Forest Heritage Project Report,
2003-2006

       Few residents of rural Bradford, Lycoming and Potter Counties realize the enormity of their common cultural heritage, or understand the impact of the region's lumbering, stream and river systems and canals on America's settlement period.
       This project provided new insight into those concepts for participants in a variety of ways. Activities reached across the generations leaving children, teenagers, adults and senior citizens who participated enriched by new experiences, ideas and ways of thinking about their heritage and culture.
Many who participated are now actively seeking ways to continue their personal learning about the region, and to keep the message of this project moving forward and growing.
       Carol Lundy, retiring from a career as a fourth grade teacher at Ashkar Elementary School, is developing a project connecting students at East Lycoming School District in Hughesville with archeological projects at Muncy Historical Society.
       Art Metger, fourth grade teacher at Austin School District, hopes to continue incorporating similar enriching partnerships between community and school in subsequent years.
       Teachers at Hughesville High School and Ashkar Elementary School in East Lycoming School District and at Austin School District added NTCA presenters to their speaker/presenter roster for future years.
       Participating in this project was positive in some surprising ways for presenters as well. Lisa Deemy has presented hundreds of programs about American Indian heritage and culture throughout Pennsylvania. In her experience, fourth grade students cannot even usually identify the type of dwelling was used by Eastern Woodlands people. Austin fourth graders not only knew, they were among the most knowledgeable groups she ever worked with, allowing her to take them to the next level of understanding this aspect of their local heritage.

Wyalusing High School Project:
       During the spring of 2003, singer/songwriter Tom Flannery worked with students at Wyalusing High School in developing a song about Stephen Foster.
       Foster provides an important national link to the heritage of Bradford County as he studied at a private academy in nearby Athens in Bradford County.
       One of his earliest songs was "Oh! Susanna." Another beloved Foster song is "Camptown Races" written to commemorate another Bradford County Community.
       Foster wrote what he called 'people's music,' using verbal imagery and a musical vocabulary that could be easily understood. He sought to humanize the characters in his songs, and to convey a sense that all people, regardless of their ethnic identities or social and economic class, share the same longings and needs for family and home.
       He instructed white performers not to mock slaves but to make audiences feel compassion for them.
       Foster said he sought to "build up taste... among refined people by making words suitable to their taste, instead of the trashy and really offensive words, which belong to some songs of that order."
       He was a man with a mission, to reform black-face minstrelsy, then the most pervasive and powerful force in American popular culture. His legacy of tolerance and appreciation for the Endless Mountains Region is evident throughout his work.
       Flannery worked with students to develop an appreciation of their River and forest heritage using Foster's music and linking it to the present. Some students participated in a river paddle as part of this project. The song "Last Night I Saw Stephen Foster" was developed as a tribute to both songwriter and region and was performed during graduation ceremonies in 2003.
       Wyalusing High School Principal Marty Weisgold provided a video of the song written by Tom Flannery being performed. Flannery provided an mp3 of the song and published a web page dedicated to the project.
http://www.kikomusic.com/foster

Wyalusing High School Project NTCA Presenter
Tom Flannery, of Scranton, singer/songwriter and playwrite, is a graduate of Marywood College.

       NTCA board member Lucy Henry hand-transcribed the song into a copy suitable for framing. Copies were made and distributed to musicians involved in the project.
       Although no statistics were recorded at the time of this project, it is estimated that at least 12 students were heavily involved developing the song, several hundred students and community members were exposed to the song during graduation ceremonies, about 12 students participated in the river paddle, and participation during a parade increased community exposure to the music and project message.
       The song developed at Wyalusing High School and Foster's music connected the threads of lumber and river heritage throughout the three focus areas and activities of the Forest Heritage Project.
       Documentation was sought and some recovered for the Wyalusing portion of the Forest Heritage Project, which took place in 2003 under the direction of a previous project coordinator.

Lycoming County Project:

East Lycoming School District, 349 Cemetery Street, Hughesville, PA 17737
East Lycoming School District served as the main project partner in Lycoming County. The District, with approximately 1,800 students K-12, is located in rural central Pennsylvania. Once known as the "Lumber Capital of the World," Lycoming County is 90 miles north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital. East Lycoming School District encompasses 147.6 square miles, and includes seven townships.

