We had an amazing turnout at our two cleanups this spring in Glen Providence Park! First, 27 volunteers removed 19 bags of trash at our rain-dated Early Spring Cleanup on March 25. Holding a cleanup early in the season enables us to see and access trash that has blown into the woods, before the vegetation obscures it – our yield this year was 19 bags.

Despite the threat of rain, there was an even larger turnout for the 20th Annual CRC Streams Cleanup on Earth Day, April 22! An amazing group of 32 adults and 12 children, including Girl Scout Troop #516 from Media Elementary School, cleared trash and invasive plants from the trails and stream. Our yield was 16 bags, and assorted items including pipe sections, an old wagon, and a bed frame. It started to drizzle just as we were finishing.

Thank you to all of our fantastic volunteers, to Seven Stones Cafe for donating carafes of delicious coffee, and to CRC Watersheds for coordinating its 20th Annual Streams Cleanup – removing trash from 30 locations in the Chester, Ridley, and Crum Creek watersheds!

Click on any photo for a closer look! Photos by George Tate, Marcia Tate, Holly Hoffmann, and Girl Scout Troop #516. 

Throughout November, we have been counting down to Thanksgiving by posting daily thanks on Facebook. There is some overlap with our lists from Thanksgiving in 2012 and 2014, and so much more to add – it is amazing how much there is to be grateful for! Here are those daily posts – these were in no particular order, and it is by no means a complete list!

Day 1: … long-time park supervisor James Stokes, Jr. for his years of care for the park. He started work on October 31, 1935 and continued for at least 25 years, and by all accounts really loved Glen Providence Park. He served as park guard, caretaker, supervisor, and park ranger – personally building picnic tables, preparing for concerts, planting trees & flowers, teaching visitors about the plants & wildlife, and creating the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park!

Day 2: … the local schools that use Glen Providence Park as an outdoor classroom and for service learning, teaching their students a love of nature, science, art, and more. Thank you Media Elementary School, Springton Lake Middle School, Media Providence Friends School, Penncrest High School – and homeschoolers!

Day 3: … Delaware County Parks & Recreation, for resurfacing the historical WPA stage last summer in time for the park’s 80th anniversary celebration, for their support of our events and activities, and for their many years of caretaking and managing their 621 acres (and growing!) of open space for the public.

Day 4: … all that Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association has done since 1970 to protect, conserve, and restore the watersheds throughout its 132 square mile stewardship area! Its initiatives include annual streams cleanups, riparian reforestation, advocacy, education, and stream monitoring. We are honored to receive their Organizational Stewardship Award this year!  

Day 5: … our Nature Walk guides and monthly event leaders who volunteered their time in the past two years: the ever-helpful Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County, Gary Stolz, David Hewitt, Shannon Davidson, Marcia Tate, Stephanie Gaboriault, Kyle Loucks, George Tate, the Media-Upper Providence Free Library, Holly Hoffmann, Aura Lester, and Charles Randall.

Day 6: … Taylor Memorial Arboretum in Wallingford, for generously growing and donating native trees and shrubs each year for habitat restoration plantings by other organizations – including for our past four National Public Lands Days!

Day 7: … the Delaware County Institute of Science, an amazing organization that has been all volunteer since 1833.  It has wonderful scientific and historical collections, and is well worth a visit. Its members have been studying Glen Providence Park since before it was a park – a 1928 Chester Times article about the valley indicated that “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”  

Day 8: … EllieReed Lewis and Clifford Butler Lewis, the grandchildren of park donors George and Eleanor Butler –  for sharing their recollections from childhood in Glen Providence Park, and for celebrating the park’s 80th anniversary with us last summer!

Day 9: … our Invasive Plant Removal volunteers, who meet most Friday mornings to work in the park. In the past 4 years, they have cleared over 250 packed contractor bags of invasive plants – keeping trails clear, liberating native plants from strangling vines, improving habitat, and beautifying the park.

