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Awarded for Excellence Jake Blaker, right, and Barry Bessler, chair of the PRPS Recognition and Awards Committee.

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reene County Recreation Director Jake Blaker recently received an excellence in recreation and parks award from the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society, Inc. Blaker accepted the award at a ceremony held in March during the 68th annual PRPS State Conference at the Lancaster Marriott and Convention Center in Lancaster, Pa. The Department of Recreation was honored for the 2014 series of Flashlight Drags drag-racing events held at the Greene County Airport in Waynesburg. The events provide a safe, legal alternative to street racing and help boost county tourism and the local economy.

“The drag races bring people from all over the region into the county,” Blaker said. “We have had people from as far as Washington, D.C. participate in the races. With support from the Greene County Commissioners, our vendors, and personnel from the county prison, EMS, Waynesburg VFD and the Sheriff ’s department, we are able to continue these highly entertaining events.”

Produced by Altered Gas Performance Events, LLC, Flashlight Drags consists of a 1/8-mile race along the airport runway. Drivers can race as many times as they want and against any of the other racers, all for fun. The format is heads-up, meaning that both vehicles leave the starting line at the same time. The name of the event refers back to the early days of drag racing, when a flashlight was used to signal the start.

Since 2006, the Department of Recreation has

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been recognized with nine excellence in recreation and parks awards. According to the PRPS, award recipients must demonstrate outstanding quality, innovation, range and value of appeal, community support, and efficient use of funding, human and material resources in the development, delivery and use of programs, special events, publications and promotions.

Nominations are rated based on how well they demonstrate the POWER principles, which include how the entry positions public parks and recreation as an essential community service, its outcome and wow factor, how it effects change and how it utilizes resources.

“We are extremely appreciative of the work that the Recreation Department does under the supervision of Jake Blaker,” said Commissioner Chuck Morris, chair of the Greene County Board of Commissioners. “Jake organizes unique events, and his dedication to the youth of the county has been and will continue to be exemplary.”

The PRPS is the principal state organization promoting quality recreation and park training, networking and leadership opportunities for those working and volunteering in the field. Headquartered in State College, Pa., the PRPS is a nonprofit membership association with more than 1,700 members statewide. For more information, visit www.prps.org. For more information on Flashlight Drags, including the 2015 dates, visit www.flashlightdrags.com or www.co.greene.pa.us.

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W PA Woodland Owners (SWPWO) began their sixteenth year with programs about managing forests sustainably. In late March, the group hosted Dr. Cynthia Morton, Associate Curator and Head of the Section of Botany at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, who spoke on the topic of the importance of maintaining genetic diversity within the forest.

One solution suggested by Dr. Morton is to protect and maintain the natural seedling population in privately-owned woods. For those who are replanting old pasture land, collecting seed from more than one individual tree of a species and growing them would help maintain this genetic diversity. Seeds found in nature are not clones because they are pollinated by insects, birds, or wind in a random fashion that ensures that all seeds are not from one individual female that is pollinated by one individual male.

One school district in Greene County is sustainably managing a woodlot and growing native seeds in their greenhouse, all part of an outdoor classroom-learning project. Carmichaels High School Science teacher Kevin Willis and his students have been managing a nature trail on the school grounds for a number of years. A hearty group of SW PA Woodland Owners (SWPWO) and Carmichaels High School Science Students met and braved the chilly temperatures and snow flurries on a Saturday in late March for a Field Day at the Carmichael’s School District nature trail and greenhouse. The plot of land that the nature trail wanders through is a low lying ecosystem adjoining the banks of Muddy Creek. Mr. Willis has been partnering with many parties to understand and to maintain the site: California University of PA has done a plant inventory of the site; Eagle Scouts have built bridges on the trail, and the PA Game Commission has supplied native plants. From the flora inventory, some unique species were found.

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By Gay Thistle, President, SW PA Woodland Owners A vernal pond is on the site, as is a young successional forest. tree seedlings. Again, Mr. Willis has solicited the assistance of many Signs of wildlife are abundant: beaver-chewed trees, woodpecker parties to build and then support the greenhouse operations. He has calls, flying wood ducks, empty nut hulls from squirrels and chip- purchased an automatic watering system, a heater and cooler, and a munks and, of course, deer browse on young tree seedlings. The En- soil sterilizer unit. All of these purchases were made with local grant vironmental Science students at Carmichaels have been removing monies. the invasive plants. A bonus from clearing up the forest floor of these Dr. Morton would be proud of the efforts to sustainably manage shade-hogging invasives is an abundance of wildflowers. The May- a forest in the manner of Carmichaels School District. Ten students apple buds were peeking out of the ground and Mr. Willis mentioned showed up on this cold Saturday to volunteer their time to tour the that they have a healthy population of Trout Lily. There is also more SWPWO owners through their projects, a sure sign of their enthusunlight on this forest floor because of the dying populations of elm siasm. SWPWO members enjoyed the tour and picked up a few tips and ash trees in the forest mix. Both trees are affected by invasive for growing their own tree seedlings. pests: the elm from the fungus Dutch Elm Disease; and the ash from an insect, the Emerald Ash Borer.

