See the individual events in our Calendar for more information and logistics. All events are family-friendly and free to pre-registered participants. We hope to see you in the park!

Friends of Glen Providence Park
2023 Schedule of Events

Wonderful Woody Plants of Winter with Mike Rolli
Saturday, January 21, 10:00am-12:00 noon
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain, snow, or shine

Children’s Event: Whoooo’s Awake in the Winter Woods? with Julie Smith
Saturday, February 25, 1:00-2:00pm
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain date Sunday, February 26, 1:00-2:00pm

CRC Streams Clean-up
Saturday, March 25, 9:00-11:00am
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain or shine

Forest Therapy Walk with Shannon Robards
Saturday, April 15, 10:00am-12:30pm
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain or shine

Weekend Trail Crew with Aura Lester
Saturday, April 29, 9:30-11:30am
Meet at Kirk Lane entrance
Rain date Sunday, April 30

Spring Bird Walk with Dave Eberly
Saturday, May 13, 8:00-10:00am
Meet at 3rd & Kirk Lane entrance
Rain or shine

2023 Arts in the Park – coming soon!
We’ll post an Arts in the Park announcement with details, and Calendar listings for each concert.
All Saturdays, 5:00-6:30, with Sunday rain dates

• June 24 – Nothin’ But Voice with A Cappella Pops
• July 15 – Blues with Johnny Never
• August 12 – Didgeridoo with Harold Smith
• September 16 – Rhythm & Blues with Brian Kors

National Public Lands Day Plantings 
Saturday, October 7, 9:00–12:00 noon
Location TBD
Rain date Sunday, October 8

Geology Walk with Charles Randall
Saturday, November 4, 2:00-4:00pm
Meet at 3rd & West Street entrance
Rain date Sunday, November 5

Christmas Bird Count
Saturday, December 16, 8:30-10:30am
Meet at 3rd & West Street entrance
Rain, snow, or shine

IN ADDITION:

The Great Media Easter Egg Hunt will be held this year on Saturday, April 1 at 11:00, with a rain date of Saturday, April 8 at 11:00. That’s run by Media Lions. It’s the park’s longest-running event, held annually since 1954(!), except for 2020 & 2021 due to COVID.

Any updates will be noted here:

• 1/17: added date for November Geology Walk
• 2/9: added concert dates
• 2/28: added Easter Egg Hunt dates
• 3/07: added Forest Therapy walk and April Trail cleanup location

The Saturday before Christmas, nine of us ambled in Glen Providence Park on a beautiful, cold, sunny morning for the Christmas Bird Count. It has become a fond holiday tradition (and reunion!), with most of our group having participated in multiple Bird Counts. Thank you to everyone who volunteered their eyes and ears that morning!

We documented 306 birds of 25 species – with the quantity due to eight flocks of Canada Geese flying overhead. Some of our most exciting sightings were a Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, and several woodpeckers and vultures. Once again this year, the Great Horned Owl that has been calling many nights around the park did not make an appearance that day, but we heard it just the night before.

It was the 123rd year for the CBC – the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list of 25 species for Saturday, December 17, 2022:

Canada Goose – 171
Mourning Dove – 17
Black Vulture – 1
Turkey Vulture – 6
Red-tailed Hawk – 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 3
Downy Woodpecker – 2
Hairy Woodpecker – 3
Pileated Woodpecker – 1
Blue Jay – 3
American Crow – 3
Fish Crow – 9
Carolina Chickadee – 5
Tufted Titmouse – 7
White-breasted Nuthatch – 6
Brown Creeper – 1
Winter Wren – 1
Carolina Wren – 7
American Robin – 22
House Finch – 7
American Goldfinch – 4
Dark-eyed Junco – 8
White-throated Sparrow – 7
Song Sparrow – 3
Northern Cardinal – 6

A few photos from that morning are below, and a video by Carol Carmon…

After being postponed by the rain and wind brought by Hurricane Ian, on Saturday Friends of Glen Providence Park held our 10th annual plantings for National Public Lands Day. Twenty-six adults and teens volunteered for a combined 94 hours digging, planting, mulching, installing deer fencing, and watering, all to improve wildlife habitat in Glen Providence!