Day 10: … those who have made our historical research possible, including the Media Historic Archives, the Delaware County Historical Society, and the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library – and Delaware County, PA History for sharing our history-related facebook posts.

Day 11: … the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their years of involvement in Glen Providence Park going back to at least 1939 – with hikes, cookouts, award ceremonies, meetings, and community service. In the past few years, Brownie Troop #5248 and Minquas District Boy Scouts have volunteered, and Girl Scout Troop #5037 and Pack 503’s Webelos II have had meetings and outings in the park!

Day 12: … our wonderfully generous Concert Sponsors: Media Recreation Board, Media Rotary Foundation, Diego’s Cantina, Seven Stones Café, Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant, Sterling Pig, and Tagine, who made it possible for us to revive the decades-long tradition of free summer concerts in Glen Providence Park.

Day 13: … Media Lions Club and McCarrin Chiropractic, for continuing Glen Providence Park’s longest-running tradition – the Great Media Easter Egg Hunt started in 1954! The Lions have worked since 1917 to fight blindness, and on many other community projects.

Day 14: … the American Chestnut Foundation, for their work to restore this once-majestic native tree, decimated by blight in the early 1900’s. Chestnuts were called the Sequoias of the east, and we know from T. Chalkley Palmer’s 1889 writings that the park’s eastern hill was once “continuously wooded with oaks and chestnuts.” We have found two surviving trees so far!

Day 15:  … all of the volunteers who have spent their free time working for Glen Providence Park through the years – our dedicated committee members, the dozens of people who have helped at our 17 volunteer days, and all those who volunteered in the park before us.

Day 16: … the Pennsylvania Amphibian & Reptile Survey (PARS), for their work to gather data for the study and conservation of our amphibians and reptiles, and for leading 3 Herpetology Walks in Glen Providence Park! We’ve documented 18 species in the park so far…

Day 17: … Samuel L. Smedley, who with great foresight and wisdom in 1927 urged regional planning for open space, and spearheaded the creation of Delaware County Parks & Recreation, which was used as a model nationally for its excellent planning. He personally helped create and plan Glen Providence Park.

Day 18: … all of those who appreciate our efforts to preserve and enhance Glen Providence Park – whether by reading our newsletter and website, attending our concerts and nature walks, or saying a kind word when they see us in the park – and of course our Facebook fans!

Day 19: … the Delaware County Conservation District for their guidance, mini-grants, donations, use of their Conservation Trailer, and support for our native plantings over the past 5 years – helping us to combat streamside erosion, restore habitat, provide food for wildlife, and  beautify the park.

Day 20: … our donors, whose generous support enables us to continue our work to improve the park and plan future concerts, plantings, events, and activities!

Day 21: … the array of wildlife, native plants, and all living things in the park, which with the changing seasons provide something new to discover on every walk in Glen Providence Park.

Day 22: … Hedgerow Theatre, for their enchanting performances at the WPA stage – enacting the park’s historical Newlywed Ghost and Witch Stories for Glen Providence’s 80th anniversary last year, and bringing Shakespeare to the park this summer!

Day 23: … T. Chalkley Palmer, 1860-1934, for writing in loving detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, enabling us all these years later to read about the geology, landscape, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park as it was in the 1800′s. He also had remarkable environmental insights for his time. What a gift!

Day 24 of Thanks: We are so thankful for George and Eleanor Butler, who with great generosity and foresight in 1935 donated most of the land for Glen Providence Park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, to be preserved for future generations. There would be no park without them – we are incredibly grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since Glen Providence Park was established as a bird sanctuary and arboretum in 1935, Girl and Boy Scouts have been a part of its narrative! The day after work began on the park, a November 1, 1935 article in the Chester Times invited the reader to “Come with your bird glasses, your flower guides, your tree books. Bring the school children and scout groups, and let Nature teach them her ancient lessons.” The Scouts heeded that call, with accounts of Girl and Boy Scouts from across Delaware County visiting the park since the 1930’s.