The students have been practicing sustainable forestry by replacing the open spaces created in the forest with native shrub and tree species. The idea is that these native species will out-compete the invasive species.

Carmichaels School district’s greenhouse is an outdoor laboratory where Kevin Willis’s students are able to experiment with growing the native trees and shrubs that they were planting on their trail. On Saturday, after the group of SPWO members and Carmichaels’ students planted some of these homegrown trees along the trail, they headed to the greenhouse to see the rest of the plants that the students have been growing and maintaining. The greenhouse is used by other classes for plant experiments; however, most of the space is taken up by chestnut, A Group of Carmichaels High School students and members of the SW PA Woodland Owners gather at the school’s greenhouse to monitor their efforts. Photo by Donna Riggle. hickory, a mixture of oaks and a few miscellaneous GreeneSaver •

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t is one of the most vital parts of the training given to oil and gas industry workers before being set loose in the field: the imp or tance of Personal Protective Equipment, usually called “PPE.” It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that there’s almost nothing about rig work that isn’t potentially flammable, if not downright explosive. Hazards abound, from dangerous releases of ignitable gas to sparks overshooting from welding work. Ignition of flammable materials may be caused by heat generated by friction, or even by a small, usually harmless arc of electricity from a power tool being plugged into an AC outlet. In any event, few items of PPE are more essential than Flame Resistant (“FR”) clothing.

Trying to find information about FR clothing is akin to looking for a needle in a needle stack— the overwhelming array of news, studies, facts and sales pitches is dizzying. Of course, training programs and employer’s rules fill in the blanks by providing specific information about exactly what types of clothing are required, but how it all works in the first place is a story unto itself.

The first attempts at creating flame resistant fabrics by impregnating fibers with additives such as clay or plaster of Paris took place in the 1600s, when it was suggested that fireproofing fabrics would reduce fire risks in theaters. At that time, all

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theatrical lighting was provided by open flames; a small spark hitting a curtain could prove disastrous.

Serious research began in the 1800s, when French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac discovered two types of salts that, when integrated with the fibers, created a degree of flame resistance in fabric; one by melting and forming a glassy, fire resistant “crust” on the fabric, the other by breaking down into a non-flammable vapor when heated, which served to diminish or extinguish the flame— both of which are techniques still in use today, though the chemicals used have changed to be longer lasting and provide better protection.

In contemporary times, there are two main categories of FR materials: “inherent” and “treated.”

“Inherent” FR clothing is made of material that gains a built-in fire resistance during the manufacturing process, while “treated” clothing is made of naturally flammable materials that have been chemically altered so as to be resistant. Most “inherent” FR clothing is made of substances—often petrochemical based—that start out being naturally flammable, and must be engineered to make them into fire resistant fibers that can be woven into cloth.

Improvements in engineering over time have shifted the definitions of how FR clothing performs.

In years past, conventional thinking had it that “inherent” meant that the protection would last for the life of the garment, while “treated” meant that the fire resistance would eventually wear (or wash) out.

Now, however, many “treated” clothing items are also guaranteed to maintain their fire resistance for the life of the garment.

Next month, Driving the Future will go into greater detail regarding how various FR garments “work,” along with decoding “HRC” and “FRC” numbers to help find the best clothing for the job.

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Waynesburg U. Sheds Light on Organized Crime

By Kimmi Baston

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aynesburg University’s Criminal Justice and Social Sciences Department recently welcomed two guests who brought legends of the Pittsburgh Mob to life.

Ed Reiser and Bruce Teitelbaum, longtime experts in the field of criminal justice, visited Waynesburg University to share insight into the world of organized crime, or mob activity, with criminal justice administration students. They began by debunking the myths that organized crime exists only in cities like Chicago and New York.

“Pittsburgh also had a very active organized crime family that dates back to the turn of the 19th century at least,” said Reiser, a retired special agent for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation Division.

As members of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), Reiser and Teitelbaum spent years unraveling cases involving the Pittsburgh Mob. According to Reiser, the investigations leading to the successful prosecution of members of the Genovese organized crime family in Pittsburgh spanned seven years, from 1984 through 1990, and resulted in the indictments of more than 60 individuals for 182 separate violations of federal laws.

