The new $43,400 electronic at the Westfall campus of Delaware Valley School District is now in operation. The sign was installed by Sign Here of Port Jervis, N.Y.

For weeks it had been just two brick posts, but now the electronic screen and topper sign are in place.

It is readable to drivers from both directions on Route 6/209, and a bit distracting.

The new sign grabs attention with bright colors and moving graphics which can be changed from a computer.

Messages such as “progress reports to go home” will be presented with more glitz.

Several messages can rotate on the board, increasing the communication possibilities.

Jeff Longo acting Pike County manager

PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch recognized 30 PennDOT employees for outstanding performance recently, with the Star of Excellence Award, PennDOT’s highest recognition. Two employees from PennDOT’s district 4, which represents Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties were among the honorees.

Jeff Longo acting Pike County manager, and Joseph Antosh, district 4 information technology coordinator, were honored last week at an awards luncheon at the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg.

Longo put together an aggressive work plan for Pike County, implementing the use of a Gantt chart that allows employees to keep up to date on scheduled tasks and completion dates. In addition to his regular summer maintenance activities, he took time to focus on areas where winter ice conditions had created concerns for the public. He assumed the role of acting manager during a time when Pike was struggling to fix its failing infrastructure a PennDOT press release said. Longo faced a tornado, two hurricanes and a major tropical storm.

Antosh came to PennDOT during a busy time in the Information Technology Department. He only had three months to become familiar with the organization before three major IT rollouts took place over a four month window. He handled it with minimal interruption to operations.

The Star of Excellence Awards are presented annually to employees who represent PennDOT’s values of service, performance and integrity.

A giant sized check is usually part of the deal when a large donation is officially handed over. You can’t cash the big check, it is just for show, and usually ends up in the trash.

But gas pipeline company Kinder Morgan used the real thing, a regular sized check suitable for cashing, when it officially gave the National Park Service $41,000 Thursday, to keep Milford Beach open this summer in Delaware Gap National Recreation Area.

Kinder Morgan Public Affairs Director Allen Fore presented the check to park Superintendent John Donahue at Milford. Former Pike County Commissioner Harry Forbes, liaison to Governor Tom Corbett, who helped facilitate the donation, was present.

NPS had planned to close the beach as part of federal sequestration budget cuts.

Kinder Morgan Public Affairs Director Allen Fore committed the company to donate the money to cover 2013 operational costs for Milford Beach.

If the beach, picnic area, boat launch, canoe access, parking lot and trailhead to the McDade Recreational Trail head had been closed, the local recreation and tourism industry would have suffered, some feared.

volunteer now and harvest love later

The Milford Garden Club Community Garden club, in partnership with Home Depot and Milford Township produced over 300 pounds of fresh vegetables, herbs and flowers for the benefit of the Ecumenical Food Pantry last year.

Home Depot has renewed its grant to the club this year. Now the club is able to quadruple the size of its growing space in Milford Township.

The club needs volunteers to water and nurture the garden throughout the summer. This volunteer service could be one day a month, one day a week or just one day. It is a great experience for all ages.

The club will soon plant the flower urns throughout Milford, and is preparing for the Secret Garden Tour  later in the growing season.

To help with the garden project or join the club, call  570.296.5326

Eastern Pike Regional Police Department is working to improve pedestrian safety in Matamoras Borough by continuing crosswalk enforcement initiatives along Pennsylvania Avenue.

The crosswalk awareness initiatives involve an off-duty, undercover police officer posing as a pedestrian crossing at a crosswalk.  If oncoming drivers don’t stop for the pedestrian as required by law the vehicle will be pulled over by a marked patrol car further down the street.

Motorists can face fines of $100 for failure to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Crosswalk awareness initiatives are planned throughout the Borough with additional “yield to pedestrians in cross walk” signs being posted.  Locations chosen are close to homes and businesses where the cross walks are used frequently.

The crosswalk awareness initiative is funded through a grant from the aaggressive driving special projects program funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.  Because the program uses off-duty police officers, it does not divert police resources from other crime-fighting efforts.

The annual Paddle and River Clean Up for high school students happens June 8, on the Upper Delaware River. Students will earn eight community service hours for graduation while experiencing the beauty of the river and learning about the local watershed, wildlife, and recreation. 

This year’s clean up trip is limited to the first twenty students who register.

Volunteers remove a tremendous amount of litter and waste from the floor and banks of the river. 

This year, volunteers will be skimming both the Pennsylvania and New York shorelines for litter and whenever safely possible, removing trash from the river bottom.

Volunteers who have registered will meet at the Zane Grey Museum in Lackawaxen, at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 8.

The National Park Service will provide the vehicle shuttle, canoes, lifejackets, and paddles. 

The clean up happens rain or shine. Volunteers should expect to get wet, so please be prepared with the appropriate gear including extra clothing, proper footwear, a lunch, plenty of water, a hat, sun screen, and dry-bag. 

To register, call Park Ranger Brandon Diefenbach by Thursday, June 6 at (570) 685-4871.

Did someone say cake?

The Malibu Dude Ranch is hosting a Rodeo Kickoff Party Saturday, May 4 with TLC’s Cake Boss revealing a rodeo-inspired cake, and a bull and bronc Clinic open to the public.