Articles through the 1930’s, 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s recount how Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies, and Cub Scouts held picnics, cookouts, meetings, and ceremonies in the park, including new troop investitures and “a court of awards.” In September 1939, a Rutledge Cub pack had a meeting where “An interesting nature program was presented, which included a spirited contest on trees”(!). That October, a Lansdowne Girl Scout troop took a field trip to the “Bird Sanctuary.” 

Volunteerism

In addition to the many meetings and activities, the Scouts have a record of volunteerism in Glen Providence Park. In 1970, a dozen Upper Providence Boy Scouts conducted a major cleanup behind what was then Skelly contracting and Media Laundry, above the Mountain Laurel Trail – they “piled up enough trash for several truckloads in the park below the guardhouse.” In 1971, as part of a Boy Scout “Conservation Good Turn” program, Minquas District Boy Scouts cleaned up “creeks, streams, and roadways,” in parks including Glen Providence. “The Anti-Litter Day campaign” had the administrative support of the newly formed Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association. This was a predecessor of CRC’s Annual Streams Cleanup, which is in its 18th year, and still involves many Scouts troops!

In 2005, Kathryn Lenahan from Girl Scout Troop 907 took on an individual project that honored the intent of the park’s dedication as a bird sanctuary. A Penncrest High School graduating senior, she earned a Girl Scouts Gold Award for “designing and building a bird blind for people to enjoy birdlife.” Sadly the bird blind (a small shelter from which you can observe wildlife) near the Kirk Lane entrance was destroyed several years ago, possibly by a fallen limb. We marked its approximate location on our annotated trail map.

It is a possibility that in the 1930’s or 1940’s, the Scouts may have planted a number of trees in the park. We have not found confirmation of this, but we know that the Norway Spruce trees that cover much of the western hill were planted, seemingly since 1935, and that Boy Scouts had planted White Pines along nearby Ridley Creek Road around 1932. We would love to learn more about the Norway Spruce planting!

There is one Norway Spruce in the park that we know was planted by Cub Scouts. Sadly, the tree was planted in 1991 in memory of a Cub Scout from Pack 642.

Scouts today

The involvement of Scouts in the park continues. In 2012 and 2013, we attended a meeting in the park with 3rd grade Brownie Troop 5248 to talk about the Scouts’ history in the park, and the plants and wildlife – then they helped us with a park cleanup and with plantings around the stage! In 2014, the Minquas District Boy Scouts held a spring cleanup in the park with Media Rotary and Penncrest Interact. And just this month, we participated in a meeting in the park with 6th grade Girl Scout Troop 5037 to talk about the park and environmental stewardship, and about ideas for their Silver Award projects next year.

In honor of all that the Scouts have done in the park through the years, on our September 2011 annotated trail map, we nicknamed the park trail along Kirk Lane the Scouts Loop!

If anyone has more information about, or photos of, Scouts and their projects in the park, please contact us via email (using the Contact Us link) or by leaving a comment on this page.

Sources

Chester Times & Daily Times articles researched on the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library:

Chester Times:
Club Leaders See New County Park, November 1, 1935
Rutledge Cub Pack No. 7, September 27, 1939
October Days in Lansdowne, October 14, 1939
Rutledge, May 7, 1949
Eight Brownies Get Their ‘Wings’, June 10, 1950
18 Girl Scouts Attend Cookout, October 27, 1950
Media Girl Scouts, October 25, 1951
Ridley Park WSCS Plans Luncheon, June 6, 1955
Troop Enjoys Wiener Roast, October 31, 1957

Daily Times:
Girl Scouts Go Camping, April 16, 1960
Leaders of Patrols Selected, October 27, 1964
Boy Scouts help clean up Glen Providence Park area, December 1, 1970
Scouts to collect litter, June 4, 1971

And:

RTM Honors Girl Scout Gold Award Winner, County Press, May 31, 2005

In the summer of 1935, George and Eleanor Butler donated the land for Glen Providence Park, the first park established by Delaware County. Its final approval was reported in the October 30, 1935 Chester Times, and the long-time park guard and caretaker James R. Stokes, Jr. started work the next day on October 31, 1935 – so Halloween is Glen Providence Park’s anniversary, and this year will be its 80th!