This was Phase Four of our Kirk Lane project, which we started on National Public Lands Days in 2015, 2016 and 2019. We expanded on previous plantings with an additional 17 native trees and shrubs, and 13 native woodland plants – the complete list is below. The plants benefit wildlife by providing seeds, nuts, fruits, and nectar for mammals, birds, butterflies, and other pollinators, all while helping to slow down and absorb surface storm water runoff.

In addition, many of the plants provide food for humans – adding to the food forest we have started by the Kirk Lane entrance in previous years.

Thank you to the 26 volunteers who worked diligently all morning (and some into the afternoon!), and all who made this project possible:

Delaware County Parks & Recreation provided the funding for the plants and delivered a new bench and the mulch. Delaware County Conservation District delivered their Conservation Planting Trailer full of all of the tools we could need! Garden Influence and Redbud Native Plant Nursery provided invaluable expertise, Taylor Memorial Arboretum donated additional woodland plants, and Friends of Glen Providence Park donors funded the deer fencing and posts, snacks, two special trees, and other supplies for this project.

Additional groups of volunteers from Penncrest High School and Springton Lake Middle School provided invaluable manpower, and neighbors of the park allowed us to run a hose from their house to water the plantings. Cafe Isla donated coffee to fuel our volunteers, and Pinocchio’s Restaurant donated pizza for lunch. We are grateful to all of these people for making the plantings possible!

Here’s our native plant list from October 15, 2022.

And check out our photos (and video!) below:

Announcing… Friends of Glen Providence Park’s 2022 Arts in the Park! We have another great mix for our tenth year of performances, with 20s Jazz; A Cappella; Beatlesque Pop; and Bluegrass!

At the Glen Providence Park stage
Main entrance, 550 W. State St., Media, PA
Saturdays: 5:00-6:30pm
with Sunday rain dates

Enjoy an afternoon performance at the historical concert stage, then walk two blocks into town for dinner and shopping on State Street. Check out our full poster below…

Mark your calendars!

Roaring 20s Jazz with Blackbird Society Orchestra
Saturday, June 4

Nothin’ But Voice with A Cappella Pops – CANCELED**
Saturday, July 16

Melodic Beatlesque Pop with Jim Boggia
Saturday, August 13

Old-Timey Modern Bluegrass with The Cheddar Boys 
Saturday, September 10

Thank you:

This summer’s Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Program Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Thank you to our Summer Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and West End Flats; Performance Sponsors Shere-e-Punjab, Seven Stones Gallery, Dos Gringos, and Sterling Pig Brewery; and to Delaware County Parks & Recreation, without whose support these concerts would not be possible. 

General Logistics:

• Free and family-friendly!
• Performances are at the Glen Providence Park Stage, downhill from the main entrance on State Street in Media.
• Rain dates are the Sunday after each scheduled performance. If the rain date is used, the decision will be posted by 2:00pm Saturday on our website and Facebook. 
• Seating is on the lawn – bring your blanket or chair!
• There is a parking lot at the State Street entrance and along State Street and West Street.
• We encourage you to walk or take public transportation: the main entrance is just 2 blocks from the end of the Media trolley line, or less than a .6 mile walk from the Media train station.

More details on each performance coming soon!

• See our Calendar for individual event listings.
• Read about the decades of concerts in the park, from 1937 to the 1970’s.
• Read recaps and see photos from our past concerts.
• Read about our September 2011 project to restore the concert stage.

**The A Cappella Pops concert was canceled due to the probability of thunderstorms on both Saturday and Sunday. We hope to reschedule it for later in the summer!

The events are designed for children ages 4 to 8, but children of all ages are welcome.

The four seasonal events are:

Winter: Winter Woods Alive – Saturday, February 26
Spring: Tremendous Trees – Saturday, May 21
Summer: Magnificent Monarchs – Saturday, August 20
Fall: Lovable Leaves – Saturday, November 19

Each event is limited to 10 children, so registration by email to FriendsoftheGlen [at] gmail [dot] com is required. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Times, details, and logistics will be posted for each event on our Calendar.

COVID notice: All of our events will follow the latest COVID protocols, and will be subject to change or cancellation due to COVID.

See the individual events in our Calendar for more information and logistics. All events are family-friendly and free to pre-registered participants. We hope to see you in the park!

