Upper Delaware bridges

DUNMORE — The New York-Pennsylvania Joint Interstate Bridge Commission has endorsed a concept to place signs underneath the 10 Upper Delaware River bridges. Water level gages are also being considered.

The National Park Service (NPS) Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River has offered to contribute up to $30,000, secured through competitive project funds, to assist the New York and Pennsylvania Departments of Transportation (DOT) with the design, production and installation of the signs. The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) and the Upper Delaware River Safety Committee have joined the NPS in recommending the proposal of bridge signs to benefit the public.

At the May 16 annual meeting of the bridge commission, NPS Upper Delaware Acting Superintendent Sandra Schultz said signs would not only orient river users to where they are, but they would also fulfill a safety role by helping to dispatch rescue personnel to a more precise location during any emergencies that occur.

The likely mechanism to move the project forward will be the signing of a cooperative agreement between the NPS and one state’s DOT to pursue the design. It is hoped that the signs will be installed by this fall on all but the Pond Eddy and Barryville-Shohola Bridges, which are both scheduled for replacement. If funding is available, a proposal was also introduced to place water level gages on each bridge.

June events at Kittatinny

DINGMANS FERRY — Kittatinny Canoes will hold a learn to canoe day on June 3. Participants will meet at Kittatinny’s Dingmans Ferry River Base, where certified instructors will teach novices the essentials of canoeing. The lessons are followed by a guided, eight-mile river trip.

Introduction to whitewater canoeing will be held on June 10. Participants meet at Kittatinny’s Matamoras River Base, where they will be shown basic techniques by certified instructors, to improve their canoeing skills. The lessons are followed by a10-mile whitewater river trip from the Pond Eddy, NY base to the Matamoras, PA base.

June 17 will feature a Father’s Day special, when dads will paddle for free on their choice of calm or whitewater canoeing or rafting trips, when they are accompanied by their family.

June 3 and June 24 are learn to kayak days. Certified instructors will meet and give participants instruction at the Matamoras River Base, and then accompany them on a 10-mile whitewater river trip from Pond Eddy, NY to Matamoras, PA.

For more information call 800/FLOAT-KC or visit www.kittatinny.com.

To the park!

TUSTEN — The Tusten Youth Commission will sponsor a trip to Dorney Park and Wild Water Kingdom on Tuesday, August 28 for all Tusten youth 18 years old and younger. The trip will be free.

Registration for the trip will be held on Monday, June 4, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Narrowsburg Central School cafeteria. There will be no late registration.

The ticket price for adults is $30. For seniors (60 and older) the price is $23. Non-Tusten children (must be under 48 inches tall) can purchase tickets for $23, and those three-years-old and under are $11.

This program is funded in part by a grant from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, through sponsorship by the Sullivan County Youth Bureau.

For more information call Dawn at 845/252-7358, Donna at 252-6668, Sari at 252-3063 or Anna at 252-3532.

Canal festival kicks off

REGION — On Saturday, June 2 the D&H Canal Festival, coordinated by the National Park Service (NPS) Rivers and Trails Program, features guided walks, a concert, special exhibits and open house events at 11 locations along the D&H Canal and gravity railroad from Carbondale, PA to Kingston, NY. All events are free and open to the public.

The Delaware and Hudson Canal runs 108 miles from Honesdale, PA to Kingston, NY. Today, many sections of its towpath, are open to the public as recreational trails. Graced with the canal’s magnificent stone walls, cut and laid by hand almost two centuries ago, the trails are rich with wildflowers, birds, wildlife and a sense of history. Several wonderful small museums in NY and PA also tell the D&H Canal’s story, and that of its gravity railroad.

A popular D&H site to visit along the Delaware River is John Roebling’s cable-suspension Delaware Aqueduct, his precursor to the Brooklyn Bridge, built in 1848 to transport canal boats across the river.

Community planting day
scheduled for June 2

NARROWSBURG — Bring your gloves and shovels to the Community Planting Day on June 2 by the Tusten-Cochecton Branch Library. The event is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Lunch will be served. Landscaping by the library is the primary project of the Narrowsburg Beautification Group, a competitor in the Sullivan Renaissance Summer 2001 beautification initiative.

The group is encouraging residents to plant mature lavender plants and trees in a unifying theme for the town, and hosted a successful Community Plant Swap last weekend.

The group meets at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesdays. Residents are encouraged to stop by to see how their own projects (fixing up your home) can count toward Narrowsburg’s beautification effort.

For more information visit the Tusten-Cochecton Library or call Mary Paige at 845/252-3360.