Friends of Glen Providence Park is proud to be helping the Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association (CRC) with their 20th Annual Streams Cleanup, on Earth Day this year! CRC volunteers will remove trash at more than 30 sites along Chester, Ridley and Crum Creeks and their tributaries, including Broomall’s Run in Glen Providence Park.

20th Annual CRC Streams Cleanup Day

Saturday, April 22
9:00-11:00am
Glen Providence Park
Main entrance, West State Street, Media
Lunch provided for volunteers at Ridley Creek State Park – see below

The Annual Streams Cleanup is just one of many activities that CRC undertakes to further its mission “To protect, conserve, and restore the natural resources of the Chester, Ridley, and Crum Creek watersheds.” This is our sixth year coordinating the CRC Streams Cleanup for Glen Providence Park.

2017 Stream Cleanup information:

• ** Please register for the cleanup through the CRC website so they can plan for supplies. **
• Meet at the Glen Providence Park main entrance on West State Street in Media at 9:00 am.
• Rain or shine.
• Gloves and bags will be provided.
• We recommend long pants and long sleeves to protect against poison ivy and ticks.
• If you’d like to tackle trash along the streambank, wear water shoes, boots, or old shoes!
• CRC requires that volunteers sign a liability release. 

The CRC lunch will be held at:

Ridley Creek State Park
Pavilion 8
11:30 am – 1:30 pm
Complimentary food, fun, and games for everyone!

Join us for our Early Spring Cleanup in Glen Providence Park! This is the first of our three main volunteer days we have scheduled this year: the next two are CRC Watersheds Annual Streams Cleanup on April 22, and National Public Lands Day on September 30. We also have regular Invasive Plant Removal days – see our 2017 Schedule of Events for more information!

Early Spring Clean-up!

Saturday, March 25
Rain/snow date Sunday, March 26
9:30 – 11:00am
Glen Providence Park – main entrance

Early spring is a great time to tackle trash that has blown into odd spots, before vegetation grows! Volunteers will be treated to yummy coffee and some pastries generously donated by Seven Stones Cafe! 

Logistics:

• Meet at the Glen Providence Park main entrance on West State Street in Media at 9:30 am.
• Bring gloves if you have them. We have a few pairs left from last year’s CRC Streams Cleanup.
• We recommend long pants and long sleeves to protect against poison ivy, ticks, and thorns.

Rain & snow plan:

Our rain/snow date is Sunday, March 26. If the weather is not clear, or if there is still too much snow on the ground, we will post on our website and facebook by 8:45 am Saturday advising whether we will use the rain date.

Observant readers may note that we originally scheduled our Early Spring Cleanup for Saturday, March 18. That was before Snowstorm Stella… there is no point doing a cleanup if debris is still hidden under snow! Let’s hope the snow is gone by March 25… 

One of the most beloved features of the Glen Providence Park is the man-made pond at its center – created 80 years ago for fishing and skating! Like the other original park structures and trails, it was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a Depression-era jobs program – which is part of what made the park eligible for the National Register of Historic Places!

Creating a pond

Samuel L. Smedley envisioned the pond when he founded Glen Providence in 1935, and effusive Chester Times articles about the new park tracked the pond’s construction. Work had begun on the “lake” by April 1936: “Entering from the Third street end… From here the nature lover, following paths recently completed by the WPA will see springs, and a small lake in the course of completion.” The pond was “nearly completed” by August.

A 1937 article about Glen Providence described the new pond in detail: “The most outstanding object of interest is “Mirror Lake,” 400 feet long, 100 feet wide, irregular in outline, constructed near the middle of the property, and to the west of Broomall’s Run. The  water supply is by a by-pass, from Broomall’s Run… A second supply is from the larger spring [the historical drinking spring near Broomall’s Dam]… the water being carried through about 500 feet of pipe and liberated over an artificial cascade into the lake, making a very attractive feature.” That cascade would later be improved in 1948 by the Providence Garden Club as the Eleanor Reed Butler Waterfall – with her husband, Eleanor had donated the majority of the land for the park as a Bird Sanctuary and Arboretum.

Fishing, skating, ducks… and the Swamp Man!

True to its intended purpose, the pond was the site of years of fishing derbies for children in summer, and was regularly stocked with perch, bass, and sunfish. Enchantingly, there were lights around the pond for nighttime skating in winter! The pond also hosted a cast of feathered characters, with ducks and geese that were named by the park guards – and some of their antics made the newspapers!*

Any manmade body of water requires maintenance over time, and by the early 1980’s, the pond had virtually dried up. Under Recreation Supervisor Terry Smith, Delaware County Parks & Recreation held a “Sherlock Holmes Mystery Walk” in 1981 at the dried-up pond, which “won rejuvenation thanks to public awareness.” The pond was dredged, and in 1983 and 1984, “Great Bullfrog Releases” were held inviting volunteers “to help release bullfrogs into the park’s revitalized pond.”