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After decades of investigating organized crime, both men agree on the secret to ending mob violence. “When you are conducting an investigation of organized crime, you have to have an insider,” Reiser said. “If you try to use outsiders to testify, fear is always there to keep people from cooperating with the government.”

Reiser graduated from Robert Morris College in 1975 and immediately began working in the Examination Division of the IRS. He worked in the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS from 1977 until his retirement in 2010. He has received eight awards for superior performance at the IRS and has been awarded numerous other honors from the OCDETF and other organizations.

Teitelbaum, who graduated from Duquesne Law School in 1980, worked as a United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania until his retirement in 2012. In this position, he served as the lead attorney and section chief for the Organized Crime and Narcotics sections.

Teitelbaum was also the lead attorney for the OCDETF, and he now practices law at a private firm.

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Important News for Summer Workers!

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n accordance with a new state law, applicants for summer positions with the County of Greene who will be working directly with children must now obtain a set of state and federal clearances before employment can begin.

Act 153, which took effect Dec. 31, mandates that prospective employees 14 years or older who will be responsible for the welfare of a child or have regular, direct contact with children are required to submit to potential employers a child abuse history clearance, a Pennsylvania State Police criminal record check and an FBI criminal background check.

The new requirements also apply to previous summer employees. Once the required clearances have been obtained, current and future employees will need to update their clearances every three years. The clearances will stay on file in the Greene County Human Resources office.

“We are seeing a possible 6-8 week or longer turnaround time for applicants to receive their FBI and child abuse clearances,” said Rebecca Harris, human resources director. “It is very important that candidates for summer employment apply for their clearances as soon as possible.”

The new law is also impacting the county Human Services Department as it also affects employees of child-care services, foster parents and prospective adoptive parents, self-employed family day-care providers, any individual seeking to provide child-care services under contract with a childcare facility or program and any individual 18 years or older who resides in the home of a foster parent or a prospective adoptive parent for at least 30 days a year.

The costs of the clearances are $10 each for the child abuse history clearance and Pennsylvania State Police criminal record check, and $27.50 for the FBI criminal background check. Clearance request forms can be completed either online or by submitting paper applications. FBI background checks involve registering and visiting a fingerprint location to scan and electronically submit fingerprints.

The county Human Resources office has compiled a document outlining the steps needed to apply for each clearance. To view the document, or for more information about the new requirements, visit www.co.greene.pa.us, or call 724-852-5200.

HELP WANTED DIRECT RESULTS IS HIRING

EMBROIDERY SCREEN PRINTING SIGN SHOP

Experience a plus.

Submit resume to pam@directresults.us or call 724-627-2040 for more information.

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EQT SUPPORTS GREENE COUNTY EDUCATION EQT Corporation has provided two contri- and growth,” said Casey Durdines, EQT Commubutions to the Community Foundation of Greene nity Advisor.

County (CFGC) through the Pennsylvania Educa“We are so pleased to work with EQT to suptional Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program. port public school curriculum projects which benOne contribution of $50,000 provides support for efit our Greene County students, as well as assist the Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship program. The families secure quality pre-K services for their chilsecond contribution of $31,666 was made to the dren,” said Bettie Stammerjohn, executive director Educational Improvement Fund. of the Foundation. “This contribution will help supThe Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship Fund pro- port new and existing programs that help students vides scholarships for Greene County preschool succeed in school.” aged children to attend pre-kindergarten programs.

For more information on the EITC program, Currently, there are twelve Greene County pro- how to apply for an EITC Pre-K Scholarship, or grams approved to participate in the Pre-K scholar- how to become an approved Pre-K provider, call ship programs. the Community Foundation at 724-627-2010, or The Educational Improvement Fund provides email cfgcpa@gmail.com. grants for innovative educational programs in public schools such as technology for media classes, robotics programs, and outdoor classrooms, among many other possible projects.

“EQT has a longstanding commitment to making a positive impact on our communities by partnering with community outreach stallation Ceremony was conducted by club mem- initiatives that make a ber Helen Barbor. difference, particularly The club was organized in 1951 and will ob- for our children. EQT serve its 64th anniversary in October. The club is takes pride in supporta member of National Garden Clubs, Inc., Central ing educational proAtlantic Region, Garden Club Federation of Penn- grams that will provide Bettie Stammerjohn, left, Exec. Dir., CFGC, with Casey Durdines, sylvania, District X. impactful opportunities Community Advisor, EQT Corporation. for expanding learning

Garden Club Installs New Officers

The Town & Country Garden Club installed its newly-elected officers for a two-year term, 2015-2017. The new officers are from left, Kay Bair, President; Terri Laird, First Vice President; Linda Shefcheck, Second Vice President; Susan Swala, Recording Secretary; Kas Maddich, Corresponding Secretary; Dianne Nicholson, Treasurer. The In-

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Clipper

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“Keep On Clipping!”