Lycoming County Project Local Community Team Leaders:

       Brian Machmer, Local History Teacher, Hughesville High School.

       Carol Lundy, 4th Grade teacher and Suzanne Foresman Principal, Ashkar Elementary School.

       Linda Poulton, Muncy Historical Society and Museum of History board member

       Rose Williams, Center Coordinator of Lycoming/Clinton County HeadStart assisted in developing a field trip for HeadStart students from a center in Hughesville to Steam Valley Fiber Farm.

       Barbara Parker, HeadStart Teacher, Hughesville Center, Lycoming - Clinton Head Start, Trinity Lutheran Church, 120 South Main St., Hughesville, PA 17737-1405

Lycoming County Project NTCA Presenters:

       Wilson Ferguson, of Laporte, is a retired History and Humanities Professor with a vast knowledge of local and regional history. He taught at Philadelphia College of Art, as well as Parsons, Ursinus and Russell Sage Colleges.

       Robin Van Auken, of South Williamsport, is a historical archaeologist and writer who serves as project director of the archaeological portion of the Muncy Heritage Park and Nature Trail development. She is a part-time instructor at Lycoming College, offering field schools and overseeing other educational programs.

       Van Wagner, of Danville, teaches in the Lewisburg School system. He worked for Daniel Logging in Idaho and on many independent logging projects in Pennsylvania. His songs have been performed all over the world and have been featured in several films.

       Phylleri Ball, of Trout Run, owns Steam Valley Fiber Farm. She has been a fiber artist and historian for more than 25 years. She raises sheep and goats to provide raw materials for her art. She participates in regional Sheep to Shawl events and demonstrates, spinning and weaving throughout the Endless Mountains Region.

       Lisa Deemy, of Laporte, is an American Indian descendant. She is Member of Eastern Delaware Nations of Wyalusing. Deemy presents on Eastern Woodlands Indian heritage and culture. She works as a website designer, grant writer and technical consultant.

Lycoming County Project Volunteers from partnering organizations:

       Bill Poulton, retired purchasing agent and expeditor, Muncy Historical Society and Museum board president.

Muncy Historical Society docents and volunteers

2006 Lycoming College archeology field school volunteers:
Lauren Raby, Allentown area, biology major at Lycoming College
Sara Gavlock, of Muncy, biology/chemistry major at Lycoming College
Kelly Driscole, a 2006 graduate of Lycoming College, an education and history
major.
Luis Hernandez, of Maryland, 2006 graduate of Lycoming College, majored in religion and political science.

Warrior Run High School Heritage Craft Apprenticeship Program
Warrior Run High School, 4800 Susquehanna Trail, Turbotville, PA
Volunteers: Rich Nornhold and David Nugent.

Lycoming County Project Activities:

February 16 - Hughesville High School
Community Scholar Wilson Ferguson presented to four local history classes. His focus was early settlement paths & patterns in the Sullivan County, which was then still part of Lycoming County.
This segment of the project reached approximately 100 students, two adults.

March 31 - Hughesville High School
Fiber artist Phylleri Ball presented to six local history classes. She demonstrated fiber preparation, spinning. Students and staff got hands-on experience using drop spindles.
This segment of the project reached approximately 150 students, two adults.

May 10 - Hughesville Head Start
Students at the HeadStart Center in Hughesville traveled to Phylleri Ball's Fiber Farm in Steam Valley north of Williamsport. When the bus arrived at her farm Phylleri greeted the children carrying a basket of recently gathered eggs. She presented a barn and farm tour. She explained how goats and sheep are raised and cared for and talked about her family's lifestyle in a very rural area. She demonstrated step by step how fabric is created from wool from shearing and dying to spinning and weaving. The children interacted with some of the youngest animals, and one of the sheep dogs. They enjoyed a demonstration of sheep herding partnership between dog and shepherd.
Nine Head Start students, a teacher and teacher's aide participated.