The pond went on to play a role in the park’s “Halloween Hauntings” in the 1980’s –  we’ve heard from many people about the scary “Swamp Man” who hid in the pond (in scuba gear!), jumping out at passers-by!  

The pond today

While still full of wildlife including several species of turtles, fish, and frogs, the pond is again filling with sediment. Sometime since 1975, the pipes feeding the Eleanor Reed Butler Waterfall caved in, eliminating a source of water and aeration for the pond. A fountain was installed in the pond in the early 2000’s to help with aeration, but was ultimately vandalized. The pond’s shallowness, combined with insufficient aeration and inadequate vegetation around the pond, contribute to it being overgrown with algae in summers. 

There are potential upcoming changes to the pond as a result of the Broomall’s Dam replacement (now anticipated for 2018), including the possible creation of wetlands at one end of the pond. In any case, the pond will need dredging, stabilization of the intake and outlet, and planting of trees, shrubs, and appropriate native vegetation around, and in, the water to restore and preserve its ecosystem.

We hope that revitalization is successful, and that future generations are able to enjoy this WPA pond!   

*I’ll write more about the fishing derbies, illustrious ducks, and winter skating in future articles!

Click below to see the charming 1939 photos by local resident GJ Ulshafer showing what the new pond looked like, an undated postcard, and photos from 1944, 1959, and 2016. 

Early Spring pond panorama in 2016 – click for a closer view

Sources:

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

Chester Times:
Club Leaders See New County Park, November 1, 1935
New Park Rich in Trees, Birds, April 2, 1936
Parks Pilgrimage, June 6, 1936
Glen Providence Nature Oddity, August 8, 1936
Delaware County Park Board Makes Progress, February 8, 1937
Glen Providence, On Edge of Media, Is Bird Haven, July 22, 1944
Swing Into Spring, April 10, 1959

The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Whodunit? At Bottom, It’s a Plot to Help Delco Parks, September 18, 1981
A Great Bullfrog Release Nears – Volunteers Restocking Media Park Pond, June 19, 1984

We held two cleanups this spring in Glen Providence Park as part of our 2015 monthly events. First, our Early Spring Cleanup was triple-snow-dated by the long-lasting and stubborn winter (a snow storm on the first day of spring?!). On Sunday, March 22, there was still snow on the ground, so instead of clearing trash we removed invasive Japanese Honeysuckle and Multi-flora Rose, liberating native trees and shrubs near the Kirk Lane entrance.

The 18th Annual CRC Streams Cleanup was this morning on an unseasonably chilly day. A great turnout of 15 adults and 14 children removed 12 bags of trash from Broomall’s Run, the woods, and trails – along with a wooden pallet, lumber, and construction netting! It was a nice combination of first-time and frequent visitors to the park, and one of the volunteers clearing trash from the stream with her young son remarked on how fun it is – we agree! We enjoy making a visible difference in the park and our conversations with new and regular volunteers. The different perspective it takes to look for trash leads to fresh discoveries, like new patches of ephemeral Trout Lily flowers, and Black Cherry trees in bloom!

Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers, to Seven Stones Cafe for donating carafes of delicious coffee, and to CRC Watersheds for coordinating its 18th Annual Streams Cleanup, removing a cumulative 600,000 pounds of trash from the Chester, Ridley, and Crum Creek watersheds!

And thank you to George Tate for photographing our spring-cleaning adventures!

Join us as we celebrate Earth Day this year together with Delaware County Parks & Recreation and Media Providence Friends School! In this 80th Anniversary year for Glen Providence Park, we will plant native plant trees by the historical concert stage – a White Oak to replace the 110-year-old White Ash that fell last year, and an understory tree. We’ll have a celebration of the meaning of Earth Day, and enjoy a pizza lunch!

Earth Day Celebration & Plantings

Wednesday, April 22
11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Glen Providence Park – main entrance
drizzle or shine

We will start with a short ceremony by the 1930’s concert stage, to be followed by plantings with the help of 25 second and third graders from Media Providence Friends School, a water bucket brigade from the stream(!), then a pizza lunch generously provided by Delaware County Parks & Recreation. We’ll also be joined by members of Delaware County Council, Delaware County Conservation District, Chester Ridley Crum (CRC) Watersheds Association, and others!

