Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

  Winter Trek is a celebration of the beautiful trails of the Marilla Watershed. Come join us for a day of outdoor recreation and camaraderie in the winter wonderland of Marilla.  Guided hike, xc ski, and fat bike trips for experienced outdoor enthusiasts or an easy hike around the reservoir for casual enjoyment. Bonfire and refreshments provided free to the public. Shuttles to the top of Marilla Springs via Stickney Road will give adventurers a thrilling four-mile descent back to the bonfire, hotdogs, s'mores, and hot drinks at the Gazebo.   Send in your donation via PayPal and chose Winter Trek to enter the raffle for a new set of XC skis.  $5/1 chance $20/5 chances $50/15 chances   Chances will also be available for purchase the day of event at the gazebo cash only.   A new cross-country ski package will be raffled off at 3pm at the Gazebo. Those that donate online need not be present to win

The City of Bradford has received $75,000 in grant money for installation of the Hanley Park Trail and Fitness Area. The project is the final leg connecting the Community Parks Trail to Hanley Park. The fitness loop in the upper portion of the park is expected to include trails with information boards marking exercise stations. The grant from the Greenway Trails & Recreation Program will cover part of the $208,000 cost of the project. ~~~ HARRISBURG – The Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) has approved a total of $2,086,132 for six energy, trail and water and sewer projects in the 25th Senatorial District, announced Senator Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson). The projects approved for funding are a part of four different programs that are administered by the CFA, including the Flood Mitigation Program, Abandoned Mine Drainage Abatement & Treatment Program, Alternative & Clean Energy Program and Greenways Trails & Recreation Program. “I am pleased that six projec...

You can find even more activities at http://www.wesb.com/news/comcal/ Or: Discover the Tuna Valley Trails http://tunavalleytrail.com/ Make a terrarium Learn to knit or do woodworking Visit a nursing home Read a book http://www.bradfordlibrary.org/ Use your imagination The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

http://www.wesb.com/news/comcal/ If none of that appeals to you ... Take a hike (or walk or run or bike ride) http://www.tunavalleytrail.com/ Visit Kinzua Bridge State Park while the fall foliage is still beautiful. Or visit any state park. National parks are closed but all the state parks are open for business. http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/kinzuabridge/ Read a book http://www.bradfordlibrary.org/ Watch a movie (Gravity's playing -- George Clooney & Sandra Bullock: Eye candy for everyone. And they're Oscar winners, too, of course.) http://bradford.dipsontheatres.com/ If you don't have a hobby -- start one. Photography, baking, cooking, knitting, woodworking, looking for Bigfoot ... whatever. Just don't say, "there's nothing to do around here." The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Former Tuna Valley Trail Association president Mike Glesk, Bradford Mayor Tom Riel, state Department of Community and Economic Development deputy secretary Clyde "Champ" Holman and Bradford Office of Economic and Community Development executive director Sara Andrews get ready to cut the ribbon on the Pine Street Bridge this afternoon. Not pictured is Julie Marasco, a president of Northwest Saving Bank, which was instrumental in completing the project. WESB photo To see more photos, go to our Facebook page, Facebook.com/1490wesb . To hear the remarks made during the ceremony, click here . The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The deadline to submit completed Tuna Trekker Trail Logs is Thursday, August 16th at the Red Cross office. If participants have been unable to finish their logs, the event committee is still asking that the logs be turned in along with any donations that were raised. For people participating in the GeoCoin Challenge, it is only necessary to have found 8 of the 10 caches. All participants will be considered for the various prizes that have been donated from local businesses. Anyone with questions regarding submitting their Trail Logs should contact the Red Cross office. If no one is available at the office when participants arrive to submit their logs, please place log through mail slot in the front door. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Nothing to do in Bradford? How 'bout a walk on one of the many trails in the Tuna Valley Trail System? These pictures were taken Monday afternoon on the Blaisdell Emery Trail. Oh, and by the way, walking the trails is absolutely free. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