May 19 - Ashkar Elementary School
"Field Trip Frenzy" Heritage Day

       NTCA Presenters Lisa Deemy of Eastern Delaware Nations and Archeologist Robin Van Auken teamed up with three presenters from Muncy Historical Society providing a glimpse of life in the region from before European contact through the lumbering era.
       Deemy provided a table full of items used in every day life by American Indians for students to hold, examine and in some cases try out. Van Auken provided two boxes simulating an archeological dig where students swept away sand to reveal artifacts.
       Students experienced making butter and enjoying the results spread on bread. They learned about fiber production, spinning and weaving, heard a conch shell that once signaled the arrival of a canal packet boat and enjoyed learning about how canals once served the region.
       Approximately 500 elementary students K-6, including special needs students, teachers, aides were involved in were involved in this activity. Approximately 40 community volunteers of all ages and PTG members participated. Other groups and organizations presenting totaled over 100. Two NTCA presenters participated.

June 1 - Ashkar Elementary School
10 - 2 p.m. Field trip for fourth graders from two elementary schools in East Lycoming School District to Muncy Historical Society. Parents and grandparents were invited and about ten precipitated. Located on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, Muncy is a small town proud of its rural culture and historical heritage. Before the event the Historical Society's website resources were used by teachers, students and parents to familiarize themselves with the sites they would visit.
http://www.muncyhistoricalsociety.org
http://www.muncyhistoricalsociety.org/dig/archtoolbox.html
http://www.muncyhistoricalsociety.org/dig/toolbox.html
       During the field trip, students toured a restored canal packet boat, visited a historic barn where the archeological field lab is located, and toured the Muncy Historical Society Museum.
At the lab, assisted by Archeologist Robin Van Auken and four Lycoming College May-term Archeology students, students washed and sorted artifacts, used a microscope and learned how to enter data into a spreadsheet on a computer.
       Due to recent heavy rains students were unable to experience actual digging at the field site, but they visited the dig and learned how work is conducted. Work this season focuses on the lock tender's house foundation and middens. Historians believe a flood destroyed the house in 1889.
       This historically significant 11-acre plot was donated to Muncy Historical Museum and is being developed by the organization as a community heritage park with conservation education components and a walking trail. The trail will showcase the history and natural beauty of Penn Port, a commercial center and residential area that grew out of and around the bustling West Branch Canal industry of the 1800s.
       Students learned that the Muncy Canal was once a great economic thoroughfare providing a way to transport local products such as hogs, wheat, flour, lumber, dried and salted meats, leather and whiskey southward. Numerous sawmills, shingle and gristmills were built along the canal. Imported cargo was moved north to Muncy and was then transported over land to landlocked towns like Hughesville and Picture Rocks.
       At the heritage park location students visited a section of canal lock undergoing restoration. They also viewed the railroad bridge where the Last Raft crashed in 1938 during a historic re-enactment of the lumber era and watched as a train crossed the bridge, providing further cultural connection.
       As students toured the museum they learned about various eras of local history. They especially enjoyed a hands-on water exhibit with small boats interpreting lock operation.
75 fourth grade students, 18 chaperones, 4 teachers, 12 additional parents and 6 Historical Society volunteers participated in this event.

June 2 - Ashkar Elementary School
       Fourth graders who participated in the field trip the previous day visited other classes at Ashkar Elementary School presenting an "advertisement" about what they learned. They invited students to Community Day at the museum the next day. Flyers were sent home with each student about Community Day.