Glen Providence Park would not have been possible without the generosity of George and Eleanor Butler and the vision of Samuel L. Smedley, the president of the Delaware County Park Board. Mr. Smedley championed regional planning and open space in Delaware County from at least 1927, when he spoke about the county’s rapidly growing population necessitating a recreational and park system and of Delaware County’s “rolling country, intercepted by beautiful streams, making ideal conditions for living and recreation.”

Samuel L. Smedley spearheaded the creation of the Delaware County Park Board in 1932, and apparently had his eye on the Butler property during a June 1935 walk reported in the Chester Times: “There is an arboretum upon the estate of George T. Butler, a natural one, the trees just grew as nature would have them. Samuel L. Smedley, one of Delaware county’s widely known botanists, in roaming through the lovely valley and over the hillside found fifty varieties of trees. Mr. Smedley is also an ornithologist and saw a number of different birds flitting around.”

Just over a month later on July 24, 1935, George and Eleanor Butler signed a deed donating the majority of the land for the park to Delaware County, with small tracts donated by The Media Swimming and Rowing Club and James J. Skelly. From the beginning, the focus was on preserving the natural beauty and habitat of the valley. The deed dated July 24, 1935 states “That the property shall be used only as a Park and Kept in as natural a condition as possible save only for the construction of paths or trails for the use of pedestrians.” Glen Providence Park was established as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, and Eleanor Butler herself named it “because of its glen-like formation and as it is located in the heart of the Providence townships.”

There are hundreds of articles over the ensuing decades in the Chester Times recounting events and activities in Glen Providence Park, and many extoll its beauty, plants, and wildlife, as in the September 1935 announcement of the Butlers’ donation: “The tract is the beautiful glen and woodland which adjoins the Butler residence on West Front street… Owing to the great variety of natural conditions, which includes Broomall’s Run, a rapid flowing stream, many acres of heavy timber and a great variety of natural shrubs and wild flowers, this tract is particularly well suited for a bird sanctuary. Many species of birds already frequent the spot.” A November 1, 1935 write-up invites the reader to “Come with your bird glasses, your flower guides, your tree books. Bring the school children and scout groups, and let Nature teach them her ancient lessons.”

Generations of nature lovers, hikers, families, school children, and scout groups have enjoyed Glen Providence Park, which has also hosted a wonderful array of activities and events in its 80 years. That tradition of community events, and the elegance of the park’s design and structures built by the Works Progress Administration, are why Glen Providence Park was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places!

The dedication at the park’s main entrance states, “A gift of land is a gift eternal.” Thank you to George and Eleanor Butler for this wonderful gift!

Happy 80th Anniversary, Glen Providence Park!

Thank you to William Vanleer for sharing the two entrance signs photos, from a series of 12 photographs taken circa 1939 by his grandfather GJ Ulshafer, and to Clifford Butler Lewis for sharing the portrait and photograph of his grandparents, George and Eleanor Butler!

Sources – Chester Times articles researched on the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library:

Next 25 Years to See Million in the County, February 15, 1927
Unique Arboretum on County Estate, June 14, 1935
27 Acres Given for Park Site, September 13, 1935
Fine Water Supply for Broadmeadows, October 30, 1935
Club Leaders See New County Park, November 1, 1935
Glen Providence Nature Oddity, August 8, 1936
Glen Providence Park is One of Scenic Spots in County, October 24, 1949

Throughout November, we have been counting down to Thanksgiving by posting daily thanks on Facebook. There is some overlap with our list from Thanksgiving 2012, and so much more to add – it is amazing how much there is to be grateful for! Here are those daily posts – these were in no particular order, and it is by no means a complete list!