These people and their pooch take a break on the Richard E. McDowell Community Trail to watch The Spin Doctor perform during the Sawyer Evangelical Church Inaugural Community Trail Walk to benefit the Tuna Valley Trail Association. You can see more pictures -- including The Spin Doctor -- at https://www.facebook.com/100.1thehero The event continues until 6 p.m. and they are offering free hot dogs, water and pop. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A blue-day sky with a light breeze drifting through the treetops deep within the Allegheny National Forest was the picture perfect setting for the trail dedication of the newly constructed Bullis Hollow Trail that took place at 10 a.m. today. Forest Supervisor Erin Connelly opened the dedication by highlighting the important numbers associated with this trail-2.5, 8.3 and 305. Volunteers from the Tuna Valley Trail Association first approached the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) with an idea for a new trail that would connect the Tracy Ridge Trail System to the Marilla Trail System located just west of the City of Bradford -2.5 years ago. Working together through the summer season of 2011, Tuna Valley Trail volunteers and ANF personnel completed on the ground final trail layout along with archaeological and biological surveys. Environmental assessment work was completed by Allegheny National Forest personnel in the fall of 2011 and trail construction was just completed in May 2012. The...

By SANDRA RHODES Great Places, Great Design, Inspiring Youth and Government Leadership Awards were presented to McKean County entities Wednesday evening at the Pennsylvania Wilds Annual Update hosted by the PA Wilds Planning Team on Wednesday, April 26. Rick Allan, Secretary of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; and Carolyn Newhouse, Dep. Sec. for Innovation & Investment at the Department of Community & Economic Development, Tourism & Film both presented on current efforts of their agencies in support of the great work being done in our region in developing heritage and nature tourism. Keynote speaker was Ted Eubanks of Fermata Inc. who has assisted Pennsylvania in planning for long term sustainable tourism development, first with the development of the Elk Scenic Drive and then the creation of the Pennsylvania Wilds marketing brand which is based on the footprint of the Lumber Heritage Region’s 12 counties. “I was very pleased to be a part of t...

The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Come rain or snow or shine – the Marilla Winter Trek will take place on Saturday. The annual event, now in its third year, will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at the Marilla Reservoir, located five miles west of the City of Bradford on Route 346. Sponsored by the Tuna Valley Trail Association, the winter trek generally includes cross-country skiing or snowshoeing on the agenda. However, in the event Mother Natures does not come through with some snow, the event will still be held and would focus on hiking the Marilla Trail System. The event, free and open to all ages, provides an outlet for people to escape cabin fever and hit the trails. A free shuttle service will be held to the top of Marilla Springs Trail for a four-mile return hike and Hidden Valley Trail for a one-mile return hike. A new geocaching component will take place from noon until 2 p.m. Temporary event caches – artic animals that turn white for winter - were placed along the Marilla Bridges and the Marilla Springs trails....

The fourth annual “Beyond Funny” improvisational comedy show by the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s Pitt Improvers will raise money to benefit the Tuna Valley Trail Association and CARE for Children. The family-friendly show will take place at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Bromeley Family Theater in Blaisdell Hall at Pitt-Bradford. Adult tickets are $5, and students and children are free. Tickets will be available at the door. Performers in the student improv troupe will create scenes on the spot based on suggestions from the audience. Last year’s show raised more than $1,000 for three Bradford-area nonprofit organizations. Kristin Asinger, Improvers advisor and visiting instructor of sports medicine, said that each year, the Improvers choose one to three organizations to be involved in the show. “The Tuna Valley Trail Association has made such an impact on our community for hikers, cross-country skiers and cyclists,” Asinger said of ch...

The location for the first of a series of public meetings to discuss local opinions on trail towns has been changed. The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and the Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau have teamed together to gauge local interest in developing the area into a “hot spot" for trail activities. The first meeting – set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4 – will now be held in the Mukaiyama University Room in the Frame-Westerberg Commons Building at Pitt-Bradford. Other meetings will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, at the Two Mile Inn, 3434 Route 155, Port Allegany; 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18, at the Kane Community Center, 46 Fraley St., Kane, for a combined Kane/Mount Jewett meeting; and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the Jefferson DeFrees Family Center, 267 Second Ave., Warren. All meetings are open to the public. The Pitt-Bradford research team is led by students in Dr. William Schumann’s Applied Anthropology course being offered this fall. Schumann can be reached at (81...