June 3 - Community Day at Muncy Historical Society Museum, Archeology Lab, and Archeology Dig Site
       Visitors toured a restored canal packet boat and enjoyed a presentation by historic re-enactor "Captain" Mick Tibbs. They visited the historic barn where the archeological field lab is located and assisted by Archeologist Robin Van Auken washed and sorted artifacts, used a microscope and learned how to enter data into a spreadsheet on a computer.
       Also at the barn location visitors participated in making rope guided by Rich Nornhold and his Journeyman Apprentice David Nugent from the Warrior Run High School Heritage Craft Apprenticeship Program.
       Singer-songwriter, Pennsylvania logger and historian Van Wagner appeared in his 'Lumberman' persona. Wagner's program celebrates the past and present of the Pennsylvania timber industry. He opened his presentation with Stephen Foster's song "Oh! Susanna," using it to link rivers and lumbering. He explained how timber was harvested over the past several centuries and most importantly who harvested it.
       Wagner demonstrated dozens of tools and focused on rafting days when millions of board feet of Pennsylvania timber were assembled into various styles of rafts and piloted down streams and rivers. Wagner was part of a group who built and piloted a 105-foot timber raft down a section of the North Branch of the Susquehanna River. It was the first time a raft traveled that portion of water in a century.
http://www.vanwagnermusic.com

       At the museum visitors toured the facility, watched a documentary movie entitled "The Last Raft" and interacted with NTCA presenter Lisa Deemy about American Indian culture.
Historical Society docents and volunteers demonstrated spinning and weaving, and presented on many aspects of local history. Visitors especially enjoyed the interactive exhibit demonstrating a canal lock.
       Native American Beadworker Rose Harley was unable to attend due to flooded roads near her home.
Approximately 100 visitors, (12 children and teens,adults, seniors), 2 NTCA presenters and 12 museum volunteers participated.

Press releases, with pictures, were developed and distributed to regional print and other media. Media coverage of events and activities was invited.

All events were documented by the project coordinator through print quality digital photos and videotape, with the exception of the Austin House opening on May 14 in Austin PA.

All videotapes (raw unedited data) and CDs of photos were provided to NTCA. Duplicates of some photos were given to project partners.

Videotape of presenters at the Hughesville High School was copied in the school computer lab for future use in local history classes.

Clippings and other records were organized in a binder to be kept at the NTCA office.

Potter County Project:
Austin Area School District, 138 Costello Ave., Austin, Pa 16720

Potter County Project Local Community Team Leaders:

Art Metzger, Fourth Grade and Middle School Science & Mrs. Rees Principal Austin School.

Tracie Gordnier, Board Member, Austin Memorial Dam Association, liaison with
Pennsylvania Conservation Corps.

John Snyder, Potter County Fine Arts Council

Bob Currin, Potter County Historical Society

Ron Ebbert, E.O. Austin House Historical Society

Potter County NTCA Presenters:

       Bob Currin, Community Scholar, Historian. Bob is a retired teacher and principal of Coudersport High School. He is actively involved with Potter County Historical Society.

       Bonnie Kyofski, Community Scholar, Storyteller. Bonnie is a retired professor from Mansfield University.

       Lisa Deemy, of Laporte, is an American Indian descendant. She is Member of Eastern Delaware Nations of Wyalusing. Deemy presents on Eastern Woodlands Indian heritage and culture. She works as a website designer, grant writer and technical consultant.

       Ruth Anne Miller, Fiber Artist & Weaver for over 20 years. Her work has been featured in "Early American Life" and "Handwoven" magazines. She has taught weaving at Mansfield University since 1986.

Musicians:
       Five local musicians, Steve Quelet, Natalie Phelps, Eppie Bailey, Julie Wunderlich and Judy Shunk, all involved with Potter County's Songwriters Roundtable, a showcase of songwriters participated. Songwriters Roundtable is presented by Potter County's Fine Arts Council and Genesee Environmental Center and is hosted by Potter County singer/songwriter Steve Quelet.

       Zac Zelewicz, of Laporte. Zac is a young singer/songwriter who performs regionally. His influences include the traditional and folk music of the Endless Mountains Region.

Potter County Project Activities:
April 19 - Austin School District - All day Heritage Celebration
       Presenters included local historian Bob Currin, storyteller Bonnie Kyofski, and musicians Steve Quelet, Natalie Phelps, Eppie Bailey, Julie Wunderlich, Judy Shunk and Zac Zelewicz. The day culminated with an assembly.
Approximately 140 students & 12 adults participated with 8 NTCA presenters.

