Cameron County Community Chest April Update

 

Cameron County Community Chest April Update

As of April 15th, we have collected $18,475 toward our $19,000 goal. Thanks to all who have contributed so far. We are almost there.

This month’s featured organization will be the Garden Club.

The Garden Club uses funds raised for their projects to beautify our community. The members of this club plant and take care of the flowers & shrubs at the Library, Veterans’ Memorial Park, Northwest Savings Bank, Citizens and Northern Bank and the containers in the Downtown area. They do the seasonal decorations inside the library. The Garden club takes care of the atrium at Guy & Mary Felt Manor and the Assisted Living planters. They club participates in the October Festival at Sizerville State Park and has a display at the Cameron County Fair. They also do litter pick up and recycling for a two-mile stretch of Rt.120W three times a year as part of the “Adopt-A-Highway” program. Several years ago, they were able to purchase and install a Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker at the Cameron County Veterans’ Park.

The theme this year for the Emporium Garden Club is: “The Art of Community Gardening”. The object of the club is to develop the knowledge and love of gardening for the mutual benefit of members and community. We maintained the same theme as 2020 because we were not able to have in person meetings.

The Club has many activities planned for 2021 but things are going to look a little different. We have started our year with a Spring Fling where we met and had a brunch followed by members and guests making a spring wreath. In April, several members will participate in a Zoom meeting with the librarian to learn about savings seeds and heirloom seeds. Zelena Kisler is hoping to establish a Seed Bank and we plan to come along side her in this new endeavor. She will also be our guest speaker in April. We are still proceeding with our annual plantings in downtown Emporium, the Library, and the Vets’ Park in May when weather permits. We are also planning a ZOOM tour of Kristine Schuckers Finck’s farm. The following meetings have been planned but may have to be modified as we see fit to comply with any virus issues. In June we will have our meeting at Sizerville State Park with fellow member Darlene Davis speaking about hummingbirds. We will follow that with the making of a hummingbird swing. July has us again having our meeting at Sizerville State Park with Jim Zoschg Jr. teaching us about invasives. August brings us to the Cameron County Fair where we will have a display and participate in the Jan Hampton Conservation Night with a craft for the children. In September we are planning a Harvest Dinner and seed and perennial exchange. In October we hope to participate in the Fall Festival at Sizerville State Park. We also plan to make milkweed flowers. We plan to have Kristine Schuckers Finck come and bring along many varieties of her vegetables from her farm. This will be contingent on the weather and her harvest. In November we hope to have a workshop at the Library with the public entitled “Decorating with Books” for the holiday season. We will also be decorating the downtown areas with greens. Please watch the local newspaper for our meeting dates, places, and activities as they are subject to change. We have also received a large grant from the “Plant America” program to refurbish the gardens at the Elementary School and after many postponements and lack of supplies, we are happy to report that we have completed half of the raised beds. Hopefully, we can start again this summer with an amazing group of volunteers to do additional upgrades to the school gardens and greenhouses.

Watch for information on the upcoming events and ways to help in our community. Volunteers and new members are always welcome. For more information on the Garden Club, these activities, to participate in the activities, or if you would like to make a donation to the Garden Club, please contact Jill Perry.

The 2021 CCCC Fund Drive will stay open until September 30th. No donation/memorial is too small. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to: Cameron County Community Chest, PO Box 134, Emporium, PA. 15834, Attn: Judd Schager. Or, check out our Facebook page and hit the PayPal button. Help to support the Recreation Board, Community Nurses, Red Cross, Friends of the Library, Package Team, Garden Club, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Sylvan Heritage, 4-H, SPCA and Special Community Requests.