The Cake Boss reality show is filming an episode for the American Pro Rodeo Association. The cake will be delivering the cake to Malibu Ranch on Saturday and revealed at 5 p.m.

It kicks off the 2013 rodeo season at the ranch.

Riders from the American Pro Rodeo Association will participate in a bull and bronc clinic between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Participants will learn the skills of riding a bull in a rodeo. Registrations still accepted Saturday morning.

Ranch owner Dr. Allan Detweiler welcomes the public to watch the clinic for free.

The ranch is also offering special weekend accommodation packages during the event, which includes meals and use of all amenities like horseback trail rides, indoor heated pool, rowboat on the lake, shooting range, tennis courts and more.

Malibu Ranch is an authentic working ranch at 351 Foster Hill Road, three miles from Milford.

Look for the summer series American Pro Rodeo Association shows at the ranch every Saturday starting June 29 through Labor Day.  Rodeos will start at 7 p.m.  Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for kids age 12–12 under 5 free starting Jun 29- through Labor Day.

An original documentary film, “Seeking the Greatest Good,” to air on WVIA Television, chronicles the legacy of Gifford Pinchot’s conservation philosophy, and celebrates its value for understanding and solving the conservation challenges of our own era. 

The broadcast premiere of “Seeking the Greatest Good” is Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m. on WVIA-TV.

Milford native Gifford Pinchot was the first American forester, and helped establish the National Forests and the US Forest Service, where he served as its first Chief under President Theodore Roosevelt.  Pinchot advocated for the sustainable management of natural resources for the continuing benefit of the nation as a whole, “the greatest good to the greatest number for the
longest run.”

These principles of practical conservation have emerged
as an effective way to address the kind of complex conservation
issues we face today.

This one-hour high definition film cinematically tells Pinchot’s
life story, career achievements, development of his principles and
connection to the Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford,
through archival documents, film photographs, and interviews
with historian Char Miller; New York Times contributing reporter and award-winning author, Tim Egan; Theodore Roosevelt IV; Yale
University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Dean (retired),
John Gordon; Forest Service Chief, Tom Tidwell; Pinchot Institute
president Al Sample; Grey Towers director Allison Stewart; and Pinchot
family representatives.

On September 24, 1963, President Kennedy addressed a crowd on the lawn of Grey Towers, the Pinchot home in Milford, Pennsylvania, hailing Gifford
Pinchot as “a practical idealist.”  The President was there to recognize
the Pinchot family for their gift of Grey Towers to the nation, and
dedicate the Pinchot Institute for Conservation Studies. 

Grey Towers serves not only as a national landmark, but also as a metaphorical covenant to the conservationist values of Gifford Pinchot and a haven for the democratic ideals engrained in his legacy. 

To ensure the continuation of these values, the Pinchot family, the Forest Service, and leading environmental thinkers of the time established the Pinchot Institute to do research, policy analysis, and conservation education.

“Seeking the Greatest Good” also showcases the value of the Pinchot
Institute’s research and outreach programs to communities and the
sustainable management of local resources, from the waters of the Delaware
River to the forests of the Pacific Northwest and Ecuador.

Encore presentations of “Seeking the Greatest Good” can be seen on
Thursday, April 25 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 28 at 3 p.m. on WVIA-TV.

“Seeking the Greatest Good” was produced by Via Studios Global, a division
of WVIA Public Media and distributed by American Public Television.

Jane Mangini, who has spent 12 years touring with Trans-Siberian Orchestra and has a home in Pike County, will kick off this year’s Winter Wednesdays music series, hosted by The Columns Museum in Milford.

Mangini began playing music on a toy piano given to her by her grandfather.  She says she tortured her parents playing it until they finally bought her a real one.

Although she has taken a few lessons Mangini is mostly a self-taught musician.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra has sold more than 7 million albums.

Mangini will perform with Terri Dixon and drummer Sandy Bookie, Feb. 27th at 7p.m.  Tickets are $30 and include wine and cheese served at your table in the intimate cabaret setting of The Foundation Room of the Columns Museum.  Reserve a space by calling 570-296-8126.

Taco Bell General Manager Jim Schmidt watches as Kaitlynn Kirkland and Jean Brady cook and Samantha Gulla prepares supplies.

Has Pike County gone taco crazy? The restaurant officially opened at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Workers say a man was waiting for them to unlock the door because he wanted to be able to say he was the first to eat there. They didn’t catch his name, but they remember he ordered a black bean burrito.

Another example of how eagerly some have waiting for the opening happened about three weeks before opening,

Security cameras with at least four views of the restaurant send live video of the place directly to Taco Bell Co-owner Bhavesh CQ Patel’s smartphone.

Patel says he glanced at his phone in the middle of the night and noticed a car had driven through the yellow tape that closed the parking lot. The car went to the drive through and waited for about 20 minutes before giving up all hope for a late night crunch. 

Throughout construction, when the restaurant was clearly closed, wannabe customers often stopped to ask if the restaurant was serving yet, Patel said.

Taco Bell employs between 35 and 40 people. The restaurant will be open in the dining area until 10 p.m., and the drive-thru will be open until 1 a.m.