April 19 - Austin Memorial Dam Site, Austin PA

       Evening presentation, cookout & celebration with community members, Austin School students and Pennsylvania Conservation Corps workers. Approximately 40 Pennsylvania Conservation Corps workers, several local to the area, spent three days working on trails, signage and site improvement at the site. This event was designed to celebrate their community contribution and introduce them to the forest heritage of the region and the history of the site.
       Broken sections of Austin Dam, the result of economic greed and ignoring real human needs, loomed above the festivities. The Austin Dam broke in 1911 because of architectural problems. It remains the county's largest disaster.

       Original plans for the dam called for it to be four feet across at the top. But it was constructed with a top width of only a foot and a half. It was not well founded either. Heavy rains in the summer of 1911 caused the dam to fail on September 30th. Gushing water gathered trees and debris which acted as battering rams when the flood reached the paper mill and town of Austin. The mill was destroyed and much of the town demolished.
       This event is still very much a part of the every-day awareness of local residents. Few living there today are not connected in some way to the disaster.

       NTCA Presenters included storyteller Bonnie Kyofski; musicians Art Metzger, Steve Quelet, Natalie Phelps, Eppie Bailey, Julie Wunderlich; Judy Shunk and Zac Zelewicz.
Approximately 80 people ranging in age from toddler to senior citizen attended.

May 14 - Austin House Season Opening, Austin PA
Students from the school district participated as docents and guides for this community event.
Although no NTCA presenters could attend, this event was linked to other project activities by community volunteers through the celebration of regional lumber heritage and music.

       May 26 Heritage Day for Austin 4th Grade Students: Field Trip to Lumber Museum, Rt. 6, Coudersport PA & Potter County Historical Society Museum, 308 N. Main St., Coudersport PA
       Fourth grade students enjoyed an extensive tour of Potter County Museum led by Curator Bob Currin. They were fascinated by locally collected Indian Artifacts and how an atal-atal was used. The children learned interesting new facts about farming, lumbering, and the Civil War era when many men served in the "Bucktails Company." Only about half of those who went off to the war lived through it.
       Students broadened their understanding of Potter County's national contributions through such activities as lumbering and the Underground Railroad. They also learned Potter County was once known as "horse thief heaven." Along Pine Creek, local people stole horses and painted them another color to successfully stay in 'business'. They learned how railroads changed lumbering operations forever and fostered the growth of the tanning industry. The first railroad tracks in Potter County were laid near Keating Summit. They are the last remaining operational tracks in the county.
       Students especially enjoyed listening to early phonograph records and playing several restored organs. Each group spent nearly an hour with each NTCA presenter. Children experienced weaving first hand using a table loom guided by Ruth Ann Miller. She explained how fibers were grown, obtained, spun, dyed and woven, stressing how much time a settler family invested in these activities.
              Lisa Deemy provided a table full of items used in every day life by American Indians for students to hold, examine and in some cases try out. NTCA Forest Heritage Project Coordinator Mollie Eliot joined Deemy in teaching American Indian songs and stories. Civil War exhibits at the museum tied into the Leek Hook song Bonnie Kyofski presented during earlier activities.
       At the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum students toured interpretive exhibits focused on lumbering days and CCC camps. They watched a video about how timbering changed from early days when small streams were used to float product into the Susquehanna River to reach mills located downstream until railroads entered the picture and changed the economics of lumbering.
       The children especially enjoyed the outdoor exhibits including an engine house with a Shay Engine inside, loader shed and log cars, horse barn, 'filer shack' where tools were sharpened, blacksmith shop, laundry shed, bunkhouse, mess hall and kitchen, circular sawmill and sawmill pond. The buildings and exhibits gave students an accurate picture of what life was like in the lumbering era of the Endless Mountains Region and broadened their understanding of the history of the CCC.
       

35 students, 2 teachers, 8 chaperones and 2 NTCA presenters.
Press releases, with pictures, were developed and distributed to regional print and other media. Media coverage of events and activities was invited.
       All events were documented by the project coordinator through print quality digital photos and videotape, with the exception of the Austin House opening on May 14 in Austin PA.

       All videotapes (raw unedited data) and CDs of photos were provided to NTCA. Duplicates of some photos were given to project partners.