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“Comfort, one blanket at a time.”

Samantha Zoeller sits with 36 blankets taken to Children’s Hospital Dialysis Unit in Pittsburgh PA in December 2014.

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hat is the unofficial motto of Grandma’s Lap, a charity whose mission it is to bring comfort and hope to those suffering from kidney disease primarily through the donation of homemade lap blankets. Founded in 2013, Grandma’s Lap has already given away over 400 blankets in Greene, Washington, and Allegheny Counties in Pa as well as mailing blankets to North Carolina and Georgia upon request. Founded in honor of Shelva Mansberry, the organization hopes to comfort others who are suffering in a manner similar to hers.

“My mom was an awesome woman who happened to have a kidney disease,” founding Board Member Laura Zoeller said. “She fought a lifelong battle with Polycystic Kidney Disease, a disease that eventually results in kidney failure and need of transplantation. After three years of dialysis, she was diagnosed with cancer as well. This is not uncommon for someone with end-stage kidney disease, but hers was pretty advanced. She passed away a short time later.”

“I was looking for a way to grieve that loss,” Laura continued, “and I had decided to crochet blankets for donation to dialysis centers when my daughter, Samantha, (then 15 years old) asked if she could coordinate a larger effort as her senior project for high school.”

After brainstorming the name, Laura and Samantha got busy making and gathering blankets from others. Soon, donations were coming in from everywhere.

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“Homemade blankets started arriving in the mail,” Laura recalled, “from as far away as Philadelphia, New York, even Iowa. Quilts, crocheted ones, even fleece! Yarn was being sent to us in totes and garbage bags. It was completely amazing. And perhaps more surprising was finding out just how many people know someone who is affected by kidney disease of some kind.”

The yarn is handed out to blanket makers who then return completed blankets to the organization. Finished blankets--whether crochet, knit, quilted, or no-sew fleece--are washed, dried, folded, and packaged in individual bags prior to distribution.

“We include a brochure telling the recipient about what we do and why, as well as a cutout heart that tells the recipient the name of the person who made the blanket for them,” Samantha said.

“We really just want them to know that someone is thinking about them and remembering that not everything they go through is comfortable.

We want to give them a little of the comfort that I found in snuggling on my grandma’s lap.”

The 501(c)3 organization hopes to expand its outreach but needs additional community support. Blanket makers, supplies of yarn, material and fleece, monetary donations, names of people who might like a blanket, and opportunities to speak before civic or church groups are all needed.

FMI, contact Laura at 724-228-5053 or zoeller5@ verizon.net.

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VOTE AND THEN GIVE! T

he Corner Cupboard Foodbank is delighted that a group of “inspired” leaders from Greene County are spearheading a county-wide food drive on the court house steps on Election Day, from 8 am to 6pm. “My hope is that people will fulfill two privileges on May 19th: the privilege of voting and giving,” said Maribeth Coote, Corner Cupboard Foodbank Executive Director.

Inspire Greene County is a leadership development class based on Luke 12:18: “From everyone who Pantry workers in Jefferson Township prepare to distribute food has been given much, much will provided by Corner Cupboard Food Bank. be demanded…” It is a faith based collaborative initiative throughout only $125 to feed one individual for a year. The anGreene County. The purpose is to build leaders and nual distribution of nearly $800,000 worth of food is develop lasting collaborative efforts which will im- done by 2 employees, 9 board members, 16 pantry pact the community. Those interested in the class coordinators and 150 volunteers. should contact Rev. Ed Pierce or Dr. Nancy Davis at The Food Drive will be held on primary election First Baptist Church of Waynesburg by calling 724- day, May 19th from 8am to 6pm. Funds and non627-6444. perishable food will be received. The most commonMaribeth said, “It is truly inspiring to see peo- ly used goods used in distribution are: corn, green ple ‘walk to the talk’. This group of people is all very beans, peanut butter, spaghetti noodles, spaghetti busy, they have full time jobs, families and many sauce, cereal, canned fruit and macaroni & cheese. commitments. Not only have they taken the time to “For anyone who can’t come to the food drive it’s imtake this class, but they have chosen to invest in their portant for them to know that monetary contribuneighbors in need. We are truly humbled by this gift.” tions can be mailed to us at 881, Rolling Meadows The Corner Cupboard Foodbank has 11 pan- Road, Waynesburg PA 15370,” Maribeth said, contries all over Greene County, serving 2000 individu- cluding, “For every dollar given to us we can buy $5 als per month, Maribeth notes, adding that it costs worth of groceries.”