27 Days of Thanks in Glen Providence Park
We are thankful for…

Day 1: … the local schools who use Glen Providence Park as an outdoor classroom, teaching their students a love of nature, science, art and more. Thank you Media Elementary School, Springton Lake Middle School, Media Providence Friends School, Penncrest High School – and homeschoolers!

Day 2: … Clifford Butler Lewis, the grandson of park donors George and Eleanor Butler – for his generosity in sharing his grandparents’ photo albums with us and donating their golf clubs to Springhaven Country Club (which they founded!), and for sharing his recollections from his childhood in Glen Providence Park.

Day 3: … Delaware County Parks & Recreation, for repairing the concert stage (damaged in July from a fallen 110-year-old tree) in time for our August concert this summer, for their support of our events and activities, and for their many years of caretaking and managing their 11 parks with over 600 acres(!) of open space for the public.

Day 4: … Taylor Memorial Arboretum in Wallingford, for generously growing and donating 75 native trees and shrubs this year for habitat restoration plantings by Friends of Heinz Refuge, CRC Watersheds, and Friends of Glen Providence Park.

Day 5: … our wonderfully generous Concert Sponsors: Media Recreation Board, Media Rotary Foundation, Diego’s Cantina, Seven Stones Café, and Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant, who made it possible for us to revive the decades-long tradition of free summer concerts in Glen Providence Park!

Day 6: … Samuel L. Smedley, who with great foresight and wisdom in 1927 urged regional planning for open space, and spearheaded the creation of Delaware County Parks & Recreation, which was used as a model nationally for its excellent planning. He personally helped create and plan Glen Providence Park.

Day 7: … all that Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association has done for 44 years to protect, conserve, and restore the watersheds throughout its 132 square mile stewardship area! Its initiatives include annual streams cleanups, riparian reforestation, advocacy, education, and stream monitoring.

Day 8: … our Nature Walk guides who volunteered their time to lead our walks this year: the ever-helpful Al Guarente of the Birding Club of Delaware County, John Wenderoth, Ted Cavey, Stephanie Gaboriault, Marcia Tate, Aura Lester, Kyle Loucks, Holly Hoffmann, Chris McNichol, and Charles Randall.

Day 9: … our donors, whose generous support enables us to continue our work to improve the park and plan future concerts, events, and activities!

Day 10: … the Delaware County Conservation District for their guidance, mini-grants, donations, and support for our native plantings over the past 3 years – helping us to combat streamside erosion, restore habitat, provide food for wildlife, and  beautify the park.

Day 11: … the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for their years of involvement in Glen Providence Park going back to at least 1939 – with hikes, cookouts, award ceremonies, meetings, and community service. In the last 2 years, Brownie Troop #5248 and Minquas District Boy Scouts have volunteered in the park!

Day 12: … the wonderful bands who have performed at our Summer Concert Series the past 3 years: Philadelphia Brass, Springfield Clarinet Quartet, the Obsoleets, Me3, Ken Delmar & the Cheers Big Band, Perseverance Jazz Band, Sonoma Sound, and ViVaCe Strings!

Day 13: … T. Chalkley Palmer, 1860-1934, for writing in loving detail about Scroggie Valley in 1889, enabling us all these years later to read about the geology, landscape, flora, and fauna of Glen Providence Park as it was in the 1800′s! He also had remarkable environmental insights for his time. What a gift!

Day 14: … our Invasive Plant Removal volunteers, who meet most weeks to work in the park. In the past 2 years, they have cleared 179 packed contractor bags (and counting!) of invasive plants – keeping trails clear, liberating native plants from strangling vines, improving habitat, and beautifying the park.

Day 15: … the Delaware County Institute of Science, an amazing organization that has been all volunteer since 1833!  Its members have been studying Glen Providence Park since long before it was a park – a 1928 Chester Times article about the valley indicated that “Naturalists, from all over the country, attending the Delaware County Institute of Science, make a study of it.”

