Back in 2010, with a young family, we had just bought our first home; a 100 year old house on the outskirts of Media. To say I had been an apprehensive home buyer would have been a tremendous understatement. We left a huge apartment with a beautiful classic wood interior a couple blocks from downtown Ardmore. I truly loved living in Ardmore and greatly appreciated the freedom of not being responsible for any maintenance issues that popped up, but my family had grown and it was time for a second floor and a yard.

Just after moving in and incurring those initial costs, one after another, I, like many first time home buyers, started second guessing what had been by far the largest purchase of my life. What had seemed charming, quaint, and classic when originally buying the house, I now feared might just be old, worn, and dilapidated. Not being very handy, I was concerned about owning a money pit that would detract from our ability to travel and vacation in nature as my wife and I had so freely done just a few short childless years ago.

In addition to being able to walk to town and the now-questioned charm of the house, one of the main reasons we had bought this house was the proximity to nature.

That first Saturday morning I took Kailey, my oldest daughter, then just barely 3, for a walk in nearby Glen Providence Park. After we entered through the clearing with a smattering of trees, we meandered down wooded switchbacks that had me indulging in the nostalgia of backpacking and canoeing trips with my own father in my youth. With the cover from spring foliage in full force, by the time we were halfway down the switchback, this pocket of woods just outside of town felt as though we could have been deep in a secluded forest. When the trail opened up onto a large pond, we took the opportunity to sit with, watch, and listen to nature. There were all the typical sights and sounds of a park: birds darting from here to there, frogs croaking in the pond, butterflies fluttering about, and so on.

Then we saw whom we ever since have referred to as “Harry the Heron.” He was a beautiful Great Blue Heron. We watched as he strolled along the opposite edge of the pond, until his focus zeroed in on a spot just a few inches into the water. Slowly he moved closer and closer, and then, like an arrow being released from a bow, his head and beak shot out and struck a frog. My daughter stayed fixated and amazed as he first consumed the frog and then returned to patrolling the banks of the pond. We continued to watch as Harry tracked down and caught a few more prey items. It was in that moment that I found a sense of comfort with our recent purchase. Seeing this experience through her fresh eyes, I realized we did not need to take our daughters on an African Safari, down the Amazon, or to Yellowstone for them to see and appreciate nature. If we were quiet and patient, we had all that beauty, those scenes and stories, unfolding in our own backyard…in Glen Providence Park.

It was to be the beginning of the wonderful appreciation of nature just blossoming within her.

Dylan Atkins is a Board Member of Friends of Glen Providence Park. He gives credit to his daughter Kailey for editing this piece with him.

We’ve published a few posts about great greenways, both in Pennsylvania and nationally. Overall, governments and citizens are realizing the benefits of open space, greenways and alternative forms of transportation.

Benefits of Greenways:

• safe, family-friendly transportation
• improved air and water quality
• floodplain protection
• healthy transportation
• better habitats for plants and animals
• protection for historic and natural resources
• improved recreational opportunities

Greenways have been shown to have positive economic impacts as well, from improving home values to increasing local economic activity. Delaware County is working on a master plan for the western part of the county, and just held its first public forum on the subject. It is already implementing its Greenway and Open Space Plan for Eastern Delaware County. Philadelphia and partners along the Brandywine River are also creating major greenways.

Glen Providence Park Greenway

We’d like to see Glen Providence Park included into a larger county-wide greenway plan, with the 3rd Street Bridge becoming a pedestrian and bicycle “green bridge.” We think a greenway would be an extension of the park and the natural area of Broomall’s Lake Country Club. Right now, with the bridge currently closed to automotive traffic, it is easy to envision the serenity and beauty of a real greenway, and how it would become a part of the park while connecting Upper Providence and Media.

Regardless of the decision on the dam, a greenway would improve the park and create a beautiful, family-friendly gateway to Media.

Some people worry about the restricted access to Media from Upper Providence. The truth is, for most locations in Upper Providence, taking a state-maintained road such as Orange Street or Baltimore Pike to and from Media is the most efficient choice. According to online maps, going across a 3rd Street bridge by car would reduce the trip for only about 150 households. And for those houses in Upper Providence that are closest to 3rd Street, the most efficient trip is actually a walk into Media. Some Upper Providence residents have expressed a preference for a pedestrian greenway, because it makes their walk into Media safer.

Smart Transportation

Pennsylvania’s Smart Transportation Guide articulates many themes that support the construction of a greenway in Media:

• Accomodate all modes of travel
• Enhance local network
• Build towns not sprawl
• Understand the context; plan and design within the context.

A greenway would be a smart, family-friendly choice for Media and Upper Providence, as well as Glen Providence Park.