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Rolling Meadows Church of God

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astor Richard Berkey of the Rolling Meadows Church of God in Waynesburg is living proof that big changes can happen in just a small amount of time. April marks the beginning of the fourth month that Pastor Berkey has been watching over the flock, and the congregation’s growth has been both consistent and impressive.

“In December, right before I got here, the church averaged 47 people per service,” he says. “In January, we went to 53. February, we were up to 63; in March, we were up to 68, and for Easter Sunday, we had 109 people at the service.”

Pastor Berkey is quick to credit the church members for the swelling of the ranks; “It’s people bringing people,” he notes. The dynamism he and wife, Linda, are pouring into every facet of the church is certainly another major factor. One example is the variety of programs emerging for children and young adults within the church. “’Kids in God’s Army’ is for younger children up to teenagers,” Pastor Berkey says, “there are privates, sergeants, corporals; teachers are commanders. Then we have our youth group that’s just getting started, for ages 13 to 19. In June, we’ll be launching a whole new children’s program—they’ll have their very own worship service in the Fellowship Hall.”

Adult study and Sunday school programs are in place to appeal to all other age ranges, and that’s just the beginning of the transformational nature that Pastor Berkey brings with him from his more than 30 years of ministerial experience, which has taken him across the country and around the world.

“I was in Johnstown,” he says, speaking of the

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time right before the opportunity at Rolling Meadows came about. “We’d lived there for three years. Prior to that, I’d pastored in Fairmount City; I was there for nine years. I pastored in North Carolina for a couple of years, in DuBois for about six years. My wife and I traveled as evangelists for ten years, covered 27 states and went out of the country four different times, so we’ve seen quite a bit,” he notes in a wave of understatement.

So how is such a well-traveled soul settling into life in Greene County? “It’s different, but I like it because this is what I grew up with,” he affirms. When I was a kid, we grew up in a little farming community out in the suburbs of Johnstown. The ‘big store,’ it was a mile away, and I thought that was the big city, and it was just a couple of little stores!” Pastor Berkey laughs.

As for the future of Rolling Meadows Church of God, the pastor is eager to find new avenues by which to reach out to the community. “On June 12th, we have ‘Spirits of Harmony’ coming up from Beckley, West Virginia to minister in song; we have a revival in August, with Gary Keylon, who used to be with the ‘Power Team’—these are the guys that smash bricks, break handcuffs—there are just a lot of things going on in the church right now.”

Pastor Berkey is eager not only to grow the church, but also to create a positive presence in the greater community. “There are other things I really want to do,” he says, “and it’s not asking the community for money—it’s what we’re going to pour back into the community. What we want to do is give back, and that’s going to be the goal—what we can give back to the community.” Rolling Meadows Church of God is located at 595 Rolling Meadows Road in Waynesburg.

Services are held at 10:45 am, Sundays, with Sunday School starting at 9:45am. For more information, please call 724-627-9430.

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Happy Trails to Everyone!

By Regis Whetzel

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Sculpture On Greene River Trail Mon River Along Greene River Trail

he nation’s railway system can conjure many images and memories, especially for those living in Greene and surrounding counties, where it’s still quite common, as Johnny Cash once sang, to “hear that whistle blowin’.” Since the 1800s, railroads have served a vital function across the country, transporting people and cargo, and serving as the sun around which the entire Industrial Revolution once orbited.

Starting around the middle of the 1960s, however, the increasing consolidation of the railroad industry, combined with the growth of the Interstate highway system and consistent, cost-effective air transport of goods and individuals significantly lessened the impact of railroad systems. A side effect of this was the fact that many railroad corridors, once bustling with activity, began to fall out of service, their tracks fast becoming disused and abandoned.

What could have become just a sad footnote in the nation’s transportation history instead began transforming, at a grass-roots level, into something else, entirely. “The concept was simple. It didn’t require or even claim an inventor,” states the “History” section of the Rails to Trails Conservancy’s (RTC) Internet site, www. railstotrails.org. “Once the tracks came out, people just naturally started walking along the old grades, socializing, exploring, discovering old railroad relics and marveling at old industrial structures such as bridges, tunnels, abandoned mills, sidings, switches and whatever else they could find.”

By the early 1980s, according to the RTC, the struggling railroad industry was abandoning 4,000— 8,000 miles of railroad lines every year. In 1983, a group of walking and biking enthusiasts, railroad history buffs, conservation and parks groups, and active-transportation activists began to meet for monthly brownbag lunches in Washington, D.C., to mobilize efforts to preserve rail corridors for public use. On February 7th of 1986, the Rails to Trails Conservancy officially began its work to transform abandoned tracks into beautiful, functional public trails.