Day 16: … Delaware County Planning for their thoughtful work on the Delaware County Open Space, Recreation & Greenway Plan, and on our neighboring Mineral Hill Area Master Plan. Glen Providence Park and future generations will be better for it!

Day 17: … Transition Town Media, for all they do to build community and resilience, from their FreeStore, to workshops, to their lovely Annual Candlelight Gratitude Banquet for local nonprofits.

Day 18: … long-time park supervisor James Stokes, Jr. for his years of care for the park. He started work on October 31, 1935 and continued for at least 25 years, and by all accounts really loved Glen Providence Park. He served as park guard, care taker, supervisor, and park ranger – personally building picnic tables, preparing for concerts, planting trees & flowers, teaching visitors about the plants & wildlife, and creating the 1941 Nature Guide to Glen Providence Park!

Day 19:  … all of the volunteers who have spent their free time working for Glen Providence Park through the years – our dedicated committee members, the dozens of people who have helped at our 11 volunteer days, and all those who volunteered in the park before us!

Day 20: … those who have made our historical research possible, including the Media Historic Archives, the Delaware County Historical Society, and the Newspaper Archives of Delaware County Library – and Delaware County, PA History for sharing our history-related facebook posts.

Day 21: … the American Chestnut Foundation, for their work to restore this majestic native tree! Chestnuts were called the Sequoias of the east, and they were once the dominant tree species in Glen Providence Park. We have found two surviving trees so far!

Day 22: … the Pennsylvania Amphibian & Reptile Survey (PARS), for their work to gather data for the study and conservation of our amphibians and reptiles! We are glad to have chosen PARS for our 2014 citizen science project.

Day 23: … Media Lions Club and McCarrin Chiropractic, for continuing Glen Providence Park’s longest-running tradition – the Great Media Easter Egg Hunt started in 1954! The Lions have worked since 1917 to fight blindness, and on many other community projects.

Day 24: … the Academy of Natural Sciences, for preserving and researching a wondrous amount of natural history, including early 1900’s microscope slides from Scroggie Run (now Broomall’s Run), and for their generosity and hospitality in showing us those slides.

Day 25: … the array of wildlife, native plants, and other living things in the park, which with the changing seasons provide something new to discover on every walk in Glen Providence Park!

Day 26: … all of those who appreciate our efforts to preserve and enhance Glen Providence Park – our Facebook fans, those who read our newsletter and website, and those who have attended our concerts and history & nature walks!

Thanksgiving Day: We are so thankful for George and Eleanor Butler, who with great generosity and foresight in 1935 donated most of the land for Glen Providence Park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, to be preserved for future generations.  There would be no park without them – we are incredibly grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

One month from today is the first concert in our 2014 Summer Concert Series in Glen Providence Park! It’s our third year presenting concerts at the historical WPA stage, which hosted summer concerts from 1937 through the 1970’s. We are delighted to revive this decades-long tradition of free community concerts in the park. We will present three concerts this summer: Swing & Traditional Jazz, Roots Music & World Rhythms, and a Classical String Quartet!

Summer Afternoon Concerts in the Park!

Saturdays: June 21, August 2 & September 6
with Sunday rain dates
4:30-6:00pm

Enjoy a late afternoon performance at the concert stage, in the shade of the centuries-old White Oak tree. Then walk 2 blocks into town for dinner and shopping on State Street! We will post more detailed information on each concert – mark your calendars now:

Swing & Traditional Jazz with Perseverance Jazz Band
Saturday, June 21
sponsored by Diego’s Cantina & Tequila Bar

Roots Music & World Rhythms with Sonoma Sound
Saturday, August 2
sponsored by Seven Stones Café

Classical music with Vivace Strings
Saturday, September 6
sponsored by Shere-e-Punjab Indian Restaurant

This Concert Series is made possible with the generous sponsorship of the Media Recreation Board and the Media Rotary Foundation. Additional funding is provided by restaurant sponsors (within blocks of the park’s main entrance!), and donations from individuals like you!

