Project Headwaters Blog

Blair Mill Elementary School Watershed Day May 1st

2010-04-08T14:43:00.002-04:00

Save the Date!!!
We need your help for…

Watershed day
Blair mill elementary
Saturday, May 1st

Tree Revitalize Planting
Blair Mill families and community members will follow up on the 175 trees planted last year along the stream behind our school.

Ground breaking for Clearbrook Park Project
This project includes dedication of the park as well as planting of the wetlands and teaching the importance, value and function of wetlands in the watershed.

Blair Mill Run Study
Group studies of the aquatic and insect life in Blair Mill Run. Learn how the type of fish and insects tell us about the health of our streams.

Backyard Habitat
Includes a demonstration of a backyard garden that provides a habitat for birds and butterflies.

Lawns to Meadows
Focus on the lawns to meadows project on Blair Mill’s property.

Various presentations by environmental organizations.

Food and fun activities for kids!

Several organizations have donated their time and money for this project. Look for the sign-up flyer to follow in the near future! You won’t want to miss this event!

Watershed Day Thank You

2009-07-09T11:03:00.004-04:00

The first annual Blair Mill Elementary School Watershed Day was a tremendous success. I hope that this event will become a model for the local schools, and that in time every school in the watershed has a similar annual event.

We broke ground for the Clearbrook Park wetlands project - thanks to Donna Pitz, and the folks from the Beneficia Foundations. Horsham Township has agreed to do the work, and it looks like this project will begin sometime this summer. Shandor Szalay has done a great job keeping this project moving forward.

The Blair Mill Elementary community came through with a terrific performance. This event was all about cooperation, and the school staff went above and beyond.

Nancy Doherty - You led the way, and the day's success is due to your leadership.

Rachel Hartman and Luke Rhodes led the Stream Naming Contest. Now this pretty little stream has a name - Babbling Beagle Brook (after the school's mascot Biscuit the Beagle. Thanks Rachel and Luke.

Sharon Curtis and Carolyn Koch led the Children's activities, and did a great job. The face painting, relay races, and stream mural were big hits.

Jim Brant worked with Tony Federici of URS on the Rain Garden. The Phila.Water Dept. was instrumental in funding this demonstration project - thank you. I had the chance to see the Rain Garden before, during and after construction, and I'm impressed. What a great project. Hopefully the parents learned how they can incorporate a rain garden into their landscaping plans.

Jim also worked with Rich Terry on the Fish Tank. I'm not sure if you had a chance to see it in the school lobby, but it is fabulous. Great job.

Bonnie Mirarchi worked on the Sister School program. We're not there yet, but we'll get this going shortly. Thanks Bonnie.

Kathy Dick handled the food and the music, and it was terrific. Kathy thanks for all your hard work and support. We couldn't have done it without you.

Thanks to Mary who kept our feet tapping, and the children dancing.

Thanks to Bob, Joe and Jack who set-up the gym and the play area.

Thanks to everyone at Blair Mill Elementary for your help and support.

Thanks to the Hatboro Horsham School District for your support.

Thanks to Horsham Township for your support.

Thanks to Susan Harris and Kristina Henderson from the Montgomery County Conservation Dept. Susan coordinated the TreeVitalize Grant that paid for the 190 trees and shrubs that we planted along Blair Mill Run, and designed the planting scheme for the trees. Great job Susan.

Kristina brought the interactive watershed display that captivated the children. Thanks Kristina.

Jeanne Waldowski from PWD coordinated the Rain Barrel program, which was sold out. We gave away 59 rain barrels to local residents, and will install one at the school. Great job Jeanne.

Jason Cruz and Gerald Bright from PWD have helped all along the way. Jason is the Project Headwaters webmaster, and Gerald has been working with the school during the year. Plus they set-up and manned the PWD display Saturday - the bugs are always a big hit. Thanks for all your help.

Bob Lyon from the PA Fish and Boat Commission was on hand, and apparently got more that a few people interested in giving fishing a try. Thanks Bob.

David Burke - thanks for joining us, and supporting this event.

Paul Racette has supported Project Headwaters from the start, and he came through again Saturday. Great display on Lawns to Meadows. I saw Paul talking to a number of local residents, who hopefully will give the lawns to meadows concept a try. Also, Paul is leading a project to put a Lawns to Meadows BMP on school property. Let us know how we can help.

Thanks to Tom Flannery and the TU crew - you know who you are. We got 190 trees and shrubs in the ground. Great job.

A special thanks to Kevin Spearing who provided the water truck and the dingo. Kevin, please thank the contractor who so graciously provided the dingo to drill the holes for the trees. It really made the tree planting job much easier. We really appreciate it. Also thanks for the water truck - each tree got a drink to start their new life along Blair Mill Run.

Kevin and Ken - thanks for your help both Friday and Saturday. You guys really came through for us, and we thank you.

Thanks to everyone who helped and participated. I apologize if I missed you. You made the day a tremendous success. See you next year.

Mike Wilson
Project Headwaters
SEMC Trout Unlimited

Directions and Agenda for Blair Mill Watershed Day Event

2009-04-22T17:05:00.004-04:00

Directions : From County Line Road - left onto Blair Mill Road to Crestview Road, right on Crestview to Bender, right on Bender @ 2 blocks to the school.

From Route 611 - right onto Blair Mill Road, past the shopping center and Moreland Road, left on Crestview Road to Bender, right on Bender @ 2 blocks to the school.

Note : Crestview Road is not well marked. If you look for the street sign for Monument Road - Crestview Road is directly across from Monument Road.

