The Montrose Bible Conference was the setting for the recent Tri-Chapter meeting of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International which included Phi, Alpha Zeta, and Beta Rho Chapters. The gathering began with a coffee hour which consisted of quiche, fresh fruit, and beverages. This was an opportunity for the members of the three chapters to socialize, since they only meet as a group every other year.

Pictured (l-r) are Delta Kappa Gamma International Society members from three local chapters: Greta Taft, Pi Chapter President; Kay Stuart, Alpha Alpha State President; Jeanette Saulo and Sheri Wolfe, Beta Rho Co-presidents; June Wynne, Alpha Zeta Chapter President and Ellen Strauskulage, Phi Chapter President.

Beta Rho’s co-presidents, Jeanette Saulo and Sheri Wolfe were hosts for the meeting. Jeanette welcomed everyone and Sheri introduced the head table which included Alpha Zeta’s president, June Wynne and Phi’s president, Ellen Strauskulage. Jeanette then gave an informative overview of the northeast region, where members from the three chapters live and teach. Included are Bradford, Sullivan, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming Counties. She talked about the many outdoor adventures; fun-filled attractions; memorable annual events; world class skiing; excellent recreational opportunities; quiet vistas used for entertainment, music, art; and places for health related relaxation as you travel our quaint, country roads in our beautiful rolling hillside. There are historic homes, churches, barns, covered bridges, beautiful rivers, orchards, wineries, artists’ havens, cultural venues, as well as many historical attractions all dispersed among the beautiful mountains.

During her introduction of the Alpha Alpha State President, who was the guest speaker, Jeanette explained that it is a tradition for the state president to make an attempt to visit all fifty-eight chapters, which can be a daunting task. In order to make it more convenient and expeditious for her to do that, many chapters join together to have their meetings. The three chapters represented at the meeting are grouped together because of geographic location and a shared kinship. President Kay is a member of the Pi Chapter from Knoxville, Pennsylvania which is in the northwest part of the state. She began her teaching career as a math teacher and retired as a principal in a small, rural community in 2008. She is a recipient of a state scholarship, an enrichment grant, and was a participant at the two-week International 2012 Leadership Management Seminar in Texas.

Kay exhibited her warm, friendly and knowledgeable demeanor as she complimented the three chapters for their members’ involvement in their chapters, the state and the international level. She focused on a cross-section of the many opportunities which DKG offers, a few of which include scholarships, enrichment grants, and professional development. Her theme for the biennium is “Engage, Equip, and Empower” and her words certainly sparked ways to encourage members to take advantage of the many opportunities.

She concluded by encouraging the ladies to participate at levels beyond their chapter by attending the Alpha Alpha State Convention at the Nittany Lion Inn in State College, June 11-13, and the Regional Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, July 8-11. Alpha Zeta’s President then presented Kay with a lovely blown glass red rose in a vase as an appreciation gift from the three chapters. Ellen Strauskulage offered entertainment with a BINGO game which included terms, people, and descriptive words about DKG. A lovely buffet luncheon followed, prepared and served by the staff at the Montrose Bible Conference.

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International is a professional honor society for women educators with more than 82, 000 members in seventeen different countries around the world. The Society defines its mission as promoting professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education.

Four members from the Nellie Jane DeWitt BPW attended the 2015 District 8 meeting held at the Regal Room in Olyphant Pa on April 12, 2015. Presiding over the meeting was director Lori Hubal of Thompson.  PA/BPW president Diane Lewis was in attendance and had a few words for the members.

Pictured (l-r) are: Juliann Doyle- Parliamentarian, Deborah Policicho- Treasurer, Alana Peckham-Secretary, Gay Keyes- Corresponding Secretary, Susan Gesford- Assistant Director, Lori Hubal –Director , Susan Vladika PA/BPW Vice President, installing this years officers.

Serving on the District 8 BPW Board of Directors this year from the Nellie Jane DeWitt BPW are Lori Hubal, Thompson PA, Director, Gay Keyes, Susquehanna PA Corresponding Secretary.

BPW/PA is a statewide organization comprised of 14425 members in 57 local organizations and 12 districts.  Founded in 1919, BPW/PA is a leading advocate for working women in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  BPW/PA promotes full participation, equality and economic self-sufficiency for all working women.  The organization works on all issues that touch women’s lives and sponsors programs and scholarships to improve women’s lives and careers.  To find out how you can become a member of BPW Nellie Jane DeWitt contact Linda Bedford -570-853-3584 or check our face book page Nellie Jane Dewitt or visit www.bpwpa.org.

What could pumpkins, a dinosaur nest, and a blue stone labyrinth possibly have in common? And what part does a grape vine tunnel, four colorful doors, and a Native America long house play? Add some youth to this fun scenario, and the answer is really far less puzzling than it might seem.

Tyler and Isabel Keating and Josh Myers looking over plans for the Clifford Children’s Garden

“We’re building something very unique to the area,” said Shirley Granger, a retired teacher and co-coordinator of the new Children’s Garden being built by the Clifford Township Historical Society (CTHS). “The idea was first conceived by Sandy Wilmot, our group’s President,” said Granger. “Sandy had visited a children’s garden with her twin grandchildren in Ithaca, NY and came away absolutely enthralled with the concept. It didn’t take her long to plant the seeds of her idea among the members of the township’s Park and Recreation Committee and get things rolling.” Blending Mother Nature, the area’s own rich history, and its inherent ecology, Clifford’s one-acre Children’s Garden -- which will be built adjacent to the current playground and alongside Cemetery Road -- promises to be more than just a local playground. “Children’s gardens are a growing trend for active community playgrounds,” Granger added. “And ours will be a very special place where children can do more than play on swings and a slide … they’ll learn too, as the garden will offer excitement and fun in a safe, fenced-in-atmosphere that both youth and adults will find educationally enjoyable and literally enchanting.”