We are grateful to Delaware County Parks & Recreation, without whose support these concerts would not be possible. Thank you to Media Rotary, Penncrest Interact Club and Minquas District Boy Scouts – they “spring cleaned” the stage at Rotarians at Work Day in April! And of course thank you to our volunteers who participate in our ongoing work days, and who decorate the stage for each concert.

General Logistics:

• Free!
• Performances are at the Glen Providence Park Stage, by the main entrance on State Street in Media
• Rain dates are the Sunday after each scheduled performance
• Bring your blanket or chair, and perhaps bug spray!
• There is a parking lot at the State Street entrance, along State Street and West Street, and we have permission again this year from Penn Medicine, just next to the park entrance, to use their parking lot! Thank you, Penn Medicine!
• 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 concert coming soon!

– Read more about the decades of concerts in the park.
– Read recaps and see photos from our past concerts.
– Read about our September 2011 project to restore the concert stage.

Glen Providence Park has had lots of T.L.C. from volunteers this Spring, with 3 park cleanups and regular Invasive Plant Removal days! We held our usual two Friends of Glen Providence Park cleanups in March and May, and the Rotary Club of Media held its Rotarians at Work Day in the park in April, along with members of Boy Scouts and Penncrest Interact! In addition, County Parks & Recreation has cleared debris on several occasions, including removing a fallen tree that was damming the stream and flooding the Shingle Mill Trail.

Friends of Glen Providence Park started out on March 15 on a crisp but beautiful morning for our annual Early Spring Cleanup – it’s a great time of year to see and access any trash that has blown off trail, before the foliage emerges to obscure it. We had a great haul – 10 adults and 2 kids removed 13 bags of trash and recyclables, some odd pieces of metal and lumber, and 3 bags of invasive bamboo!

After the cold and incredibly snowy winter, our semi-weekly Invasives Plant Removal crew started up again in April. So far this year, we have removed over 20 packed contractor bags of invasive plants from along the park’s trails! We also re-opened the trail on either side of a brush pile blocking a trail by the pond – the brush was left from the removal of the 100 year old oak tree that fell clear across the pond during Hurricane Irene in 2011. This cleared the way for Rotarians at Work Day the next day…

At Rotarians at Work Day on April 26, volunteers efficiently dispatched of the whole brush pile, completely re-opening the trail! That morning, more than 20 volunteers from the Rotary Club of Media, Penncrest Interact Club, and Minquas District Boy Scouts of America also did spring cleaning of the stage and pavilion, cleared several bags of trash that had been dumped behind a property along the edge of the park decades ago, and cleared trash along trails.

Just this weekend on May 3, Friends of Glen Providence Park participated in the 17th Annual CRC Watersheds Streams Cleanup! It was another beautiful morning, and the 14 adults and 3 kids who came out had fun as we made our way along the stream and trails. Some of the odder trash included a paddle, mattress springs, and a seemingly antique spoon. We removed 16 bags of trash and invasive garlic mustard and multi-flora rose.

Cumulatively, those are a lot of volunteer hours spent in the park – all part of a long history of volunteerism that dates back to the park’s beginnings.

A tremendous thank you Delaware County Parks & Recreation for maintaining the park, and to all of the volunteers from Friends of Glen Providence Park, Rotary Club of Media, Boy Scouts, Penncrest Interact, and CRC Watersheds!

You can see photos of some of the volunteers and their spoils below! 

We finished off our Summer Concert Series in Glen Providence Park on September 14 with a wonderful and fun swing concert with Ken Delmar & the Cheers Big Band! Over 130 people enjoyed the concert on a cool fall-like afternoon, along with a wedding party having photos taken on the sledding hill, and people practicing casting for fly fishing on the hillside! Kids rolled down the hill in the background, and there was dancing in the audience… not to mention some impressive dance moves on stage- you have to see the pictures to believe it!