Click for Google Map of Location

Agenda
Saturday the event will "Open" at 9:00 AM. Activities as follows :

9:30 Groundbreaking at Clearbrook Park ( next to the school )
10:00 Tree Planting begins
11:00 Begin planting the Rain Garden.
12:00 Name the Stream Contest winner will be announced, and Raffle Prize winners will be drawn.
12:30 Rain Barrel Workshop begins.
2:00 Wrap-up Event

Free Rain Barrel* Workshop at Blair Mill Elementary School 4/25/2009

2009-03-26T20:15:00.004-04:00

Residents in the headwaters of Pennypack Creek can do their part to conserve water and help minimize the impact of runoff from roofs by installing a rain barrel. This workshop will feature:

• Brief overview of the rainwater cycle
• Green Homes update
• Information on the importance of stormwater management at home
• Instructions on the installation and use of a rain barrel

The first 60 residents that have pre-registered for and attend the
workshop will receive a FREE RAIN BARREL*!

This workshop is sponsored by the Philadelphia Water Department, in partnership with Project Headwaters, Southeastern Montgomery County Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Hatboro-Horsham School District and Blair Mill Elementary School. Sign up today at phillywatersheds.org/rainbarrel

*One free rain barrel per household. This program is limited to residents of Zip Codes 19040, 19044, and 19090 only

Blair Mill Elementary School Watershed Day April 25, 2009

2009-03-17T07:17:00.003-04:00

The Program of activities for the April 25th Watershed day at Blair Mill Elementary School has been finalized:

TreeVitalize Planting

Blair Mill families and community members will plant 175 trees along the stream behind our school.

Ground breaking for Clearbrook Park Project

Storm water management and planting of a natural wetland in Clearwater Park will be introduced to the community.

Rain Barrel Program

Sixty rain barrels will be given away to community members after an information session on their importance and use.

Rain Garden Planting

Blair Mill families and community members will plant a rain garden on our school property.

Name the Stream Contest

Winner will be announced at the event.

Various presentations by environmental organizations.

Food and fun activities for kids!

Several organizations have donated their time and money for this project. Look for the sign-up flyer to follow in the near future! You won’t want to miss this event!

for more information contact
Mike Wilson

Project Headwaters to Present at 2009 Delaware Estuary Science Conference

2008-12-11T13:32:00.001-05:00

Project Headwaters has been selected to present at the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary's Science and Environmental Summit 2009. This event will be held Jan. 11-14 at The Grand Hotel in Cape May, New Jersey. We're very excited for this opportunity to share the message of Project Headwaters with a wide audience of local scientists and watershed managers.

Download the Project Headwaters Presentation Abstract

More Information about the 2009 Delaware Estuary Science and Environmental Summit 2009

Project Headwaters Video Featured on StormwaterPA

2008-08-22T12:51:00.000-04:00

Project Headwaters is a featured video on StormwaterPA.

This video was shot during the first round of planting at the Natural Lands Trust. Mike Wilson and Shandor Szalay were interviewed, talking about the principles and goals of Project Headwaters. The video is about 7 minutes long and can be viewed directly at StormwaterPA Case Studies: Project Headwaters.

You can also request a copy of the StormwaterPA video on DVD by completing the online form on the StormwaterPA website.

Project Headwaters Has a Blog!

2008-08-13T14:30:00.000-04:00

Project Headwaters Blog is up and running. Over the next couple of weeks I'll try to tweak the settings and the website to make them more user friendly.

Pennypack Watershed Stormwater Basin Inventory Identifies Priority Basins in Headwaters

2008-08-08T10:40:00.000-04:00

Dan Fitzgerald has been working on a stormwater basin inventory and he's finished all the basins in the Pennypack. Several of the top priority basins (based on proximity to headwaters and preliminary drainage area/basin area) are ones we've already been looking at in Horsham township! Nice when the facts match your preconceived ideas.

We'd like to survey the Luken's park ones next week if possible. Do you guys have any contacts such as maintenance/parks and rec department/Twp engineer, etc. that we should check with ahead of time? For the HydroCAD model we'll need to know about all pipes, etc. that are not obvious in the field survey.

Blair Mill Elementary School - Watershed Day Event

2008-08-05T11:42:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the planning for the Blair Mill Elementary School - Watershed Day event. We met last week with the Blair Mill Team, and came up with a number a great ideas for this event. the tentative date for the event is April 25th. We picked this date because it ties into some other Earth Day activities. The Project Headwaters team will coordinate the event. This is our first attempt at this type of event, so any and all suggestions are welcome. Attached is an outline of some of the ideas that came out of our meeting last week. Take a look and let me know what you think. The Blair Mill team will be working to integrate the Watershed theme into various school events and activities during the school year. Project Headwaters will help with technical support whenever possible. If you have an idea, let me know. We're hoping to kick off the project with an Assembly early in the school year, to introduce the Watershed theme to the children and the school community. I'll keep you informed as this event shapes up.

thanks,
Mike

Tree Planting at Natural Lands Trust - A Message from Mike Wilson

2008-05-09T08:55:00.000-04:00

Our Spring Planting on the NLT property took place on Saturday and Sunday. I am pleased to report that all 500 trees and shrubs were planted, and each one was fenced against the deer. I can hardly believe that we were able to complete this project in just 2 days. I wanted to thank each volunteer who helped make this possible. I really appreciate all your hard work and dedication.
However, there are several people that deserve special recognition. Susan Harris for developing the planting plan, and helping to lay out the site. Ed and Karen Thompson for all their support, and the wonderful food - outstanding. Tom Flannery for his work on Friday to prepare the site, as well as Sat. and Sunday - fantastic. And all the volunteer who came both days - you know who you are. This project could not have been completed without all these contributions.
I'm looking forward to the day we can all visit the NLT site, and sit under the trees we planted. Thanks again to everyone who supported this Project Headwaters project.