The second best reason for the existence of parks in urban areas has got to be for the purpose of building communities.  People fill the parks around them at various times during the year and when they do so, they see other people.  That may sound like a strange sort of thing to say but the world we live in today can be rather divisive and oftentimes leaves people as strangers when at one time they could consider each other neighbors.

Yesterday, in the Lehigh Parkway, a group of individuals joined together and formed one of those park spawn communities in order to help clean up damage from old storms.  I was able to organize the event so that students from Muhlenberg College’s EnACT (Environmental Action Student Group), councilpersons from the Allentown Environmental Advisory Council, members of the Lehigh Valley Road Runners, park walkers, park lovers, concerned citizens and active stewards all met between saw blades and made a difference.

A fallen tree was the major focus of this day of action and within an hour of beginning our work, the tree was entirely tended to.  Our group was able to accomplish quite a lot, pretty rapidly, in the course of that hour.  It was fantastic.

With strangers working together for a common purpose for no pay or recognition, a difference was made.  The purpose of this day was simple and not incredibly remarkable.  The thing that made the event remarkable were the people who worked together to complete the task at hand.  As you view the pictures below I sincerely hope you can see what I am talking about and I really hope that it encourages you to come for the next one.  What beats making friends from strangers?

Number 18 was pretty awesome Readers.  Thank you

The thing is, the Parks department here in Allentown is very overworked and understaffed and as such, has not been able to attend to every site of destruction that resulted from that storm.  This is where we come in.  From small branches to an entire tree – we are going to help clean up this area of the Lehigh Parkway.

So, look through the pictures and see the destruction for yourself.  Everyone will be able to help! Not all of us are Paul Bunyan! Don’t worry – there is plenty of litter down there to tend to as well!

Tomorrow – Saturday – at noon! Meet at the second bridge off of MLK Boulevard! On the city map of the Parkway it is called Lehigh Parkway North Bridge and you can see that map by clicking any of these words!!

Google Maps:  
View Larger Map

Over at Lehigh Valley Running Scene, they have posted the following picture of the exact meet-up location!

Here is the destruction we will be tending to:

The snow in October dealt serious damage to our park system. The Parks department is understaffed and overworked and without the funds needed to hire more staff.

Now, it is our turn to help.

On January 28th, at noon, at Schreibers Bridge – we will meet to cut, carry and remove fallen trees (big trees) and help the Park get put back together.

Please come out and help!! And, PLEASE SHARE AND SPREAD!!!

Schreibers Bridge is the second bridge after turning off Martin Luther King Boulevard!!

I spent the majority of the weekend having occasionally heated discussions with friends about the political state of America right now.  It would seem that there are a lot of people out there who are pretty upset and ultimately disillusioned about the state of the country.  I began writing occasional pieces about all of this when I brought Remember back to life a few weeks ago and today, I am going to offer some suggestions.

Go to one of the following websites, read them and check out a place they suggest or – better yet – make one of the recipes on them, invite friends and neighbors over for dinner and try some new food together.

The first one I am linking to is called Save the Kales and this blog is a literal explosion of local community, culture and love.  Jaime is a dear friend of mine and I have followed her endeavors, achievements and successes for a few years now.  A couple of summers ago Jaime and I held a picnic down at Cedar Beach which remains one of the high points of my term as writer of Remember.  (The link to that picnic is here, so many pictures, so much awesomeness, I would love to talk her in to doing something again!) (The pictures in this post are from that event!)

Link to Jaime’s Blog: Save the Kales by Jaime K

This second blog is by a very nice person who I had the chance to meet at a recent blogger’s convention over at the Artsquest center in Bethlehem.  The title here seems to say it all for me as Colleen states that she is From Here Now.  See, if you grew up around here you are familiar with the constant bleating refrain of “There is nothing to do…”, Colleen takes that uninformed opinion and turns it right on its head.  (Note: I hope that years of park adventures in Allentown and points beyond here on Remember also show how wrong that is.)  I recommend checking Colleen out and then trying to do what she does because just like Jaime, she is doing it right.

Link to Colleen’s Blog: From Here Now

Perhaps the most blatant and helpful guide to finding out what to do in the Valley that is unique and part of a burgeoning cultural scene is Laini’s Little Pocket Guide.  If you have yet to hear of it – go and check it out right now. I’m serious.

Link to Laini’s Little Pocket Guide

You know, maybe it is because folks would rather just go to the Applebees because it is easy because it is routine and because it challenges no aesthetic sense of being.  I don’t know.  I do know that right outside your front door here in the Valley, down in Philly, up in New York or wherever you may be reading from, there exists a world where you can be a part of something real; where you can be part of a community.

This is how you stop Pottersville.  This is how you affect real change in America.  Remember, every single cent you spend is a direct vote for the way in which you want your world to be.  Your money dictates the zeitgeist of the country.  You are a perpetual voter.  Don’t forget it.  If you don’t think Washington is ever going to come around, you can make them come around in time by remembering that you are voting at all times.  Don’t forget it.  The corporations, conglomerations and banks need our money to survive as do the local establishments and local bastions of culture and community those ladies above are talking about.  It is your choice readers.