Friends of Glen Providence Park
2022 Schedule of Events

Winter Discovery Walk with Samantha Nestory
Sunday, January 30, 1:00-2:30pm (our snow date!)
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain, snow, or shine

Children’s Series: Winter Woods Alive! with Julie Smith
Saturday, February 26, 1:00pm-2:00pm
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain date Sunday, February 27, 1:00-2:00

CRC Streams Clean-up
Saturday, March 26, 9:00-11:00am
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain or shine

Herpetology Walk with Kyle Loucks
Saturday, April 16, 10:00-12:00pm
Meet at 3rd & West entrance
Rain or shine

Spring Bird Walk with Dave Eberly
Saturday, May 7, 8:00-10:00am
Meet at 3rd & Kirk Lane entrance
Rain or shine

Children’s Series: Tremendous Trees with Julie Smith
Saturday, May 21, 10:30-11:30am
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain date Sunday, May 22

2022 Arts in the Park! – coming soon!
We’ll post an Arts in the Park announcement with details, and Calendar listings for each concert.
All Saturdays, 5:00-6:30, with Sunday rain dates

• June 4 – Roaring 20s Jazz with Blackbird Society Orchestra
• July 16 – Nothin’ But Voice with A Cappella Pops
• August 13 – Melodic Beatlesque Pop with Jim Boggia
• September 10 – Old-Timey Modern Bluegrass with The Cheddar Boys

Children’s Series: Magnificent Monarchs with Julie Smith
Saturday, August 20, 10:30-11:30am
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain date Sunday, August 21

National Public Lands Day Plantings 
Saturday, October 1, 9:00–12:00 noon
Location TBD
Rain date Sunday, October 2

Nature Walk with Kayla Kehres
Saturday, November 5, time tba
Meet at State Street entrance
Drizzle, snow, or shine

Children’s Series: Lovable Leaves with Julie Smith
Saturday, November 19, 1:00-2:00pm
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain date Sunday, November 20

Christmas Bird Count
Saturday, December 17, 8:30-10:30am
Meet at 3rd & West Street entrance
Rain, snow, or shine

IN ADDITION:

Keep Media Green will be holding a spring volunteer event on Saturday, April 23 at 10:00am, with Glen Providence Park as one of the locations.

We await word on whether the Great Media Easter Egg Hunt can be held this year by Media Lions & McCarrin Chiropractic. It’s the park’s longest-running event, held annually since 1954, until it was canceled in 2020 & 2021 due to COVID.

Any updates will be noted here:

• 5/2 – Added summer concerts and times for remaining Seasonal Children’s Series

The Saturday before Christmas, eight of us headed out on a very overcast morning in Glen Providence Park for the Christmas Bird Count. The air was damp, making it feel colder than the thermometer’s 40 degrees! But the Bird Count never fails to be a literal and figurative breath of fresh air in the midst of the holiday bustle, and we were accompanied by wonderful people. We documented 140 birds of 28 species – second only to last year’s wintry count, when we documented 29 species!

Some of our most exciting sightings were a Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, and Red-shouldered Hawks! Alas, the Great Horned Owl that has been calling many nights around the park did not make an appearance that day, but having heard it just the night before, we were able to include it in our count for the week.

It was the 122nd year for the CBC – the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list of 28 species for Saturday, December 18, 2021:

Mallard – 10
Mourning Dove – 18
Turkey Vulture – 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1
Cooper’s Hawk – 1
Red-shouldered Hawk – 1
Belted Kingfisher – 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 5
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 1
Blue Jay – 5
American Crow – 6
Fish Crow – 5
Carolina Chickadee – 2
Tufted Titmouse – 5
White-breasted Nuthatch – 3
Brown Creeper – 1
Winter Wren – 1
Carolina Wren – 2
Hermit Thrush – 1
American Robin – 46
House Finch – 3
Dark-eyed Junco – 6
White-throated Sparrow – 9
Song Sparrow – 1
Northern Cardinal – 2

It was overcast enough that it was hard to see the birds with binoculars, much less capture their picture, but here are a few photos from the Bird Count and Christmas Bird Count Week…

Carol Carmon’s video on YouTube (below) captures the morning beautifully!

