Take Five: We Love Our State Parks!


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FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS

Our Mission: To inspire stewardship of Pennsylvania's state parks and forests

Big Spring State Park
Photo by Pam Metzger

Friday of #ILoveMyStateParksWeek and it's a great time to plan an outdoor adventure for the weekend. Looks like a cool-ish couple of days here in Somerset County but mostly dry so am hoping for a bike ride or two.

I claimed the masthead for myself this week - a shot along the Tunnel Trail at Big Spring State Park in Perry County. I was driving along on my way home on Wednesday morning and the realization that I might not get out that way again for a while hit me about the same time as the recognition that I was sitting kind of askew in my seat and my hip hurt. A quick round trip on the Tunnel Trail (just a little over a mile from the picnic area parking lot) worked those kinks out and got me another check in my Passport.

Speaking of the Passport, the new ones are in with the three new parks in their proper places. Get yours!

Pam Metzger,

Membership Coordinator

pmetzger@paparksandforests.org

814.233.5703

NEWS OF NOTE

We may be a little biased but we think the return of the annual banquet on Tuesday night was a smashing success. Little Buffalo's Reception Hall is a terrific venue, spacious and bright, with some beautiful woodwork created by the park's maintenance staff. Yummy food from Little's Catering in New Bloomfield kept everyone's tummies very happy and there were smiles abounding throughout the evening. Here Marci joins Chair Brad Mallory (far right) in his presentation of the Chair's Award to New Trail Brewing Company's Dave Hertwig and Don Rieck. Check out the online program with the full write-ups about the winners and recognition of the sponsors whose support made the event possible. It will be available for the next month. Photos from the event can be found at the Banquet 2023 gallery on our website.

Thanks to our friends at Penn-Live for featuring both the banquet and the award of our highest honor, the Cliff Jones Keystone Legacy Award, to the late Marcus Schneck.

Newly-arrived and installed at Worlds End State Park, an ADA swing. Thank you, donors, for making this wonderful addition to the playground.

Note that a fully accessible playground with an easily rollable rubberized surface is one of the projects being completed at Little Buffalo State Park as a result of donations received at the banquet. Find out more at ppff.gives/little-buffalo-projects.

What PA state park beach was recently named among the Top 100 "secret beaches" in the United States? Raccoon Lake at Raccoon Creek State Park.

Read about the others at the Family Destinations Guide.

Uh oh! Given the millions of readers of Take Five, I think the secret's now out!

HELP WANTED!

A summer position with the PA Forestry Association's Forest Heritage & Discovery Center near Caledonia State Park is open. Find out more about it - including how to apply - at the news blog of our website.

It's the third Friday of the month and PPFF's turn on the airwaves of WXAC. Tune in at 11:00 to hear Beth Grove from DCNR chat about I Love My State Parks Week, PA State Parks and State Forests Week, and anything else that might come up.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Ohiopyle State Park

Megan Ann shared a group of "Rainy Saturday at Ohiopyle" pix on the Exploring PA Parks and Forests Book of Faces. This is a crop of a rip-roarin' Meadow Run. A waterslide excursion would be a quick trip right now.

Reeds Gap State Park

Another crop is this one from a group by Rebecca Jones Lemmon. "Lunch at the pavilion to the sound of Honey Creek." Not a bad deal there!

Kettle Creek State Park

Make a wish! This "every day dandelion" suggests a challenge. Would you have the steady hand to pluck that little stray leaf off the dandy's seed head without disturbing its symmetry? One of a series of wildflowers from Natalie Orcutt's visit.

Presque Isle State Park

By rights this shot by Holly Jacobs from her quest to See 'Em All should by rights be a masthead. Do click to the full pic and the full effect. As she said, "no way to tell where the water ended and the sky started." Would I be cruel enough to make it a jigsaw puzzle? I would!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS-MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

Let's definitely take a look at the unofficial start to the season with next Saturday's events. I'll revert back to a "two weeks out" listing with next Friday's issue.

North

Solar Viewing
Black Moshannon State Park
Saturday, May 27; 4:00 PM

South

Amphibian Night Hike
Pine Grove Furnace State Park
Saturday, May 27; 8:00 PM

East

Red, White & Bluebird Nest Check
Nockamixon State Park
Saturday, May 27; 9:00 AM

West

History Hike/Wyggeston Trail
Moraine State Park
Saturday, May 27; 10:00 AM

Naturally, these picks of "one event per region" is only the smallest smattering of what will actually be on offer. And that's just one day of this very busy weekend! Put a bookmark on the PPFF Events calendar and DCNR Calendar of Events so you never miss an announcement.

And next week? Pennsylvania State Parks AND State Forests Week, celebrated every year from the anniversary of the founding of the first state park AND the establishment of the PA Forestry Commission that resulted in our state forest system.

124 parks. 2.2 million acres of state forest. We're thinking that's worth an annual commemoration, right?!

NATURE OF NOLDE 2023

A May 12 awards presentation for the 2023 “Nature of Nolde Forest” Student Art Contest drew an enthusiastic crowd of young artists, families, and friends to McConnell Hall at Berks County’s Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center. The panel of three professional artists from Art Plus Gallery, West Reading, selected 20 award winners from 56 entries accepted from 13 schools that registered for the contest, plus 11 independent entries.

This was the eighth year for the event, which is sponsored by Art Plus Gallery and the Friends of Nolde Forest. A slideshow of the exhibit can be seen at the Art Plus Gallery's website.

Cyberschool 9th grader Joshua Griffith’s oil painting, “The Tranquil Grove,” (shown here) won first place in the Grade 9 & 10 category.

TAKE FIVE FOR TRIVIA

If I recall correctly, last week we played visual trivia, comparing two stages of the life cycle of the eastern newt. I asked which is older, Exhibit A or Exhibit B. Exhibit B is correct - this little dude as photographed by Brian Gratwicke and shared to Wikipedia is the aquatic adult male of the red-spotted newt, a subspecies.

Having been struck by the dandelion photo shared by Natalie Orcutt, I did a little reading on our everyday friend. You probably know that dandelion greens are good eatin'. Would that hold true of the greens when the plant is in the stage as captured by Natalie?

Enter each week to increase your chances of a fabulous prize at the end of the month when I'll draw one entry from all correct answers received during the month.

WHERE ARE WE THIS WEEK?

Green boxes are pictures and news; blue boxes are events.

IN CLOSING

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Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation (PPFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization - contributions to which are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. The official registration and financial information of PPFF may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling, toll-free within Pennsylvania, to 800.732.0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

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