Lastly, I have one more site for you to check out. Go visit lehighvalleylive sometime and investigate what they are checking out as far as our “Scene” is concerned.  I have found a great many restaurants, shows and events on there that I would not have heard about otherwise.  Also, show wise – you need to be checking out The Secret Art Space.

Link to Lehigh Valley Live

If you want to see three years’ worth of outreach events, educational journeys and other assorted community activities you can click on the tab above that says: Events, Outreach, Education or click any of these words – it will take you there!!

So, as I suggested a few weeks ago – Let’s Get Active!! (Click on any of this to get to the original post!) Here is a great chance to do just that!!

Link to Facebook Event Page

Donation Location! :

Turning Point is looking for bath towels and I figured we could start a drive to get some! They are looking for as much as 400 so let’s do this!!

WE WILL DONATE 400 TOWELS!!!

Here is some information on Turning Point:
“Turning Point of Lehigh Valley is a safe place where victims of abuse and their children can find refuge We provide services in Lehigh and Northampton Counties to more than 5,000 victims of domestic violence each year. Our mission is to work toward the elimination of domestic violence; increase community awareness of the problem; and empower victims of domestic violence by providing shelter and support services.”

Turning Point Website

SO: Leave a comment if you can donate a towel!! We need 400 comments!!

Please help out! Share and Spread!!!

Let’s do this!!

I am going to keep at it for two weeks!

I was at a blogging conference last night and another Lehigh Valley blogger very curtly said to me in response to discovering that I was the author of Remember: “Remember? More like I forgot.”  That was not the nicest thing I have heard in three years of writing this thing but it is far from the worst and, it really got me thinking.  As I am preparing to return to the Parks for new and fresh series of examinations, I feel like it is appropriate to take a walk (ha) down memory lane today.

The posts I am about to link to are a complete literal documentation of how a laid off employee with no proper science background began to learn about the world around himself and over time found himself becoming a scientist.  These are unedited.  All the mistakes I made scientific and otherwise are here laid bare because they help tell the story.  These posts are a chronicle of why a park system is so important in an urban corridor.  These posts show what something as simple as a Park can do – a Park can change someone’s entire life.
(There is more post after the links – click and read Please! But keep on heading down!)

1. West Park (April 30^th 2009)
2. Trexler Park (May 2^nd 2009)
3. South Mountain (May 9^th 2009)
4. Lehigh Parkway (Spring –Fall 2009)
5. Keck Park (May 23^rd 2009)
6.  The Fish Hatchery ( May 27^th 2009)
7. East Side Reservoir (May 29^th 2009)  
8. Muhlenberg Lake (June 1^st 2009)
9. The Rose Gardens (June 2^nd 2009)
10. Cedar Beach Parkway (June 3^rd 2009)
11. Union Terrace (June 5^th 2009)
12. Trout Creek Parkway [Part One – June 8^th 2009]
       Trout Creek Parkway [Part Two – June 9^th 2009]
13. Canal Park (June 14^th 2009)
14. Jordan Park (June 19^th 2009)

Before continuing with the links, as I go back through the history of my blog, I want to mention that the change really began here.  As construction at Cedar Beach Parkway reached a head, I revisited the early parks and began writing about riparian buffers and invasive species. It took just under two months for these Parks to change me and my writing and content shows just that.  I mean, that Muhlenberg Lake post is completely scientifically uniformed and truthfully – in error; but that is what makes this journey beautiful!  It makes that which comes in 2010, 2011 and now in 2012 that much more important!!
More Park Logs:
15.  Fountain Park [Part One – July 21^st 2009]
        Fountain Park [Part Two – July 22^nd 2009]
16. Percy B. Ruhe Park (July 24^th 2009)
17. Bucky Boyle Park (July 29^th 2009)
18. Jordan Meadows (July 30^th 2009)

Then, I was set.  But, that is the story of how all this began! It is how The Muhlenberg College Journey happened – how I ended up on top of mountains (like the picture that started this post!) and knee deep in the cold winter waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  It is where I am going back to now and where I hope you come with me!

So, what’s a guy to do while he waits for the letter that will decide his future?

Mostly, he feels rather afraid whenever he thinks about it.  It’s really a terrible thing – the way this sort of twists around and comes back out now and again just to keep you on edge – to keep enough uneasiness present in every circumstance that it tempers or rather dampens everything else that is going on.

The worst of it, of course, is knowing that you are in fact, worthy.  That you are in fact more than capable of great things because you have achieved that which is impossible – so, hear me Lehigh University (Yes, my number #1 choice), let me be awesome for you.

In the meantime (just like the last time), I am going back to my roots.  The prater of my personal wonderings will have to be removed from these pages for a bit or nobody is going to be reading in a week or two.  SO! Back to the roots. Tomorrow.

Winter, I love you for letting me so easily return to a place where I can listen. 

So, given that information, it should not surprise anyone to learn that a significant amount of damage from that October storm remains in many of the parks.  To help them out and to get out and get to work, I am happy to announce the first Remember event of 2012!!

On January 28th, at noon, at Schreibers Bridge – we will meet to cut, carry and remove fallen trees (big trees) and help the Park get put back together.

Please come out and help!! And, PLEASE SHARE AND SPREAD!!!

Here is the link to the Facebook Event Page for sharing and spreading:
Facebook Event Page

Any questions? Comments?