and Exhibition Hall of Fame Museum, a national museum of steel and industry, a giant aviary and botanical center, a home to nonprofits and a home (once again) for the Civic Light Opera.
Several writers suggested an industrial use, such as a place to assemble and warehouse solar panels and other green products. But the arena as cultural center appealed to others.
“A mall for artists,” writes former contractor John Mann of West Deer. “You could put shops all through it and have concerts and plays in the round.”
“Borrowing from the design of the Guggenheim in New York, maybe a spiral gallery could be built inside the dome,” writes Paul Carosi of Mt. Lebanon. “Visitors would take an elevator to the top and wind their way down the exhibit spaces.” He also floats the “Pittsburgh Music Hall of Fame, similar to the Experience Music Project in Seattle.”
“Since I was a little girl,” writes state welfare caseworker Lynda Regan of Dormont, “I’ve heard how Pittsburgh was the great American melting pot; a place where people of every ethnic and racial background came to work together, side by side, in the mills and factories, in order to make the American dream a reality for their kids and grandchildren.
“What I would like to see in the Civic Arena is a permanent monument to those hard-working men and women who labored all those years ago to make Pittsburgh the diverse, forward-moving city it is today. What I am suggesting is that the Civic Arena building be preserved and renovated into The Pittsburgh Folk Cultural Center, where locals and tourists alike, as well as educators, artists, performers and vendors, can come together to explore and to celebrate the contributions and traditions of the many ethnic groups which joined together to build Pittsburgh.”
Ms. Regan’s idea sounds like a permanent, ongoing Pittsburgh Folk Festival, an idea that celebrates the Hill’s history as a settlement place for immigrants of all nationalities. The dome would house classrooms, a dance studio, a small theater, ethnic restaurants, an international bazaar and a Grand Hall for banquets and wedding receptions.
Tom Galownia of Cecil has a different idea.
“If you want to really save the Igloo, then you first have to make them want to keep it, and the best way to do that in Pittsburgh, a city with low self-esteem, is to have someone else want it. So my suggestion is to start an effort to move it.
“Maybe you could advertise it on eBay. Once you get some serious interest, I guarantee you, Pittsburghers will demand it be kept.”
Architecture critic Patricia Lowry: plowry@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1590. -
Pennsylvania Rail Museum Gets Critical $5M
By Marie Wilson
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, June 4, 2010More than 40 pieces of Pennsylvania’s railroad history are deteriorating from sun, rain, snow and wind as they sit outside the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Lancaster County.
But $5 million from Gov. Ed Rendell’s office will help build an indoor facility to house the artifacts.
“That kind of money will certainly enable it to be upgraded and attract a much larger audience,” said Arthur Ziegler, president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. “That’s good for Pennsylvania particularly — not only because it’s a nostalgic interest in railroads and a historic interest in how they served the country, but railroads are on the way back.”
Design of a roundhouse — an indoor shelter for locomotives — will require about $500,000 of the money released Thursday, said Charles Fox, museum director. The remainder will go toward design and construction of an interpretive exhibit to better explain the commonwealth’s railroad history.
The focus of the exhibit’s redesign is not to acquire artifacts but, instead, to better connect the railroad industry’s past to the present, said Kirk Wilson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
“It is important to the future of the railroad and to be able to tell an aspect of Pennsylvania history,” Wilson said.
The museum hired Gerard Hilferty and Associates, an Ohio-based museum design company, to redesign the internal exhibit, Wilson said. Hiring a design company is the next step in constructing the roundhouse.
“We don’t want it to be all about the machines,” Fox said. “It’s a way to tie it all together into a comprehensive story and to make it about people.”
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Fund Set Up to Pay for Pittsburgh Monument Maintenance
By Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Last updated: 1:33 pmPittsburgh City Council today approved setting up a trust fund to bankroll maintenance to monuments and war memorials in the North Side.
Establishing the account was part of several bills introduced last week by Council President Darlene Harris after people and veterans groups complained that many of the markers had fallen into disrepair.
Harris set aside $40,000 from money left in a 2001 account for projects in her district and money originally dispersed in 1996 for community development for her district.
Council also approved a measure charging the city’s Public Works, Parks and Recreation and City Planning departments to prepare an inventory of the war monuments and memorials throughout the city in order to create a 10-year maintenance plan to be included in the 2011 capital budget.
There are more than a dozen monuments and war memorials in Harris’ district of 13 neighborhoods and more than 60 citywide.
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Thousands to Take to Ohio’s Banks Saturday for River Sweep
By Rossilynne Skena
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Monday, June 14, 2010
Litter covers the hillside below Garvers Ferry Road in Parks Township, which will be targeted Saturday during the River Sweep for the Ohio River and its tributaries. Volunteers will clean up near Carnahan Run, a tributary of the Kiski River. Jason Bridge | Valley News Dispatch
Pat Walters grew up on the Allegheny River. She remembers a time when she swam the river every day.
As the public has become more aware of the river’s dangers, however, people don’t do that anymore.
Still, Walters is passionate about the river and about keeping it clean. She is secretary of Natrona Comes Together Association and organizer of Natrona’s river sweep.
On Saturday, she’ll be one of thousands of volunteers to participate in River Sweep. Volunteers will descend the banks of the Ohio River and its tributaries, spanning six states to the Ohio River’s end in Illinois, said Betsy Mallison, the state’s River Sweep coordinator. The Ohio River Sweep program began in 1989.
Over the years, Walters has noticed an improvement in the riverfront. Volunteers are keeping it clean, and they’re not finding tires, toilets, bicycles and shopping carts along the riverbank anymore.
Mallison said water quality has improved, fish have come back and more people are using the river.
But even today, she said, trash is left behind by people using the rivers and by contractors.
“While we’ve seem river conditions drastically improve over those 20 years,” Mallison said, “we still need to do some work out on the rivers and their banks.”
This year at the Natrona site, volunteers will paint guardrails, cut grass and pull weeds, Walters said. Volunteers with the Natrona Comes Together Association have already planted about a dozen wooden planters of flowers and shrubbery, she said.
Dennis Hawley, president of the Crooked Creek Watershed Association, said he’s found everything from car fenders to couches in his 10 years taking part in river sweep. His area covers Crooked Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River, which is, in turn, a tributary of the Ohio River.
John Linkes, director of the Kiskiminetas Watershed and Roaring Run Watershed, said he began volunteering in 1999, after realizing how illegal dumping contaminated local waterways and well water. In his time volunteering, he’s seen tires and refrigerators dumped near local waterways.
But, he said, he has a sense of well-being after having contributed to cleaning up the environment.
“For that one shiny, bright moment, those four hours, we leave that area a little bit cleaner,” Linkes said. “And the sun seems to be shining a little bit more.”
Sweeping the banksVolunteers for the Ohio River Sweep on Saturday should wear old, comfortable clothes and shoes or boots that can get dirty, according to River Sweep’s website. Close-toed shoes are recommended. Trash bags and gloves will be provided.
No pre-registration is required, but volunteers must sign a waiver of liability to participate, and anyone younger than 18 must have parental permission to take part.
Refreshments and a T-shirt will be provided.
Valley River SweepsHere’s a list of River Sweeps in the Alle-Kiski Valley on Saturday. Refreshments and a T-shirt will be provided.
• Natrona section of Harrison: Meet at the pavilion on Veterans Way
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Bethel Township: Crooked Creek site at Rosston Boat Launch, off of
Ross Avenue
8 a.m. to noon
• Parks Township: Garvers Ferry Road
8 a.m. to noon
• Braeburn section of Lower Burrell: Chartiers Run, Braeburn Road