By SANDRA RHODES It’s no coin-incidence that there’s a new feature in the Trekking the Tuna Trails program this year. The Trekking the Tuna Trails, sponsored by the Tuna Valley Trail Association, is in its third year of raising money for the McKean-Potter Counties American Red Cross. Participants are asked to walk the trails in the Tuna Valley Trail System as well as help out the Red Cross. The program, currently underway, continues until Aug. 15. This year, a new challenge has been added into the trail mix. The Geocoin Challenge allows participants who raise $20 in addition to finding the nine geocaches on the nine trails of the TVTA plus a 10th cache when they turn in their log at the Red Cross, to earn a geocoin. The trackable geocoin, created by Glenn Melvin, is a two-inch wooden coin made of maple. One side has the Red Cross and Tuna Trekker logos, while the other side as the Erik Benjamin Covered Bridge, located at the Marilla Reservoir on West Washington Street. ...

By Kimberly Marcott Weinberg Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing When University of Pittsburgh at Bradford students Phylicia Patterson and Kaitlin Zapel went to Costa Rica last summer as Vira Heinz scholars, they gained a new appreciation for trees in the earth’s ecosystem. Now they’re working with educators at School Street Elementary School to help fourth- and fifth-graders there understand the importance of trees. After visiting Melissa Cornelius’s green and technology enrichment group last week to talk about the value of trees in the environment, the Pitt-Bradford students took the younger students to plant trees at the trailhead for the Tuna Valley Trail Association’s newest trail, the Blaisdell-Emery trail. The School Street students seemed to have learned their lessons well and could list quite a few reasons why trees are important to the environment as they planted Tuesday morning. “It takes in carbon dioxide and gives off oxy...

Voting is underway in the Ultimate Fishing Town Contest – and Bradford is one of the nominees. To vote, click on the following link: http://wfnfishingtown.com/town/bradford-pa

You can help make Bradford an Ultimate Fishing Town simply by telling people why you like living here. Listen to today's LiveLine with ANFVB Director Linda Devlin here , then go here to submit your nomination.

By SANDRA RHODES Bradford can have a great fish tale to boast, but it needs your help to win. Bradford has been nominated as the Ultimate Fishing Town USA by Linda Devlin, executive director of the Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau, the tourist promotion agency in McKean County. The winning town will receive a $25,000 community donation. Devlin said she nominated Bradford because of the outdoor recreation possibilities that are prevalent in this area. “Bradford is a place where you can wear fishing waders into a bar and not call attention to yourself,” she wrote in her nomination. “Bradford embraces its link to the outdoors.” Devlin cited the “Kinzua Fly Fishing School” that is held each May at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, a group of fishermen that meet once a week at the Historic Crook Farm to tie flies and The Lodge at Glendorn, an ORVIS-endorsed fly-fishing lodge. “It seems only natural that Bradford be recognized for its tie with fishing,” she said. “It’s part ...

More than 300 people turned out for Sunday’s second annual Marilla Winter Trek. Rick Lutz of the Tuna Valley Trails Association says, “Everything went great, including the weather. I am especially happy for Gene (Cornelius), who created the monster.” He said the hundreds of people were all over the Marilla area snowshoeing, hiking, cross-country skiing, ice fishing and geocaching. He said the geocache crew planted the caches a few weeks ago, and the snow covered up all traces of them. Lutz also said families were building snowmen out on the ice and the county rescue dive team did a demonstration. He said paramedics wee on hand as well, and local police helped with parking. He added that they went through “every bit of food” they had, along with 5 gallons of cider and 5 gallons of hot chocolate. Planning has already started for the third annual Marilla Winter Trek, hosted by the TVTA. “It is a lot of work,” Lutz said, “but worth it when it turns out so well.”