The Earth Day celebration is a collaborative effort between Delaware County Parks & Recreation, Friends of Glen Providence Park, and Media Providence Friends School. We are grateful to Delaware County Parks & Recreation for providing the inspiration, native trees, supplies, digging(!), and pizza, and to CRC Watersheds for the deer fencing!

Three years ago for Earth Day, we planted our first native trees and shrubs for a streamside buffer in Glen Providence Park. It is nice to officially celebrate Earth Day again. 

After a long, cold, snowy winter, 2014 brought a later spring than usual in Glen Providence Park – it snowed as late as St. Patrick’s Day. Early spring ephemeral flowers bloomed in the park about 4 days later than in 2013, which had been 17 days later than the very warm Spring of 2012!

Spring bird sightings brought our Park Bird List up to 112 species with additions including Wild Turkey(!), Worm-eating Warbler, Cooper’s and Broad-winged Hawks, and a Mother’s Day Yellow-throated Vireo! We observed a Pileated Woodpecker over several days as it bored a series of holes in a tree, and watched a pair of Tufted Titmouse take deliveries of moss to their nest. Exciting sightings at the pond were remarkably-patterned Wood Ducks, and Solitary Sandpipers!

For our third year, we tracked the timing of the emergence in the park of both emphemeral Bloodroot flowers and American Toads. Each year, the toads have emerged at the pond 5-6 days after the Bloodroot buds appeared on the western hill, or 4-5 days after the full Bloodroot flowers. In 2014, the Bloodroot buds appeared on April 7, and the toads 5 days later on April 12 – the same day as the 60th Anniversary Great Media Easter Egg Hunt! You can read a father’s charming account of taking his daughters to the Egg Hunt and to see the toads at the pond. For more on “phenology,” the study of timing in nature, see our Spring 2013 photojournal.

In Summer, Delaware County Parks & Recreation did substantial work in the park, with emergency streambank repairs by the pond, and repairs to the historical stage from a fallen 110-year-old White Ash. We watched fly fishing lessons at the pond by Delco Manning Trout Unlimited and Sporting Gentleman, enjoyed our third year of summer concerts in the park, and we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary!

Click on any photo below for a closer look, or scroll through them all. You can compare our 2014 spring and summer to other years in my photojournals, starting in August 2011. And many of these photos have more detailed captions in our Facebook albums. 

The second of three summer concerts at Glen Providence Park, scheduled Saturday August 2nd with Sonoma Sound, was played under cloudy skies; where the band laid down a sweet, funky, reggae groove that made the crowd feel sunny and happy. They played most of the cuts from their latest CD, “Skin and Bone”, many consisting of uplifting, inspirational lyrics sung over the band’s signature sound. (You can get a listen at their website “SonomaSound.com” if you like.)

The band members are all local musicians and displayed many talents with their playing bursting from the two guitars, keyboard, bass and drums in the band. The crowd of 150 went home happy; and who would not after listening to this head swinging music in a great park on the best of afternoons?

– Paul

A special thank you is in order to Delaware County Parks & Recreation. On July 8, a huge 110-year-old White Ash tree fell in a storm, damaging the 1937 concert stage. Delaware County Parks & Recreation removed the Ash tree and limbs of other damaged trees, and repaired the masonry stage in time for our concert! You can see a photo below of the tree fallen on the stage.

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, our volunteers, Marcia Tate for her artful decoration of the stage, the 150 people who attended, our tireless Concert Chair Lisa Johnson, and of course the talented musicians of Sonoma Sound!

– Stephanie

Guest blogger Paul Schlenker is on the Concert Committee of Friends of Glen Providence Park.

You can scroll through the concert photos by George Tate…

Summer is fast approaching, it’s time to catch up with last summer’s photojournal of Glen Providence Park! It’s interesting to look back at what plants and wildlife are prevalent through the seasons and years. Here’s a sampling of what can be seen as the thermostat rises…

Last summer we had record rainfall, with the wettest July on record! It was second in total rainfall only to August 2011, which had brought us Hurricane Irene. Torrential rain in July both dislodged the pond intake, eliminating flow to the pond, and moved the boardwalk in the wetlands on the Shingle Mill Trail over several feet. We and County Parks were able to stabilize the pond intake (with repeated rock-moving!), but the boardwalk is still displaced.

All that rain had the plants growing fast – making the park especially lush, and keeping our Invasive Plant Removal crew busy! Blooms were a little late after a cool Spring – the Mountain Laurel along its eponymous trail was in bloom in the first week of June, while the native Rhododendron along the Ice House Trail bloomed later than usual, in the last week of June.

