Preserving the natural beauty and wildness of the Wissahickon Valley for 91 years. Spring 2015 VOLUME 24 • nUMBEr 1 Once abundant, blue birds now face habitat loss due to human development and competition from non-native species such as the European starling and the house sparrow. By properly installing a blue bird box and providing some minor maintenance, you can help make up for the loss of the bluebird’s habitat. FOW’s Structures Crew, and other volunteers led by Steve O’Kula of PPR, will be constructing blue bird boxes that will be available for purchase beginning in March at the Wissahickon Environmental Center. Proceeds will benefit FOW’s Wildlife Committee. Photo by Ruth Pfeffer a MESSAGE from the prESiDEnt s we step ever so boldly into our second ninety years 8708 Germantown Avenue of existence, I am regularly drawn to the enduring Philadelphia, PA 19118-2717 qualities of our organization’s mission statement, and Phone: (215) 247-0417 A E-mail: [email protected] how applicable it continues to be as we go about managing our various ongoing projects within the park. FOW’s mission Website: www.fow.org is “to preserve the natural beauty and wildness of the The mission of the Friends of the Wissahickon Wissahickon Valley and stimulate public interest therein.” Two is to preserve the natural beauty and upcoming events—in May and June—highlight how diversely wildness of the Wissahickon Valley and we can pursue this mission of both preserving wildness and stimulate public interest therein. stimulating public interest. The first, on May 13, is our second State of the Watershed OfficErS Conference in association with the Wissahickon Valley Will Whetzel, President Liz Werthan, Vice President, Advocacy Watershed Association (See p. 4.) This event will not only Heidi Grunwald, Vice President, Finance continue to educate the public on the state of the Wissahickon Watershed, one of the most Robert Harries, Vice President, Governance compromised sub-watersheds in the Delaware Valley, through a panel presentation, but will Jeff Harbison, Treasurer also lead a discussion on what we as citizens and stakeholders in the Wissahickon Valley Liz Werthan, Secretary paSt prESiDEntS Cindy Affleck Charles Dilks Robert A. Lukens David Pope Two upcoming events—in May and June—highlight how John Rollins Edward C. Stainton diversely we can pursue this mission of both preserving Robert Vance BOarD MEMBErS wildness and stimulating public interest. Christine Bamberger Courtney Kapp Melen Boothby John Kelly Richard P. Brown, Jr. Martha Kennedy Stephanie Craighead Richard Kremnick Emily Daeschler Charles Lee, Jr. can do and advocate for in protecting our watershed and others throughout Pennsylvania. David Dannenberg Jerome Maddox Much of the compromise in water quality originates beyond the park’s perimeter, so FOW Sam Finney Chris McCausland and its partners must reach out to townships, land owners, and businesses throughout the Shirley Gracie John Meigs region in order to inform them of the issues involved and create an effective plan of action. Heidi Grunwald David Pope Jeff Harbison Chris Rabb The second event, to take place in May and June, is the installation of a comprehensive Robert Harries Jean Sachs new signage system for the forty-four miles of upper trails in Wissahickon Valley Park (See David Hilton Liz Werthan pages 8-9.) Now that a substantive amount of work has been done on improving the Bettina Hoerlin Patricia R. West quality of these trails through our Sustainable Trail Initiative, the ability to manage the use Louise Johnston Will Whetzel of these trails more effectively through a new signage program will be an invaluable way to improve park usage. There will be twenty-five new trailhead kiosks, 160 new trail markers, STAFF and numerous new trail blazes along trail corridors. Coincident with this new system will Maura McCarthy, Executive Director be a redesigned Wissahickon map, with added features based on user feedback. Not only Ruffian Tittmann, Development Director will these new signs make the park more accessible to users and Philadelphia’s emergency Audrey Simpson, Business Manager services system, they will also have the added benefit of educating users about responsible Denise Larrabee, Publications Editor park use, increasing user safety, and helping to create a more cohesive park identity that Sarah Marley, Outreach Manager Henry Stroud, Project Manager reflects the ongoing work being done by FOW Erin Mooney, Publicist and its partners. John Holback, Volunteer Coordinator Keep on eye out for updates on the fOW’s annual Meeting new park signs and the upcoming water NewslettEr conference—just two of many examples of how t uesday, June 2 Denise Larrabee, Editor you can help us with your involvement in our 6 pm Dena Sher, Associate Editor ongoing mission in the Wissahickon Valley. Sarah West, Listings Editor Valley