September 14

SUPPER: Fri., Sept. 14, 4:00 – 7:00 p.m., Spaghetti Supper, Lawsville Grange #1455, Dine in or Take Out.

September 15

FESTIVAL: Sat., Sept. 15, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Friends Of Susquehanna County 6th Annual Harvest Festival, Colonial Inn & Suites, Hallstead, PA. For more info, call Alice 570-756-2044.

PENNY SOCIAL: Sat., Sept. 15, 5:00 p.m., Catherine’s Crusaders Relay For Life Team is hosting Semi-Annual Penny Social at Rush Ladies Auxiliary Hall, Lawton, PA. For more info call Jen Strickland at 570-396-0438.

September 16

BREAKFAST: Sun., Sept. 16. 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m., Pancake & Sausage Breakfast, Thompson Hose Company, Thompson, PA. All are welcome!

September 22

LUNCHEON: Sat., Sept. 22, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Nutrionist’s Luncheon, Salt Springs Park, Charis Frisbee will present basic nutrition principles. Pre-registration required, call 570-967-7275.

September 29

WEEDS TO SEEDS: Sat., Sept. 29, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., From Weeds to Seeds Program, Salt Springs Park.

HIKE: Sat., Sept. 29, Full Moon Hike, Come out and experience Salt Springs Park in a new light! Time to be announced or call 570-967-7275.

Mon. Sept. 17: honey glazed turkey, mashed potatoes, glazed baby carrots, grain dinner roll, nectarine.

Tues. Sept. 18: sloppy joe, ww sandwich roll, pickled cabbage, dill pickle, macaroni salad, cherry cobbler.

Wed. Sept. 19: bbq riblet, summer succotash, baked potato wedges, cornbread, toasted coconut pudding parfait.

Thur. Sept. 20: chicken florentine, peas & cauliflower, roasted red potatoes, ww dinner roll, lemon sorbet.

Fri., Sept 21: oven roasted white fish w/cherry tomatoes & basil, green & wax beans, white rice, mixed fruit, oatmeal cookie.

The Friends of Susquehanna County, PA, will hold their 6th Annual Harvest Festival on Saturday, September 15, at the Colonial Brick Inn & Suites, Hallstead, PA. Look for the big tents that will house fabulous treasures, Rummage Sale, Baked Goods, Food, Mums, and Apples & Cider, along with a Farmers Market, Vendors, and Gift Baskets Raffle. The festival starts at 8 am and ends at 2 pm. You’re sure to find something you need!

Friends of Susquehanna County, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is helping residents and organizations of Susquehanna County through fundraising for charitable and educational purposes. The Friends have been serving Susquehanna County for 15 years.

For more information contact Alice at 570-756-2044.

After years of planning, fundraising, and tapping volunteers, the Blue Ridge Parks Association is ready to celebrate improvements to one of the largest parks in Susquehanna County. Families across the area enjoy the park along Church Street in New Milford. It is home to the Blue Ridge High School Baseball Team, Blue Ridge Little League, and Blue Ridge Triplets Football. It also has the county’s only outdoor public pool. On September 22, 2012 at 11:00 a.m., supporters of the park are encouraged to attend a special ribbon cutting ceremony marking all of the changes.

Thanks to more than $250,000 in grants, private donations and in-kind services, park goers now enjoy a paved walking trail that is lighted, a ‘Born Learning’ fitness trail for families with young children, and a newly constructed concession stand and restrooms.

“I have been amazed with the people, organizations, and businesses that have volunteered their time, materials, and expertise,” explained Vicki Drake, Vice President of the Blue Ridge Parks Association. “This has been a long process. It brings a smile to my face to see it all come together.”

Back in 2004, individual donors "purchased" lamp posts honoring loved ones or in their memory, or advertising a business. A crushed modified base was in place and work on the paving and lighting of the trail was supposed to begin, but hurricane Ivan ruined the path.

Just when repairs were finished and additional work was set to start in 2006, flooding rains hit again. This time a huge section of the walking trail and the football team's concession stand and storage which contained all of their equipment and uniforms was washed down the creek by the flash flood waters.

Thanks to $121,000 in FEMA/PEMA matching funds, the park was restored to its pre-flood conditions. Additional grants, including $80,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources allowed the Parks Association to install the twenty-five long awaited lamp posts and pave the walking trail. Susquehanna County CARES joined the effort, installing the first "Born Learning Trail" in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Families with young children will find various signs and painted symbols encouraging creative learning and healthy living.

Fans of the Blue Ridge Triplets Football, Blue Ridge High School Baseball, and Blue Ridge Little League will also enjoy the new 24' x 48' concession stand, restrooms, and storage areas for the football and baseball teams.

The work isn't over. During the ceremony on September 22, a special patio featuring unique paving stones will be unveiled. The majority of these stones have already been purchased, but there are still some available. A limited number of memorial park benches are now also for sale and will be placed strategically around the walking trail.

For more information about the park improvement and planned ribbon cutting, contact Vicki Drake at (570) 465-3955 or jvdplus4@nep.net

Trees have been called the “lungs of the planet.” They take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, keeping the air clean. They provide habitat for birds, insects, and small animals. They prevent soil erosion and flooding, and they have been inspiring poets and painters for millennia. Four thousand years the ancient Sumerians carved in stone the story of a magical tree that provided a throne and a bed for the goddess Inanna. Many diverse types of trees can be found in Florence Shelly Wetlands Preserve, a 400-acre a nature preserve in eastern Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. On Sunday, September 16, at 2 PM, retired forester Hank Hartman will lead a walk to identify some of these trees and discuss their special qualities.

Mr. Hartman will identify the dominant trees in the preserve, including maple, ash, a few species of oak, shadbush (named because they flower around the time the shad are running in the rivers), black cherry, and many others. There is even a rare American elm. Trees planted by humans in the past are also in evidence. For example, a neat, straight line of sugar maples along the main trail was maintained by farmers almost a hundred years ago alongside a dirt road, so as to be convenient for sugar tapping. Dense, dark areas of scotch pine and Austrian, or red, pine remain from plantations started by the Conservation Corps during the Depression and never thinned. Mr. Hartman will also discuss current ecological threats to trees, such as the viburnum leaf beetle, which has damaged nearly all the viburnum bushes in the preserve, as you will see from the gray, brittle skeletons lining the trail, and the emerald ash borer.

Hank Hartman, the walk leader, spent his career with the U.S. Forestry Department. He is currently an active member of the Pennsylvania State Tree Farm Committee and the Florence Shelly Wetlands Stewardship Committee, where he also serves as treasurer and is an active volunteer maintaining the trails in the preserve.

Florence Shelly Wetlands Preserve is located one mile north of Thompson, PA on Route 171. Parking is available in the lot just opposite Stack Road. The walk will last about two hours and is free to the public. Since this is a wetlands area, it is a good idea to wear waterproof shoes, especially if we’ve had recent rains. For further information call Andrew Gardner at 570-727-3362.