Now, with over 160,000 active members and supporters, and a network of more than 21,000 miles of converted railroad tracks criss-crossing the country, the non-profit Rails to Trails program has devoted itself to creating and maintaining safe, all-season trails that are perfect for biking, hiking, walking, cross-country skiing, and simply enjoying.

Throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania and Northern West Virginia, there are more than 25 trails

Mon River Along Browns Run Trail

comprising over 400 miles of scenic travel opportunities for residents and visitors, alike. A local favorite is the Greene River Trail, which runs just over five miles, and was transformed from a Conrail track to a crushed-stone trail in 2001 by the Greene Co. Department of Recreation.

Beginning in Millsboro, with a trailhead at the Green Cove Yacht Club, the trail follows Ten Mile Creek for a short distance, then runs along the Monongahela River, leading into Rices Landing. From there, it traverses to Crucible where the trail currently terminates. There are plans, however, to extend the Greene River Trail another 9 miles, to Nemacolin.

Also nearby, across the river in Masontown, Fayette County, is the Browns Run Trail. Though eventually planning to expand to 4 miles long, only 1 mile of this former Monongahela and B&O Railroad track is currently open, taking visitors from the historic Lardin House restaurant to the Monongahela River in Ronco.

For anyone who lives (or doesn’t mind a scenic drive to travel) a little further south, the Cheat Lake Trail is a 4 1/2 mile stretch that starts at the Pennsylvania/West Virginia border, near the Lake Lynn Power Station on Bunker Hill Road, and ends near Greystone, WV, featuring a special “nature viewing area.” The land on which the trail was reclaimed was donated by the former Allegheny Energy company (now known as FirstEnergy), and was once a gathering of vacation cottages available for rent by employees of the company in the 1920s.

These are but a few local examples of an ingenious idea that contributes to the lives of countless people, creating beautiful activity spaces, encouraging exercise, and giving new life where none would have arisen, otherwise. A special Internet site, TrailLink (www. traillink.com), offers details about all of the trails in the Rails-to-Trails network, including directions, parking options, nearby hotels and attractions, and much more.

As noted earlier, the Rails to Trails Conservancy is a non-profit organization that depends on membership dues and other contributions to maintain and expand its good works. To get involved, donate, or learn more, please visit www.railstotrails.org, or call 866-202-9788.

Cheat Lake Trail

Lardin House Inn Along Browns Run Trail 20

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et ready for sheep-shearing, wool-spinning, dogshepherding fun as the 12th Annual Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival takes over the Greene County Fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday, May 16 & 17, 2015. The festival, which is coordinated by Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful, celebrates the heritage of lamb, wool and fibers in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The hours are 10am to 5pm with both days packed full.

The festival schedule includes a juried fiber arts & craft show and sale featuring vendors from throughout the northeast region, many demonstrating and selling fiber-related wares. A huge selection of fiber (fleece & yarns) and fibers arts supplies will also be plentiful for purchase from vendors. This year, the festival also introduces a Fleece Show & Private Treaty Sale.

Producers can enter skirted fleeces of wool and Alpaca. Cash prizes will be awarded and many fleeces will be offered for sale.

The popular “fleece to shawl” competition will also be staged on Saturday. This demo features several teams in a timed competition to create a finished piece of woolen apparel. Spectators see the process from the cleaning and carding of the fleeces straight from the animal, then spinning and weaving into the finished shawl, all in one quick assembly-line operation. Several spinners and weavers guilds participate, and the finished shawls are offered at auction to festival attendees.

There is also a fiber arts contest and exhibit open to the general public with various categories for knit, crochet, felt and woven articles with divisions for youth, beginners and advanced. Complete rules and entry form is available online at www.sheepandfiber.com. You can also find the rules and entry form for the popular Sheep & Fiber Photo contest online, and vendor applications, as well as a complete schedule of events for the weekend.

A breed pavilion will display more than a dozen breeds and types of live sheep; alpacas and fiber breed rabbits will also be on display. Visitors will have a chance to watch live demonstrations of a professional sheep shearing and sheep-herding

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dogs performing their amazing talents.

Those interested in learning the best techniques and recipes for preparing lamb will be treated to several lamb cooking demonstrations by renown area chefs. These demos will be offered several times each day. Not only do you get to watch and learn – you get to sample! Plenty of free taste testing will be offered throughout the weekend.