While Wilmot conceived and promoted her initial concept and she and Granger have countless ideas as to what to include in the garden, nearly a dozen local youth have already shared their own thoughts about the project and look forward to its construction throughout the summer. “The small-scale layout I’d presented to the Recreation Committee has served as a basis,” she said. “But during get-togethers in my kitchen, the kids themselves came up with some great ideas for planning and building the garden. The intention is that the kids take ownership of the garden … it will be theirs to help plan, paint, pull weeds, build, and enjoy for themselves and future generations.”

Elkdale’s ten-year old Tyler Keating and his sister, Isabel, 13, got involved “because this is going to be our garden, and we want to help plan what’s going to be in it,” Tyler said. “I love building things, so working on this garden is going to be fun. My favorite part is the life-sized dominoes in the play area because we can then crash them down like I do with my erector set! I’m really excited about the music meadow, too, and the instruments made of recycled materials. We can bang on them and make lots of noise.”

“We can use our imaginations with some silly stuff too, since a lot of the garden will be made with natural materials and things we can create ourselves,” Isabel said. “My friends and I like history, most of us have grown up in this area, and there’s a lot to learn about things around us. The garden will also be a safe place for kids to play and learn, and there will be storyboards throughout the garden. Our parents and grandparents can come too. It will be good for the whole community.”

Keating’s neighbor and Wilmot’s part-time farmhand, 14-yr. old Josh Myers, said he is especially looking forward to building the long house. “Frank Little Bear will come back to continue teaching us about the Native Americans. We’ll learn how to scrape the tree bark to build the house and the surrounding camp. It won’t be just a teepee like on TV, but a real house that kids can go inside to play and learn while having fun. Frank Little Bear will be teaching us and telling stories about the times long ago.”

Among some of the many other special items planned for Clifford’s Children’s Garden will be a mini-mine shaft. “This will really be cool,” Josh added. “It will be a replica of the old Clifford Shaft, which was the area’s northernmost end of the anthracite coal vein. We plan to use actual coal like they used to dig.” The youth themselves also conceived the idea of the design’s four colorful doors, replicating entryways to the past that connect yesterday to today and lead to tomorrow. A sister garden will also be included amid the Native American Village. Helping to further make nature and history fun for everyone, corn will be planted upon which pole beans will grow, while pumpkins will sprout and grow beneath the stems and stalks, each plant helping its sister to grow stronger and healthier.

The model of the Children’s Garden is on display at the Endless Mountains Pharmacy in Clifford. As Wilmot explained, the eventual Children’s Garden will be cost free for everyone to enjoy but funding for the project is being provided through grants and local fundraising activities. “The Historical Society is applying for a $4,000 mini-grant from the Endless Mountains Heritage Region to help construct the garden, and it will require a 100 percent match,” she said. “So, local fundraising is very important. To help toward this effort, the kids have distributed pink piggy banks throughout 11 local Clifford stores to collect donations.” Tax-deductible donations may also be sent to the Clifford Historical Society, PO Box 161, Clifford PA 18413.

For additional information about the CTHS or to share and participate in their various activities, contact them at 570-679-2723, or at www:cliffordtownshiphistoricalsociety.org. Known locally as “the little society that does big things,” CTHS Director Sandy Wilmot believes that the Children’s Garden will be another project that will make the Society, the youngsters involved, and the entire community proud.

Editors Note: The above was written by Union Dale freelance feature writer Karen Bernhardt Toolan for the Clifford Township Historical Society, with thanks to the Susquehanna County Room Tax Grant Fund through the Endless Mountains Visitors Bureau.

The Penn State Master Gardeners of Susquehanna County are building their second pollinator monitoring garden at the Extension Office on Chenango Street in Montrose.

Master Gardeners have been participating in a statewide pollinator monitoring program through Penn State University to help to continue the expansion of knowledge of how best to preserve, restore, and protect these valuable ecological resources.

Rosi Barnhart and Roy Goebel collecting data at the first Pollinator Monitoring Garden

Leading this effort since 2012, when the first garden was built is Master Gardener Rosi Barnhart. Rosi and fellow Master Gardeners Gayle O’Brien, Maureen Hoover and Roy Goebel have been collecting data during the summers of 2013, 2014 and are continuing this summer as well. The first garden is located at the entrance to the parking lot for the Penn State Extension and Susquehanna County Soil Conservation District offices. The types of bees included in the monitoring are honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, and green metallic bees and other pollinators are noted as well. The plants in the garden are varieties of Agastache Helenium, and Physostegia (straight species and cultivars).

Upon building the newest pollinator garden, Master Gardeners will continue to collect data from 2016 through 2018. The new garden, which will be located in front of the office, will have plant varieties of Coreopsis and Monarda (straight species and cultivars)

Pollinators are a key component to ensure that there is an adequate supply of fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Bees are generally considered to be the most important group of pollinators in North America. Special thanks to the Susquehanna County Commissioners for their permission to build the gardens on the property. The public is always welcome to view the pollinator monitoring garden(s).