       Clippings and other records were organized in a binder to be kept at the NTCA office.

Project Statistical Totals:

Students reached with various presentations: 1,159

Teachers: 61

NTCA Presenters (some presented more than once): 19

Organizational Partner Liaisons: 28

Organization & Community Volunteers: 97

Community members attending events: 535

Project Administrators: 5

NTCA Board Members: 14

Total number directly involved: 1,918

       Intangible regional ripple effect: Potentially thousands.
       Parents, grandparents and other relatives or friends of students who were exposed indirectly and later dragged to museums.
       Staff at schools who were not directly involved but 'popped in for a visit'.
Then there's half of downtown Coudersport who stopped what they were doing to hear two classes of kids singing "Indian" songs in the park gazebo; and students who walked through during presentations or events at schools or museums and stayed awhile.
       Also peripherally effected were visitors and other school groups who were at the same venues and visited NTCA presentations, who asked questions or just listened.
People who read or heard about the project in their local media.

       Next year and the year after that, and for years to come, the students, teachers and community volunteers who were directly involved will fondly recall, "Remember the year we…"

       What a legacy.

Forest Heritage Project Narrative

       A series of special events were recently completed by Northern Tier Cultural Alliance (NTCA) through the Forest Heritage Project. The project, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and Endless Mountains Heritage Region, reached nearly 2,000 people in Bradford, Lycoming and Potter Counties.
       "Few residents of these rural counties realize the enormity of their common cultural heritage, or understand the impact their region's lumbering, stream and river systems and canals had on America's early settlement period," said Mollie Eliot, project coordinator of the Potter and Lycoming County segments. "The Forest Heritage Project provided insight through activities reaching across generations. Children, teenagers, adults and senior citizens who participated were enriched by new experiences, ideas and ways of thinking about their heritage and culture."
       The first portion of the project was implemented at Wyalusing High School in Bradford County in 2003 when singer/songwriter Tom Flannery worked with students to develop a song about Stephen Foster.
       "Foster provides an important national link to the heritage of Bradford County. He studied at a private academy in Athens," Eliot explained. "One of his earliest songs was "Oh! Susanna." Another beloved Foster song, "Camptown Races" was written about a Bradford County community."
       Flannery helped students develop a new appreciation of their heritage using Foster's musical style. Flannery's "Last Night I Saw Stephen Foster" was performed during 2003 graduation ceremonies at the high school. That song and Foster's music connects lumber and river heritage common to all three counties in the project.
       In 2005, NTCA began implementing the two remaining pieces of the project in two school districts. One, Austin School District in Potter County, with approximately 500 students K-12, is the smallest in the commonwealth. East Lycoming School District in Lycoming County, once known as the "Lumber Capital of the World," has approximately 1,800 students K-12.
       "Community involvement and leaving a legacy were my personal goals for the Forest Heritage Project," said Eliot. "We wanted to reach as many people across the generations as possible in meaningful ways. We received support from many community organizations and individuals. The enthusiasm for learning about and celebrating heritage in these rural communities is refreshing. We definitely couldn't have done all the wonderful things we did without committed volunteers and we sincerely thank them for caring enough about their heritage and culture to participate."
       Many who participated are now actively seeking ways to continue their personal learning about the region, keeping the message of this project moving forward and growing. Carol Lundy, retiring from a career as a fourth grade teacher at Ashkar Elementary School, is helping develop a project connecting students at East Lycoming School District in Hughesville with archeological projects at the Muncy Historical Society and Museum of History in neighboring Muncy.
       Participating in this project was positive in some surprising ways for NTCA presenters as well. Lisa Deemy has presented hundreds of programs about American Indian heritage and culture throughout Pennsylvania. In her experience, fourth grade students cannot even usually identify the type of dwelling was used by Eastern Woodlands people. Austin School fourth graders not only knew, they were among the most knowledgeable groups she ever worked with, allowing her to take them to the next level of understanding about this aspect of their local heritage.