Ken Delmar & the Cheers Big Band were marvelous performing 1939 hits Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Serenade and Ary Barroso’s Brazil, and moved through the decades with classics including Fly Me to the Moon and Sweet Caroline. It was exciting to return Big Band concerts to the park, as they had been so popular for decades in Glen Providence Park, from 1937 to the 1970’s. After the concert, some concert-goers continued into town for M.A.C.’s 2nd Saturday Arts Stroll!

Many thanks to all who made this concert possible: Delaware County Parks & Recreation, Concert Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and Media Rotary Foundation, Concert Sponsor Diego’s Cantina & Tequila Bar, Brownie Troop #5248, our volunteers, Marcia Tate for her artful decoration of the stage, the over 130 people who attended, our tireless Concert Chair Lisa Johnson, and of course the talented Ken Delmar and the Cheers Big Band!

Thank you to George Tate for taking these fabulous photographs- you can really get a feel for the concert by scrolling through!

Looking back at our Summer Concert Series in Glen Providence Park, we are reminiscing about July’s fantastic concert with Me3 and The Obsoleets! It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon on July 27, and we had our largest turnout yet- with over 175 people of all ages. It was fabulous and fun, with children playing in the background, while the talented double-header Me 3 and The Obsoleets re-energized the concert stage with their wonderful musicianship and charisma.

It was an exciting and eclectic concert, which was especially magical when Me3 and the Obsoleets played together! The three-part harmonies of Me 3 were upbeat and whimsical interpretations of both pop and lesser-known songs, with a notable rendition of the 1970’s classic, I Will Survive. The Obsoleets skillfully and exuberantly performed American roots and blues on an impressive array of instruments, including the intriguing Chinese erhu, ukelele, accordion and double bass!

Many thanks to all who made this concert possible: Delaware County Parks & Recreation, Concert Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and Media Rotary Foundation, Concert Sponsor Seven Stones Cafe, Brownie Troop #5248, our volunteers, Marcia Tate for her artful decoration of the stage, the over 175 people who attended, our tireless Concert Chair Lisa Johnson, and of course the talented musicians of Me 3 and The Obsoleets!

We would like to give special thanks to Me 3 for generously donating their performance.

Thank you to George Tate for taking these wonderful photographs- scroll through to see what the concert was like…

What an absolutely lovely start to our 2013 Summer Concert Series in Glen Providence Park! On June 22, the Springfield Clarinet Quartet delighted and engaged the more than 125 people of all ages who attended the concert. The light breeze and the shade of the elegant old White Oak kept us cool on the first full day of summer, while birds accompanied the musicians. It was idyllic!

The Springfield Clarinet Quartet was wonderful, skillfully performing works by artists including Bach, Gershwin, and Debussy, with an especially enchanting rendition of Satie’s Gympnopedie. Dr. Christopher DiSanto gave excellent and informative introductions to each piece, and the Quartet even invited the kids up to the stage to learn about the instruments!

The stage itself was beautiful with plantings and lighting- the result of volunteering on three different days by Friends of Glen Providence Park, with the help of Brownie Troop #5248. It was wonderful to start our Summer Concert Series at the historical Glen Providence Park Stage, where so many summer concerts were held for decades- starting on June 29, 1937!

Many thanks to all who made this concert possible: Delaware County Parks & Recreation, Concert Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and Media Rotary Foundation, Concert Sponsor Shere-E-Punjab Indian Restaurant, Brownie Troop #5248, our volunteers, the over 125 people who attended, JMW Entertainment Group for the flawless sound, our tireless Concert Chair Lisa Johnson, and of course Springfield Clarinet Quartet for their amazing musicianship.

We are looking forward to the rest of our 2013 Summer Concert Series– save the dates for The Obsoleets and Me3 on July 27, then Ken Delmar and the Cheers Big Band on September 14!

Thank you to George Tate and Amy Johnson for taking these wonderful photographs… scroll through to see what the concert was like!