In summer, the pond is abuzz with life including damselflies, dragonflies, butterflies, and bees. Children (and adults!) love watching turtles and frogs at the pond, and fishing is a common activity. For those who look closely, there is much more to discover in the park – including fungi, which are amazingly varied and can be surprisingly elegant.

You can click on any photo below for a closer look, and scroll through them all – and you can also view them on our flickr page!  There are more pictures in our facebook albums, and in our Summer 1.1 Acre Project photos. You can compare our 2013 Summer to other years in my photojournals for June and July 2012, and my first photojournal from August 2011.  

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Join us for our Early Spring Cleanup in Glen Providence Park!  This is the first of our three main volunteer days we have scheduled this year: the next two are CRC Watersheds Annual Streams Cleanup on May 3, and National Public Lands Day on September 27.  We also have regular Invasive Plant Removal Days – see our 2014 Schedule of Events for more information on our volunteer days and nature walks!

Early Spring Clean-up!

Saturday, March 15
rain date Sunday, March 16
9:00-11:30am
Glen Providence Park – main entrance

Please register by emailing FriendsoftheGlen[AT]gmail[DOT]com so we can plan for project teams. 

Projects:

Depending on conditions with the stream level, mud, and remaining snow, we will have a few possible projects including those listed below- you can choose where you want to help!

• Invasives Removal!  Help keep the trails clear and give the native plants some room to grow.
• Large trash: Now that the snow is melting, we will check to see if there are any remaining tires or other large items that were hidden last year.
• Trail Cleanup: Of course, there is always trash clean-up- early spring is a good time to tackle trash that has blown into odd spots, before the vegetation grows!
• Stream Cleanup: Those with waterproof foot gear can help clear any debris from the stream bank.

Logistics:

Meet at the Glen Providence Park main entrance on West State Street in Media at 9:00 am. Bring gloves if you have them.  Additional gloves generously provided by CRC Watersheds Association.  We recommend long pants and long sleeves to protect against poison ivy, ticks, and thorns.

• If you’d like to tackle trash along the streambank, wear water proof boots!
• If you’d like to help remove invasives, bring pruners if you have them.
• If you’d like to help remove large trash, bring a shovel!

Rain plan:
Our rain date is Sunday, March 16 at 9:00 am. If the weather is not clear, we will post here and on our facebook wall by 8:45 am Saturday advising whether we will use the rain date.

On National Public Lands Day, the Friends of Glen Providence Park will plant native trees and shrubs along Broomall’s Run by the pond, to help stabilize the streambank in an area of serious erosion. This project will also create a riparian buffer, improve wildlife habitat, and beautify the park!

National Public Lands Day

Native Tree & Shrub Planting!
Saturday, September 28
rain date Sunday, September 29
9:00-12:00noon
Glen Providence Park – main entrance

We had a lot of fun at our streamside buffer planting for Earth Day in 2012– join us as we take on this next planting project! We are incredibly grateful to the Delaware County Conservation District for approving a Mini-Grant, to Delaware County Parks & Recreation for providing funds for this project, and to CRC Watersheds for contributing deer fencing. We further thank Delaware County’s Parks & Recreation and Conservation District for their guidance in selecting and planning this project!

This is the 3rd National Public Lands Day the Friends of Glen Providence Park has participated in, and our 8th public volunteer day, in addition to smaller projects and regular Invasive Plant Removal days. It’s the 20th Anniversary of National Public Lands Day- the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands!

To help us plan our time effectively, and to plan for refreshments, we ask that you RSVP for this event at FriendsoftheGlen [AT] gmail.com- please let us know the number of volunteers in your party.

Volunteering details:

We will update this description as we identify other relevant details for volunteers. Please contact us to register.

Estimated time: 9:00am-12:00pm
Lunch and drinks will be provided for registered volunteers – pizza generously donated by Pinocchio’s Pizza!

Activities will include:
– digging holes for the trees and shrubs
– spreading woodchips
– installing deer protection around trees and shrubs
– water bucket line from Broomall’s Run (great for kids!)
– sitting back and admiring the new plants!

Items that would be helpful to bring, if you have them:
– gloves
– shovels and spades
– pickaxe
– rake
– wheelbarrow

Of course, we also welcome anyone who wants to participate by picking up trash along the trails and stream!

Rain plan:
Our rain date is Sunday, September 29 at 9:00 am. If the weather is not clear, we will post here and on our facebook wall by 8:45 am Saturday advising whether we will use the rain date.

To add this event to your favorite calendar program (iCal, Outlook, Google, etc.), view the event listing on our calendar.

Thank you, we hope to see you on National Public Lands Day!