       Art Metzger, lead teacher at Austin, rallied a number of organizations to help plan and implement events and activities. Tracie Gordnier with Austin Memorial Dam Association served as liaison with Pennsylvania Conservation Corps to plan an event at the site of the Austin Dam disaster, now a community park.
       John Snyder represented Potter County Fine Arts Council, Bob Currin, Potter County Historical Society and Ron Ebbert the E.O. Austin House Historical Society. Members of Potter County's Songwriters Roundtable were also involved.
       Opening events in Austin were both held April 19. A Heritage Day at the school featuring NTCA presenters celebrated history, heritage and culture. Community Scholar and Historian Bob Currin, a retired teacher and principal of Coudersport High School, talked about the county's early history.
       Community Scholar and Storyteller Bonnie Kyofski, a retired professor from Mansfield University, shared some tall tales and songs from Northeastern Pennsylvania including "The Hoop Snake Story," "The Frozen Logger" and the ever popular "Leek Hook Song."
       "If you don't know what a leek is you're not from the Endless Mountains." Eliot commented.
       Five Potter County musicians, Steve Quelet, Natalie Phelps, Eppie Bailey, Julie Wunderlich and Judy Shunk shared music from the region, joined by young singer/songwriter Zac Zelewicz, of Laporte. The group performed a variety of favorites including "The Cat Came Back" and "There's A Hole in the Bucket" (complete with a straw and broad axe for props). After visiting with classes throughout the day an assembly featured a slide show, more stories and a concert.
       The Austin Memorial Dam Association hosted an evening cookout and concert with the community at the Austin Dam Site that evening. The event celebrated efforts by Pennsylvania Conservation Corps workers to improve trails and signs. NTCA presenters from the heritage event at the school were on hand to entertain and educate. Kyofski told PCC workers about the CCC that set the model for their program during the depression. Playing harmonica, Metzger joined musicians for a concert lasting until daylight faded.
       Throughout the day 140 students, 10 teachers, approximately 40 Pennsylvania Conservation Corps participants, and about 40 community members ages two to senior citizen celebrated the region's forest heritage in Potter County.
       Austin School participated in a second event May 26, taking 75 fourth graders out to visit Potter County Historical Society Museum in Coudersport and the nearby Pennsylvania Lumber Museum on Route 6.
       At the Potter Historical Society Museum, students learned about Potter County's national contributions through lumbering, the military and the Underground Railroad. They experienced weaving using a table loom guided by NTCA presenter Ruth Ann Miller who teaches weaving at Mansfield University. She explained how fibers are processed, spun, dyed and woven. The investment of time settler families invested in these activities and how hard very young children worked amazed today's fourth graders.
       NTCA presenter Deemy provided items used in daily life by American Indians that students could examine and try out. Eliot joined her to help teach American Indian songs and stories. At the Lumber Museum students toured interpretive exhibits and buildings about lumbering and the CCC.
       In Lycoming County the project reached high school, elementary and local Head Start students. Wilson Ferguson, retired History and Humanities Professor visited four local history classes at Hughesville High School on February 16. He talked about the early settlement period of Sullivan County, which was then part of Lycoming County.
       Fiber Artist Phylleri Ball visited six local history classes at the high school demonstrating how fabric is created starting with animal hair on March 31. She taught students and staff how to use a drop spindle to twist wool fiber into yarn. Ball owns Steam Valley Mountain Fiber Farm north of Williamsport where she raises goats, sheep and other animals for the raw materials she uses. Head Start students visited her farm May 10th for a barn and farm tour. The children played with lambs, 'kids' and a enjoyed sheep herding, spinning and weaving demonstrations.
       Working with the Muncy Historical Society and Museum of History, NTCA was able to link Ashkar Elementary School in Hughesville with surrounding communities.
       Interest in heritage was sparked by NTCA and Historical Society presenters during Ashkar Elementary's "Field Trip Frenzy" Heritage Day May 19 when NTCA presenters Deemy and Archeologist Van Auken teamed up with presenters from Muncy Historical Society.
       Deemy had a table full of items and artifacts used by American Indians that students could hold, examine and try out. Van Auken provided two boxes simulating an archeological dig where students swept away sand to reveal artifacts. Approximately 500 elementary students K-6, including special needs students, their teachers, aides and community volunteers were involved in this activity.
