They Were Here First

Native American Historian Darius Puff will take visitors on a journey through the history of his ancestors “The Lenape” on Sunday, May 19, at 2 p.m. at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. 

Hosted by the Friends of Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, a lively narrative, legends, animal furs, and reproductions of artifacts used by the Lenape contribute to an interesting an informative program that includes a question and answer period. Staged in the park’s Church House, the program is free and open to the public.

Darius Puff is a retired Berks County police officer. 

Darius Puff

A few years prior to his retirement, he became involved in giving talks about his Native American heritage to various civic groups. through the use of artifacts and stories, his programs teach others about the early lives of the Lenape people and the changes that affected their society in the 18th century. 

He has presented at local schools, historical societies and universities including Millersville, Rutgers, Kutztown, and Penn State. The program is made possible through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in partnership with the Berks Arts Council.

The Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians were a loose confederation of Algonkian bands, which at the opening of the 17th century occupied a continuous territory from the Delaware Bay to Blue Mountain ridge or the Pennsylvania Highlands including today’s Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site. 

A prominent feature of the park is the Lenape Trail, a 5.5 mile trail that runs through Hopewell Furnace and neighboring French Creek State Park. See Area Features Map.

While at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site visitors are encouraged to go into the village, tour the buildings and learn about the Iron Making Industry and why Hopewell Furnace is important to our nation’s history. 

The park is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday including Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day and Veterans Day. It is closed on other federal holidays. 

On Mondays and Tuesdays while the Visitor Center and Hopewell Village are closed, the grounds and restrooms remain open. 

The park is located five miles south of Birdsboro, off of Route 345. 

For more information stop by the park's visitor center, call 610-582-8773, visit the park's web site at www.nps.gov/hofu, or contact the park by e-mail at hofu_superintendent@nps.gov.

Rolling on the River

There is fun to be found all along the Schuylkill River.

The Schuylkill River is more than just something you cross on a bridge.

In addition to being the water supply for more than one million people, it is also a vastly under-appreciated recreational resource.

In the coming months, there will be plenty of opportunity to discover this resource.

What follows are three examples.

Pedal and Paddle

The Schuylkill River Heritage Area is bringing back its popular Pedal and Paddle events for 2013, with a total of five dates planned -- more than ever before.

Bicycles will be provided by Bike Pottstown.

All will take participants on a round-trip biking/kayaking adventure from Pottstown to Douglassville.

Each Pedal and Paddle will begin with a 4.5 mile bike ride from Pottstown’s Riverfront Park to Historic Morlatton Village in Douglassville, using yellow cruisers from the Bike Pottstown bike share program.

Participants will be given a guided tour of Morlatton Village, which includes four 18th century buildings, one of which is the oldest home in Berks County.

From there, they take a short bike ride to Douglassville’s Ganshahawny Park where they will eat lunch and receive a brief introduction to kayaking from outfitter Doug Chapman of Take it Outdoors Adventure Group.

Kayaks are provided and you enter at Ganshahawny Park
in Douglassville.

Then, they will paddle back to Pottstown in kayaks along the Schuylkill River.

Lunch, bikes, kayaks and all kayaking gear will be provided. Cost is $25 per person. All Pedals and Paddles take place on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to about 2 p.m.

To register call 484-945-0200; or email ckott@schuylkillriver.org.

The 2013 dates planned are: May 11, June 22, July 20, Aug. 17 and Sept. 7.

Space is limited. Advance registration required. Register no later than one week prior to the date of the event.

Schuylkill River Sojourn

If you would like to make a bigger commitment to paddling and less to pedaling, consider signing up for the the Schuylkill River Sojourn, which I can personally recommend as a great time. 

The Sojourn has you passing UNDER bridges on the
Schuylkill, like this one in Berks County, rather than
OVER the Schuylkill.

The sojourn is an annual 112-mile guided canoe/kayak trip on the Schuylkill River that begins in Schuylkill Haven and ends seven days later in Philadelphia's Boathouse Row.

Participants paddle 14-18 miles per day and can register for the entire trip or as little as one day.

Sometimes it is wet and wild.

At other times it is peaceful and inspiring.