Other activities include live musical entertainment and children’s interactive fiber related activities. New this year is a youth competition in Tri-Fold Poster Board displays. Open to youth ages 8-18, with $100 cash being the top prize in the senior division, and hundreds more being offered in all divisions.

Find more info on the website.

If you’re traveling I-79 through southern PA any time before the festival, you can catch a sneak peek by stopping at the Pennsylvania Visitors Center at the Kirby Exit, where the Photo Contest Entries will be exhibited prior to the festival.

The 12th Annual Sheep & Fiber Fest is sponsored in part

by Lippencott Alpacas, Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency and the American Lamb Board. Admission is FREE. For more information on the Sheep & Fiber Fest, please visit www.sheepandfiber.com, or call Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful at 724-627-8119, or Festival Chairperson Lynda West at 412-600-9585. You may also email msm@waynesburgpa.org.

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RUN OR WALK, DOCK TO LOCK!

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he Greene County Department of Recreation will host the 2015 Dock to Lock 5K Run/Walk beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 9, along the Greene River Trail. Participants can sign up for the race at a pre-registration rate of $18 by Friday, April 24, or pay a $20 registration fee on the day of the race.

Race-day registration and packet pick-up will begin at 7:15 a.m. at the Rices Landing Fire Hall in Rices Landing. At 8:30 a.m., participants will be bused to the starting line of the Greene River Trail at the Greene Cove Yacht Club in Millsboro, Pa. The race will be timed by SERJ Racing Services of Uniontown.

Following the race, a reception will be held at the Rices Landing Fire Hall. Awards will be given for the top three male and female runners and walkers overall, as well as the top three male and female runners and walkers in various age categories. Refreshments and a random drawing for prizes will also be held.

Proceeds from Dock to Lock benefit Department of Recreation programs, such as the summer Day Camp program, which offers free activities for county children ages 5 to 15. This year, Day Camp will be held June 15 through July 24 at various locations across the county. Sponsors of this year’s Dock to Lock include the Greene County Commissioners, First Student, Noble Energy, Rices Landing Volunteer Fire Department, Road ID and Wal-Mart.

To download a race entry form, visit www.co.greene.pa.us. For more information, call the Department of Recreation at 724-852-5323.

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GreeneScene by Mike Belding

GreeneScene of the Past T

his month’s Greene Scene of the Past comes to us from lifelong Mather resident, Steve Toper. Following up on last month’s installment of “I Love This Place!” which focused on Mather, Steve provided this interesting scene of Mather’s past.

Steve owns the land on which the two large water reservoir tanks used to be located; he reports that the foundations are still there, though the tanks themselves are long gone.

The mine houses mentioned in the Mather article used to be rented to miners for $5 per month in the early days of the mine; Steve has lived in one of them for quite some time, himself, but not because he worked in the facility. “My dad bought it in 1943 for $1200,” he says. “During the war, the government passed a law that mine companies were no longer able to own houses the way they did, before, so they sold all the houses.”

As for his long time in Mather, Steve notes that some of this was due to family obligations, but is quick to add, “Once they got started rebuilding this place, it was home.”

Thanks to Steve Toper for his photographs, and his insights!

If you have an interesting old photo from the area you’d like to share, just send it to: GreeneScene of the Past, 185 Wade Street, Waynesburg, PA 15370. Or email to: info@greenesaver.com with GreeneScene Past in subject line. The GreeneSaver can even scan your original in just a few minutes if you bring it to our office. We are particularly interested in photos of people and places in the Greene County area taken between 1950 and 1980, though we welcome previous dates, too.

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Lifeguard Course Scheduled for May The Greene County Department of Recreation is planning a lifeguard training course to begin next month ahead of the summer swimming season. Classes will start at 5 p.m. Monday, May 18, at Alpha Aquatic Center, 200 E. Roy Furman Highway, Waynesburg, and will continue for the next one to two weeks.

Interested candidates must be at least 16 years of age and be able to attend and pass courses in professional lifeguarding, first-aid and CPR/ AED training. Course participants are required to bring a modest bathing suit (one-piece for women, and trunks or jammers for men), goggles and towels to all sessions. The pre-registration deadline is Friday, May 8.

The three county pools – Alpha Aquatic Center, Carmichaels Pool in Carmichaels and Mon View Pool in Greensboro – are scheduled to

A “Stained Glass Mystery…”

We received the following from Joyce Conk- by D. F. Bailey, John and Susanna Rogers, Mr. and lin, and, since the GreeneSaver loves to help our Mrs. R. N. Wiley, Rev. and Mrs. T. M. Colhouer, and Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Mitchell. readers, we’re happy to share!