This year was our 10th National Public Lands Day volunteering in Glen Providence Park! On Saturday, October 2, 27 lovely adults and kids volunteered a combined 101 hours removing and reusing deer fencing, installing tree guards, weeding, digging, planting, mulching, and watering. In addition, eight volunteers worked on site more than 20 combined hours the Friday before, preparing the site and carrying supplies down the hill.

Over the past ten years, we had planted over 222 native trees and shrubs in the glen. At this year’s event, we prioritized the maintenance of the existing plantings – we removed deer fencing from trees and shrubs that outgrew them, replacing a number of them with tree guards. We reused most of that fencing on new native trees and shrubs! We worked in the area of our 2017 Wildlife Habitat Plantings below the sledding hill fence, and our 2012 and 2014 Streamside Buffer Plantings below the pavilion and along the streambank. We also removed 21(!) contractor bags of invasive Japanese Stiltgrass from around the plantings!

The native trees, shrubs, and woodland plants help to restore the forest, protect the stream, and stabilize the hillside and streambank. In addition to helping control erosion, the plants benefit wildlife by providing habitat and seeds, nuts, fruits, and nectar for mammals, birds, butterflies, and other pollinators. We planted 27 native trees and shrubs, and 17 woodland plants – the complete list is below.

Thank you! We have so many to thank for their help with this project… starting with all those wonderful volunteers! It is inspiring to work with people who are generous and dedicated enough to our environment to spend a beautiful Saturday morning working to care for and plant trees.

Delaware County Parks & Recreation provided the funding for the plants and delivered the mulch. Delaware County Conservation District delivered their Conservation Planting Trailer full of all of the tools we could need! Friends of Glen Providence Park donors funded the tree guards, pizza, water, and coffee for volunteers, and other supplies for this project. Neighbors of the park allowed us to run a hose downhill from their house to water the plantings. Carol Carmon volunteered her time to video the bustle of activity. Keep Media Green and Media Rotary both helped recruit volunteers!

Garden Influence and Redbud Native Plant Nursery provided invaluable expertise selecting 20 native trees, shrubs, and perennials, Taylor Memorial Arboretum donated nine additional trees and shrubs, Garden Influence donated six additional woodland plants, and Patrick Burke donated five additional trees (and donuts)!

As a bonus, John Wenderoth donated three American Chestnuts, back-crossed with Chinese Chestnut pollen, which were grown at Mount Cuba’s nursery in Delaware. These were planted by the Kirk Lane entrance with our previous American Chestnut plantings – read more about American Chestnuts in Glen Providence Park and the efforts to restore this magnificent tree!

We are grateful to all of these people for making the plantings possible!

The next time you are in Glen Providence Park, look for these native plants, and check out the photos below – just click on any for a closer look or to scroll through them. Carol Carmon’s video on YouTube of our planting gives an excellent overview of the morning’s purpose and activity!

Trees:

• White Spruce, Picea glauca – 4
• Arborvitae, Thuja sp. – 1
• American Persimmon, Diospyros virginiana – 2
• Eastern Redbud, Cercis canadensis – 1
• Paw Paw, Asimina triloba – 3
• Washington Hawthorne, Crataegus phaenopyrum – 1
• Fringetree, Chionanthus virginicus – 1
• (At Kirk Lane) Hybrid American Chestnuts, Castanea dentata – 3

Shrubs:

• Virginia sweetspire ‘Merlot’, Itea virginica – 3
• Black Chokeberry ‘Viking’, Aronia melanocarpa – 1
• Black Chokeberry ‘Low Scape’,  Aronia melanocarpa – 1
• Blueberry ‘Jersey’, ‘Elizabeth’, & ‘Patriot’ Vaccinium corymbosum – 6

Woodland plants:

• Dixie Wood Fern, Dryopteris australis – 2
• Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis – 2
• Blue Mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum – 3
• Hairy alum root ‘Autumn Bride’ Heuchera villosa – 3
• Wild Geranium ‘Espresso’, Geranium maculatum – 3
• Northern Sea Oats,  Chasmanthium latifolium – 3
• Wild Ginger, Asarum canadense – 1

Photos by George Tate, Stephanie Gaboriault, and Carol Carmon. Video by Carol Carmon.

You have likely noticed the seemingly whimsical stacks of rocks along the stream in Glen Providence Park. People have also been moving rocks in the stream to dam and redirect sections, and presumably to make it easier to cross on foot. We believe these activities are well-intentioned, but moving rocks in and around the stream has unintended negative consequences. 