There are a few rapids, calm water, plenty of laughs, songs at the campsites, and celebrations in the river towns.

A Sojourn traffic jam going through Lock 60 in Mont Clare.

There is a little bit of everything for paddlers throughout the week-long sojourn that begins the first weekend of June.

And though the same route is paddled every year, a different river greets sojourners every June.

But don't just take my word for it.

Check out this most excellent blog kept by former Mercury reporter Brandie Kessler last year when she paddled the entire length.

This year, it will occur from June 1 through 7 and the theme is "The Schuylkill During the Civil War."

You can check out the itinerary for each day by clicking here.

If you would like a fuller explanation of what happens on each day of the sojourn, check out the Schuylkill Heritage Association's blog on the subject.

Father's Day in the Big Woods

If you're looking to spend some quality time with Dad for Father's Day, why not consider the Eco-Tour being offered in the Hopewell Big Woods by the folks at ?

French Creek State Park

This 73,000-acre expanse includes some of the best regional trails, waterways, and scenic lunch spots in the area.

Float down the Schuylkill River, enjoy lunch on a boulder by the French Creek, and look for hidden treasure in the forest. Learn how regional trails and preserved open spaces impact our health and economy in a beneficial way, while enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the Big Woods in summer.

Activities include hiking, bicycling, kayaking, geocaching and more. Overnight accommodations will be provided in the rustic cabins in one of French Creek State Park’s historic group camps (tent camping is also an option).

A cabin at French Creek State Park.

The total cost for the weekend is $175/person and includes meals, activities and lodging.  The deadline to register is June 1.

Contact Lisa Miller at FrenchCreekEnvEd@pa.gov or 610-582-9680 for a brochure and registration form.

Participants must be at least 14 years of age, in reasonably good shape (able to hike, paddle, and bike over easy terrain for 3 or more hours at a stretch), and dress appropriately for the activities (a list of clothing needs will be supplied).  This event may be cancelled in the event of severe weather. 

Feeling a Little Latin?

So you're going to the Colonial May Fair at Pottsgrove Manor Saturday (See yesterday's post).

And you're planning to participate in the myriad activities at downtown Pottstown's first First Saturday celebration of the season. (More on that still to come.)

But, let's face it, you're a nigh owl and by Saturday night, you'll still be rarin' to go.

What to do, what to do?

Why not go Latin?

That's a great way to cap off the evening and luckily for you there's one right here in Pottstown.

Produced and presented by Centro Cultural Latinos Unidos, Pottstown's 10th Annual Latin Night will be held from 6 p.m. till midnight Saturday at Academy Hall.

That's the building right at the corner of Armand Hammer Boulevard and Industrial Highway, near the entrance to the old OxyChem plant.

For only $20 per couple (or $30 as a donation to services that CCLU performs for youth) you can enjoy Latin American Food, colorful folklore music and dancing.

And not to worry those who are fleet of feet, there's social dancing for the whole family.

So check it out.

Rita Paez, head of Central Cultural Latinos Unidos, shows off
the third-place trophy the Pottstown team of dancers won
in 2007 at the Philadelphia Puerto Rican Day Parade.

CCLU, as it is better known, is largely an organization run by Rita Paez, seen at left, who fell into the advocacy of Latin people's largely by accident.

By her estimation, Pottstown is home to 17 different ethnic Latin populations, including people from Mexico, Costa Rica, Santo Domingo, Peru, Argentina "and a lot of people from Guatemala."

According to their web site, CCLU:  "is committed to enhancing the lives of Latinos by developing and nurturing leadership skills and enriching cultural understanding and appreciation through educational and recreational activities in a safe environment."

Their Goals and Objectives are as follows:

• Goal: Education: Improve levels of education of Latinos in the Tri-State Area

1. Objective: Provide access to computers and computer training

• Goal: Heritage: Improve the understanding of Latino and American Heritage

1. Objective: Hold annual event to celebrate Latino Heritage

1. Objective: Hold annual summer camp to explore American Heritage

• Goal: Health: Improve the physical and mental health of Latinos

The Latin Night, you know about. 