“The 175th anniversary of the organization “If you can in any way help us locate deof the Rogersville Methodist Protestant Church, scendants, we would love to hear from you. Any now the Rogersville United Methodist Church, is amount of information to help solve this mystery 2015. The current church building, dedicated in would be appreciated. Please contact Pastor Cyn1905, is filled with many beautiful stained glass thia Deter at cdeter@newhopecharge.org or call windows containing names of former members. 724-833-3845.”

In order to honor these former members, the church would like to locate family members or descendants of those named on the windows.

“The names on the windows are as follows: Delila Seckman, Jesse and Susanna Orndoff, T.G. Grove, George and Nancy Sellers, George and Ruth Church Ullom, Daniel T. and Anne Johnson Ullom, Jesse and Phoebe Ullom, Asa and Jane Sellers, James Thomas in memory of Catharine M. Thomas, Samuel and Nancy Throckmorton, Tony Short in memory of Lucy M. Short, Florence Seckman McKain, Registration begins at 8 a.m., with warm-up Rev. Henry Phipps, John and Irene shooting at 8:30 a.m. and the main event start- Penney Hoge, Joshua and Harriet ing at 10 a.m. Dinner and awards will follow the Knight, Della F. and Edith Bailey main event. Award categories include youth, ladies and individual. Ticket drawings for a 50/50 raffle, guns and other prizes will also be held after dinner.

Sign sponsorships for the benefit shoot are available at $100 a sign. Signs will be placed at a shooting station. The deadline for sign sponsors Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Fayette County will host a Perennial Plant Sale on is also Monday, May 4.

Saturday, May 9, 2015 from 9 am- 12 pm, at the Fayette County Fairground in the 4-H Youth Building.

For more information, or to register for A variety of perennials, vegetables, herbs, and more will be available that have been grown locally by the shoot or become a sign sponsor, call the DeMaster Gardeners. partment of Recreation at 724-852-5323, or visit Also, preorders of geraniums, gerbera daisies, petunias, and hanging baskets are being taken now. www.co.greene.pa.us.

Flowers are to be picked up at the fairground on May 9th, just in time for Mother’s Day. Please call the Extension office at 724-438-0111 for more information, or email Valerie Sesler, vvs2@psu.edu. be open Memorial Day through Labor Day weekends, although pool hours are subject to change due to staff availability or inclement weather. The pools also usually close during the week when local students return to school.

Lifeguards hired for this summer will need to attend additional mandatory training sessions.

A water safety instructor course will be offered during the first part of the swimming season for certification in teaching swim lessons.

For more information about becoming a lifeguard, or to register for the lifeguard training course, call the Department of Recreation at 724-852-5323. For employment information, call Human Resources at 724-852-5200, or visit www. co.greene.pa.us to apply online.

Hunting Hills Hawkeyes Fundraiser The Hunting Hills Hawkeyes, Greene County’s Scholastic Clay Target Program team, will host its annual benefit shoot Sunday, May 17, at Hunting Hills in Dilliner, Pa. The shoot is sponsored by the Greene County Commissioners and Greene County Department of Recreation, and is being organized by the Hawkeyes’ coaches. The registration deadline for participants is Monday, May 4.

Participants may register as individuals or in teams of five. The cost for a team of five is $400, and the individual cost is $80 per person. The registration fee covers 100 clay targets, a catered dinner and awards. Shells and a golf cart are not included. Golf cart rental is $40. Mulligans are $5 each, with a limit of three per shooter.

Perennial Plant Sale

Duck Race Makes a Splash The sun was shining as Southwest Regional Medical Center hosted its 8th annual Duck Race in support of the American Cancer Society’s Greene County Relay for Life.

In addition to the race, the event offered games, food, prizes and an egg hunt. Over 600 small rubber ducks were taken high atop the cherry picker of a Waynesburg Volunteer Fire Department fire truck and dumped into a target. The duck landing first in the bulls eye cup wins first place. Winners of the event were as follows: First Place: Brenda Green Second Place: Joshua Craig Third Place: Cindy Tennant Last Place: Lilly McCartey

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The event also offered a ‘pluck a duck’ 50/50. Half the take was $60 and the winner was Tony Ruscitti.

The local school districts were also invited to decorate a spirit duck. Attendees were able to place $1 ‘votes’ into their favorite duck. Winners were as follows: 1st place - Central Greene 2nd place - Jefferson-Morgan 3rd place - Carmichaels 4th place - Mapletown Overall the event raised over $7,000 to benefit the Relay for Life, which will kick off on May 2, 2015 at the Raider Field of Pride.

Thank you to all who made this event such a success!

Southwest Regional Medical Center’s mascot, Health Diggity Dog, leads children in a dance-a-long at the hospital’s annual Relay

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