       On June 1st 75 fourth grade students, their teachers, aides, chaperones and a dozen parents who 'tagged along' visited three sites manned by Muncy Historical Society volunteers. They toured the museum, a restored canal boat, visited the society's archeological field lab in a historic barn, the canal restoration and archaeology dig site, and the Society's future Heritage Park and Nature Trail along the Susquehanna River.
       At the lab, assisted by Archeologist Van Auken and four Lycoming College May-term Archeology students, fourth graders, teachers and parents alike got down and dirty washing and sorting artifacts from the dig. They had the opportunity to experience using technology to study and compile data. For many of the students the highlight of their museum tour was a hands-on exhibit moving a tiny boat through a miniature canal lock.
       On June 2, still excited about their field trip adventures, students from Ashkar Elementary School 'advertised' to other classes the "Canal Heritage Festival" at the three sites of Muncy Historical Society set for the following day.
       Visitors to the festival enjoyed singer-songwriter, Pennsylvania logger and historian Van Wagner in his 'Lumberman' persona. Wagner opened his presentation with Stephen Foster's song "Oh! Susanna." He demonstrated tools, focusing on a time when millions of board feet of Pennsylvania timber were assembled into rafts and piloted down streams and rivers.
       At the Muncy Historical Society Museum, old and young alike worked the canal lock exhibit and wove on a barn loom circa 1790. Volunteers revealed the importance of the kitchen to 18th and 19th century family life and highlighted the role of local military personnel, starting with a model of Fort Muncy. Visitors had the opportunity to view the society's documentary "The Last Raft," about a 1938 historical re-enactment lumber raft that tragically crashed into the nearby Muncy-Montgomery railroad bridge.
       Despite inclement weather, thirty-two people toured the Heritage Park and Nature Trail, walking to the river's edge to see the bridge where The Last Raft hit. They continued on along a portion of the original canal towpath. Approximately 100 people of all ages participated in the Canal Heritage Festival.
       Northern Tier Cultural Alliance, which sponsored and implemented the Forest Heritage Project, was founded by volunteers participating in a Pennsylvania Heritage Commission cultural inventory of the Northern Tier region in 1992. The Center for Rural Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Mansfield University subsequently joined Northern Tier Cultural Alliance to establish a Center for Arts and Folklife at Mansfield University.
Northern Tier Cultural Alliance became a non-profit organization in 2001. In 2004 the organization moved its main office from Mansfield to the former Lehigh Valley Freight Station in Towanda.
       When the Institute for Cultural Partnerships and PA Council on the Arts developed a statewide Folk Arts Infrastructure Initiative to strengthen awareness, understanding and participation in traditional arts across the Commonwealth, Northern Tier Cultural Alliance was selected as one of five Regional Folk Arts Support Centers.
       In this role, Northern Tier Cultural Alliance engages in fieldwork, provides technical assistance, develops programming and grant opportunities for traditional artists and organizations. This network serves 32 of the state's 67 counties. Northern Tier Cultural Alliance offers support to artists and organizations from nine northern counties: Bradford, Cameron, Clinton, Lycoming, Potter, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wyoming.

A note from the project coordinator
       I was initially very excited about the opportunity extended by NTCA to implement this project connecting people with their heritage and culture. As an American Indian descendant I am very aware of how lost heritage fragments one's cultural viewpoint.
       During my first meeting with one teacher he asked what we meant by his region's heritage. "We have one?" he asked.
       His question frankly scared me. If as an educator he didn't know, how could he ever transfer that heritage to his students?
       But I knew from working with members of my own culture that what appears to be lost is often just misplaced.
       The challenges of this project forced me to focus all of my energy and skills on targeted goals. I learned new facts, discovered wonderful historic places, forged new friendships and gained a healthy respect for the creativity and resiliency of the residents, past and present, of my region.
       Few experiences have prompted as much personal growth for me as this one. Thank you for allowing me to participate in what for me, too is a project with a deep and lasting legacy.

Respectfully submitted,

Mollie Eliot, Project Coordinator