The summer camp is something I wrote about for The Mercury during last August's largely unappreciated "Positives in Pottstown series.

The kids are taken to French Creek State Park and a ranger from Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site teaches them about the woods.

For more information about Latin Night or CCLU, call 610-705-0566.

The Cold-Blooded Signs of Spring

John Strickler's Mercury photos from the 2009 migration

So I need not tell you that given the near total absence of winter weather this year, it may be hard to figure out when spring gets here.

After all, the daffodils in my yard started breaking the surface in February and the birds are already trying to rebuild their nest in my front door transom.

But one group of people who know when spring has definitely arrived usually make that determination when standing on the side of the road on a dark, wet night in the woods of western North Coventry near French Creek State Park.

They are there to help their cold-blooded amphibian friends -- wood frogs, spring peepers, spotted salamanders and, more particularly Jefferson salamanders -- across the unlit road to a particular vernal pool.

As I wrote in 2009 when reporting on this story for The Mercury, "it is the conditions and not the calendar which dictate when this migration occurs."

The migrating salamanders can be hard to see at night

"It has to be above freezing and damp and rainy for the salamanders, and the wood frogs who favor the same conditions, to make the short but perilous journey,"

And it turns out, that the conditions conspired with the calendar to make sure irony had a hand in this year's migration which began, on all days, "LEAP DAY!"

According to Kim White, the volunteer who coordinates the road crossing patrol and keeps a close eye on weather conditions at this time of year, that was the day the leaping began.

"Leap Day certainly had the right name because we saw a lot of leaping Wednesday night," White wrote to those on her "amphibian friends" e-mail list.

"The migration started slow (just like the rain) and then momentum picked up and there was a steady stream until we called it a night a 10:30. Luckily there wasn't many vehicles. Thank you to the die-hard volunteers who did come out. They had their hands full (literally with slimy friends). Here are the tallies:

Spotted Salamanders 161

Jefferson Salamanders 6

Wood Frogs 80 

Spring Peepers 3

"Sadly, we did have 6 spotted, and 6 wood frog casualties. 

"Last night we heard the wood frogs singing for the first time. Spring has come early here!

Kim White, right, with volunteers in 2009

The conditions have to be right for the migration to begin. 

It has to be above freezing and damp and rainy for the salamanders, and the wood frogs who favor the same conditions, to make the short but perilous journey.

What makes the journey perilous is traffic.

To avoid predators, the salamanders and frogs typically choose a dark night to make their journey, but that also makes them nearly invisible to drivers on the unlit roads.

And that's why they need a little help from the same species that poses the greatest threat.

The volunteers, who wear luminescent safety vests and, in some cases, head lamps, are not allowed to stop traffic on the one country road involved, although the township does allow the stopping of traffic on the other.  

A vernal pool appears only in spring with no egg-eating fish

When they see a car coming, White instructs them to "scoop up as many salamanders and frogs as you can, put them in a bucket and move them to the side of the road that most of them seemed to be going."

They're going both ways because some are on the their way to the pool to spawn, and others are finished.

The pool in question is called a "vernal pool" because it appears in the spring and by late summer, it has dried up.

It is on White's property and she said she and her family intend to ensure that it is preserved in perpetuity.

Wood frogs literally freeze in winter

"They need the vernal pool because it dries up so there are no fish in it to eat the eggs," White told me last year. 

So where have they been when they're not spawning in the pool? Well the wood frogs were literally frozen solid during the winter.

"The wood frogs actually freeze, and the scientists are still trying to figure out how they do that," said White in 2009. The salamanders spend the winder in abandoned burrows, usually made by small mammals.

Among the salamander species using the pool is the Jefferson salamander, an endangered species.

The Jefferson blue spotted salamander, endangered and living in North Coventry

"The herpetologists said this the place nearest Philadelphia that they still spawn," White said. "Between here and the city, they're all gone."

 

As the season begins, White is still on the job.

"I am watching the weather for tonight and hoping the rain holds off until late so our friends can cross without traffic," she wrote in her e-mail Friday.

If you would like to volunteer to help the frogs and salamanders cross the road, you can contact White via e-mail at kim.a.white@gmail.com