First, it is harmful to wildlife

To quote Ben Lorson, of the PA Fish and Boat Commission’s Habitat Division, “A stream’s bottom — the substrate — has its own micro-habitats. The substrate provides the base of the aquatic food chain — from algae to macro-invertebrates all the way up to game fish. The surfaces of the rocks and the cracks and crevices between them are very important as habitat…”  

And from ausableriver.org: “Salamanders and crayfish also make their homes under rocks, and rock moving can destroy their homes, and even lead to direct mortality of these creatures. Every single rock is potentially a home to the larval stages of aquatic insects, including dragonflies, damselflies, mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies, and many others. They cling to rocks and capture drifting food particles. By moving and stacking rocks, the insects that are attached to or living on the rocks can be desiccated and burned by the sun.”

It is also causing erosion

Much of the rock-moving that has occurred has directed water outwards towards the streambanks, where it is worsening the already severe erosion. Large trees have been undercut by the stream and fallen. Over the years, our Friday morning Conservation Crew has worked to remove log jams in the stream — this is important to direct water away from the streambanks. Constructing dams, redirections, and crossings in the stream has the opposite, negative effect — it directs water to the sides, towards the already-severely-eroded streambanks. 

The County is looking at long-term solutions for the pond and stream to address the ongoing erosion and other issues, but it will take several years before large-scale solutions can be implemented. Until then, it is especially important that the water flow towards the center of the stream and away from the streambanks to minimize the already severe erosion.

We discourage any moving of rocks in or around the stream, without first consulting with Delaware County Parks & Recreation and/or the Delaware County Conservation District. 

Announcing… Friends of Glen Providence Park’s 2021 Arts in the Park! We have another great mix for our ninth year of performances, with Soul & Jazz Pop Fusion; Rhythm & Soul; Charming & Virtuosic Classical Guitar; and African Folkloric Performance Art! We are delighted to hold these concerts after they were postponed last summer due to Covid.

We will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Friends of Glen Providence Park at our July concert!

Enjoy an afternoon performance at the historical concert stage, then walk two blocks into town for dinner and shopping on State Street. Check out our full poster below…

Mark your calendars!

Soul & Jazz Pop Fusion with Danie Ocean
Saturday, June 26

Our 10th Anniversary Celebration!
Rhythm & Soul with Paul Downie & Friends
Saturday, July 10

Charming & Virtuosic Classical Guitar with the Kossler Duo
Saturday, August 7

African Folkloric Performance Art with Malidelphia 
Saturday, September 11

At the Glen Providence Park stage
Main entrance, 550 W. State St., Media, PA
Saturdays: 5:00-6:30pm
with Sunday rain dates

Thank you:

This summer’s Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Program Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Thank you to our Summer Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and West End Flats; Performance Sponsors Sterling Pig Brewery, Seven Stones Gallery, and Shere-e-Punjab; and to Delaware County Parks & Recreation, without whose support these concerts would not be possible. 

COVID Logistics:

Delaware County Covid-19 protocols will be followed. As of June 23, their Summer Festival website indicates: “Masks are not required for fully vaccinated individuals. Unvaccinated individuals should continue to wear masks indoors and while entering, exiting, and walking around the amphitheater.” [updated June 23]

General Logistics:

• Free and family-friendly!
• Performances are at the Glen Providence Park Stage, downhill from the main entrance on State Street in Media.
• Rain dates are the Sunday after each scheduled performance. If the rain date is used, the decision will be posted by 2:00pm Saturday on our website and Facebook. Updated to 2:00 as of our July concert.
• Seating is on the lawn – bring your blanket or chair!
• There is a parking lot at the State Street entrance and along State Street and West Street.
• We encourage you to walk or take public transportation: the main entrance is just 2 blocks from the end of the Media trolley line, or less than a .6 mile walk from the Media train station.

More details on each performance coming soon!

• See our Calendar for individual event listings.
• Read about the decades of concerts in the park, from 1937 to the 1970’s.
• Read recaps and see photos from our past concerts.
• Read about our September 2011 project to restore the concert stage.

Thank you to Ten Eleven Design for the beautiful poster design!