More resources: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/brc/conservation/greenways/index.htm http://www.americantrails.org/resources/economics/GreenwaySumEcon.html http://www.americantrails.org/resources/benefits/BenefitsGrnwy.html http://www.enhancements.org/misc/TEGuide2002.pdf http://www.maine.gov/mdot/opt/pdf/biketourismexecsumm.pdf http://www.smart-transportation.com/themes.html

It’s our historically annotated trail map!  These are not official trail and place names- they are whimsical names based on our research of the park.  Sprinkle a little historical perspective into your next visit to Glen Providence Park!

Just how much of the park have you explored?

Each trail has its own personality and treasures.  The wildlife on the Shingle Mill Trail, the views from the Mountain Laurel Trail, the evergreens on the western hill of the Switchback and Scouts Loop- and of course the waterfall and wetlands of the Ice House Trail… we highly recommend exploring it all!

This is our first version of our annotated map, which we adapted from the Delaware County Parks & Recreation trail map.   We plan to develop it as our research continues.

You can preview it below or print the Annotated trail map PDF (we recommend color printing).

Enjoy the park!

Annotated trail map - September 2011 version

What a beautiful morning we had for our History & Nature Hike on Saturday! Fifteen adults and children enjoyed the foliage as we hiked along some lesser-used trails.  Those were the Mountain Laurel Trail and Shingle Mill Trail, as marked on our historically annotated trail map we distribute at our events!

We shared 15 photos of how the park used to look, including this 1975 photo of the pond’s island.  It looks just a bit different today!

We also shared stories about the park and its natural history, and learned interesting information about native & invasive plants along the way.

Enjoy some photos from our walk.  And join us next time!

Historical photos posted with permission of Media Historic Archives
Event photos by George Tate

Join us as we hike through the park during this beautiful time of year, and learn about the park’s history and nature!

Saturday, November 5
9:30-11:00 am

We will share some surprising history and quirky tales from the park’s past, and from before the park was established.

Along the way, we will point out interesting native and invasive plants, and look for wildlife!

And we may just talk about the locations from the park’s Ghost and Witch Stories… dependent on the age of any children who attend!

We will also provide copies of our historically annotated trail map of the park.

Logistics:
Approximate distance: 1 mile
Approximate time: 1.5 hours

Meet us at the main entrance on State Street. We will start our history intro at 9:35 sharp!

Be prepared for steep hills, and uneven (possibly wet) terrain: wear your hiking shoes, and bring a hiking pole if you use one! And binoculars are always a good idea- it is a bird sanctuary, after all!

At our first 2 events, we cleaned up the park and reclaimed pieces of the park’s history. Now it’s time for some fun!

Rain date:
Sunday, November 6
9:30-11:00 am

If weather is questionable on Saturday morning, we will post on our facebook wall by 9:00 am whether we will use the rain date.

When Mr. and Mrs. George Butler donated the land for Glen Providence Park in 1935, it was the first park in Delaware County.  Dedicated as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum, this park has hosted an amazing array of events and activities in its 76 years, not to mention the habitat it provides for plants and wildlife!

Long before summer concerts in Rose Tree Park, Glen Providence Park had incredibly popular outdoor concerts, from 1937 through the 1970’s.  And the 4th of July fireworks that were held annually from 1954 to 1986 drew crowds in the thousands!

Events were not restricted to summer- the Halloween Haunted Woods in the 1980’s included a “swamp man” in the pond!  In winter, ice skating at the pond was enhanced with a cabin for warmth and lights around the pond for nighttime skating.  And generations have enjoyed the spectacular sledding hill at the main entrance!

Easter sunrise services were held in the park through the 1940’s.  Easter also heralds the longest running event in Glen Providence Park- the Annual Egg Hunt started in 1954!  Other events in the park’s past include fishing derbies, pie eating contests, even picnics for University of Pennsylvania fraternities.

The natural environment of the park is enjoyed year-round by hikers, bird watchers, dog walkers, and children.  From the park’s beginning through the present day, school classes have visited the park to study nature.  Until at least 1970 there was a park guard, whose role was part caretaker and part park ranger, helping visitors identify plants and wildlife.

Glen Providence Park was the pride of the county in its early decades.  Due to the elegance of its plan and its original structures, in 2002 it was determined to be eligible for the National Registry of Historic Places!

Yet in all its 76 years, Glen Providence Park is perhaps the most relevant today.  With concerns about gas prices, the economy, health, and wildlife habitat, a walk through this park provides a free family outing within walking distance of thousands of local residents.  Exercise and stress relief? They’re unavoidable while exploring this beautiful park.   Its land provides a haven for an array of wildlife and native plants.  Glen Providence Park could not be more valuable.

The dedication at the park’s main entrance ends with, “A gift of land is a gift eternal”.  What an incredible gift it is!

Our Letter to the Editor in September 2011

By Stephanie Gaboriault