green inn Moon Design, Layout FOW members are invited to gather Published by Princeton Packet, Princeton, NJ to review the past year, elect members Printed on recycled paper. to the Board of Directors, and learn about upcoming projects. FOW members Will Whetzel who attend the annual meeting will receive a printed copy of the Annual President United Way Donations Report for 2014, in addition to the copy The Friends of the Wissahickon can receive that will be available in FOW’s Summer membership/donations through the United Way. 2015 Newsletter. Space is limited. Our United Way number is 9882. If this is the most Register to attend at www.fow.org convenient way for you to give, please do so. Visit our website (www.fow.org) to learn about the benefits of membership in the Friends of the Wissahickon. 2 Spring 2015 • Friends of the Wissahickon nEWSBriEfS Map of Wissahickon Valley park nEW EDitiOn! n ew trail distance info. new contour elevations. reflects Sti trail changes. Still made with Durable Synthetic Paper and 100% recycled materials! Only $10 Available for purchase at FOW’s office and www.fow.org Free to all new FOW members and current members when they first renew Photo by Barbara Sherf at the $45 level or above. Also available at: 94th annual Wissahickon Day parade Weavers Way Co-op The annual Wissahickon Day Parade will be held on Sunday, April 26, 2015. The Parade is the Valley Green Inn oldest annual equine parade in the U.S. and is sponsored by the Wissahickon Valley Riding and Driving Association. The Parade starts at noon, departing from Harper’s Meadow. Line-up will start with carriages in front of the Northwestern Equestrian Facility at approximately 11:30 a.m. Riders will fall in line behind the carriages. The Parade will travel along Forbidden Drive to the judging area at Valley Green Inn. A Horseshow will precede the parade at 10 a.m. Registration for both the Show and the Parade starts at 9 a.m. Spectators are welcome. Northwestern Ave. will be closed to traffic and parking to accommodate horse trailers and carriages. Parking will be available in the upper lots at Valley Green. For more information or to register, visit www.wissahickonday.org or contact Jo Catanzaro at [email protected]. Walnut Lane Bridge to fOW Hosted close this Spring public Meeting on Sti The Walnut Lane Bridge will be closed for The Friends of the Wissahickon hosted a public repairs starting this spring. State Representative meeting on December 2, 2014, at Cathedral Village Pam DeLissio has been quoted as saying that to discuss progress to date on recently completed the closure is likely to take place in mid-to-late and upcoming projects, analyze the progress FOW May and will last between eighteen to twenty has made on the Sustainable Trails Initiative (STI), months. According to The Fallser, the bridge will and share information about the new upper trails be brought up to current safety standards and wayfinding and signage system that is set to the work includes rehabilitation of the bridge and be installed park-wide this year. The wayfinding Become an fOW the reconstruction of the roundabout at Blue Bell and signage system is part of STI, a multi-year crew Leader Hill. Sidewalk leading up to the bridge, along its project that will make the 50 miles of recreation trails in the Wissahickon a physically and socially The Friends of The Wissahickon needs length, and along each leg of the roundabout sustainable system for all park users. This project is Crew Leaders–experienced volunteers who will also be replaced. PennDOT has announced being implemented in partnership with Philadelphia are committed to FOW’s mission of habitat that the recommended detour will be Midvale Parks & Recreation. protection in the park, skilled in leading Avenue connecting Wissahickon and Henry Avenues volunteer groups and building trails and/or through East Falls. Lincoln Drive will remain open rEaD MOrE: See page 8 for restoring habitat, and interested in sharing their throughout the project, and pedestrians will be more on the wayfinding and knowledge and expertise with others. Crew allowed to cross the bridge during construction. signage system. Leaders can participate in a variety of training sessions held throughout the year. The training session topics this year include: machinery Why i am a friend of the Wissahickon operation, trail building, trail maintenance, tree and shrub planting, plant identification, First Aid “I’m an FOW member because of its great Trail Ambassador and CPR, and volunteer leadership and safety. program. Becoming a TA helped me meet other nature lovers when I The subject of the first 2015 training session will moved to this part of the city, while also learning together about the be volunteer leadership and safety and will be history, wildlife, plants and geology of the park AND getting certified in held on March 7.