Spring Cleanups

Scott Conservancy participates in the Great PA Cleanup, a state wide campaign for Earth Day. Celebrated every year on Earth Day, the event promotes worldwide awareness of the environment. This year, set aside the morning of Saturday April 19th and/or the afternoon of Sunday, April 20th and join your fellow conservancy members, community volunteers and other Pennsylvanians across the state for the "Great PA Clean-up."

On Sunday, April 20th from Noon to 3 pm, Scott Conservancy will again be cleaning up the Kane Woods Conservation Area. The meeting place for the conservancy cleanup will be at the Whiskey Point Trailhead parking area and newly constructed shelter on the corner of Main St. and Scrubgrass Rd. across the street from the Veterans Bridge.

Earth Day is always a good time to stage a cleanup. And in Scott Township we always have a lot to clean up. The conservancy is restoring our Kane Woods property, so we can use a hand for clearing debris and picking up trash.

With a $5,000 grant from the PA Dept of Community & Economic Development to help restore our land, the Kane Woods is becoming even more attractive for public use.

For the conservancy cleanup of the Kane Woods on Sunday, we encourage volunteers to bring tools like rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows, pickaxes, saws, loppers and hand clippers. Besides picking up trash, this will be an opportunity to do some much needed trail care.

This year, Scott Township, for the first time ever, is sponsoring a township wide clean-up of various roadways on Saturday, April 19th from 9 am to noon. Please spread the word. Tell everyone you know about the event and plan to join in the cleanup. We would really like this to become an annual event, so that means we must have a GREAT turnout!

The township has set aside 4 locations around the township for volunteers to meet.

The locations are:

Saint Simon and Jude Church, Greentree Road
Our Lady of Grace Church, Kane Blvd.
Glendale Fire Dept., Carothers Avenue
Scott Township Public Works Building on Old Greentree Rd. near the corner of Lindsay and Greentree Roads

Township Commissioners as well as members of the Scott Township Environmental Advisory Council and the Conservancy will be at all sites to co-ordinate volunteers.

We suggest volunteers both days wear long sleeved shirts, long pants, and sturdy shoes for the event. If possible, we would appreciate it if volunteers can bring a bucket for the collection of sharp objects. Gloves, trash bags, safety vests, and water will be provided.

Because the township cleanup is along the roadways, children attending must be 12 or over and must be supervised by a parent taking steps to assure their safety. Younger children may be brought to the conservancy cleanup, but, again, they must be supervised closely by a parent willing to take steps to ensure their safety and limit their participation.

This is a unique opportunity to make a difference in your own neighborhood. Your older children and teenagers especially can learn the importance of their outdoor environment this Earth Day. Please plan to join us for either or both days.

Visit our Cleanups Bulletin Board to see more of our eager and hard-working volunteers in action!

Cubs & Boy Scouts Lend Helping Hand

On the morning of October 22nd, 2005, six boys working on Eagle Scout badges from Boy Scout Troop 365 and three boys who offered to assist them arrived at the field owned by the Scott conservancy along Scrubgrass Road with shovels and hammers in hand.

As part of the “Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge, one of 12 required Merit Badges for Eagle Scout, Boy Scout Troop 365 researched and gathered information on various community groups.

They then chose to learn more about the Scott Conservancy and volunteered to assist them by making improvements their Kane Woods property in Scott Township.

Directed by Don McGuirk, the Conservancy representative, and Troop Leader Dr. Jeff Wentz, members of the troop from Covenant Community Presbyterian Church worked hard digging holes to be used for the planting of shrubs and constructing a temporary protective fence along the property line to protect the new plantings.

A week later, Cub Scout Pack 861 from Holy Child Parish in Bridgeville arrived in the afternoon to complete the work. With help from their parents, they planted 60 shrubs and 6 trees using holes dug by the Boy Scouts the previous week.

The boys worked hard and did a great job! The Scott Conservancy would like to thank both troops for their help and hope they will be able to work with them in the future.

The Whiskey Rebellion is important in U.S. history because it provided the first real test of the new American Constitution..

In 1794 an angry mob of Whiskey Boys marched through the Scott Conservancy's Kane Woods to "Bower Hill," the plantation home of the Federal Inspector of the Excise, General John Neville, which was located at the top of Kane Blvd. near Kane Hospital. The insurgents burned Neville's home. Neville, a Federalist, narrowly escaped the grasp of the crowd. An historic marker now marks the location of Neville's home on Kane Blvd..

Conservancy Erects Marker on Historic Bower Hill Site

In 1996, the Conservancy with the support of the Scott Township Commissioners, received approval from the Pennsylvania State Historical and Museum Commission to erect a state historical Marker on Bower Hill, the site of General Neville's mansion.

Another state historical maker was erected two years later at Old St. Luke's Church, also in Scott Township, to honor the role it played in American History. Old St. Luke's is the oldest church established west of the Allegheny Mountains. The church is still preserved today as a house of worship. Reverend Richard Davies led the effort to secure approval for the St. Luke's Historical Marker.

General Neville worshipped at Old St. Luke's Church and the Church's cemetery is the resting place of many of our region's earliest settlers including a number of Revolutionary War veterans.

WW II Bower Hill Memorial Rededicated
Conservancy Members Make a Difference in Scott

Ed Stevens, a Korean War Veteran, Judge John G. Brosky and Zack D'Alesandro, Jr.

For a little over ten years now the Scott Conservancy has been putting to flight the notion that the spirit of volunteerism is dead and we have all become a nation of self-centered couch potatoes. Whether it's been landscaping a barren traffic island, helping to clean our water of mine pollution, or leading hikes in the Kane Woods, Conservancy members are making a difference in Scott Township.

One of those members, Judge John Brosky stepped up recently to volunteer his time and considerable organizational and people skills to help preserve, refurbish, and move to a new location a neglected, and deteriorating memorial to the World War II veterans from Bower Hill.

After reading about the neglected memorial in the "Scott Conservationist", and seeing that his good friend and tipstaff Harry Volkhart was one on the names listed on the memorial, the Judge sent a donation to the Conservancy to help with the restoration. But he didn't stop there. He arranged with the County to have the memorial moved to a better location on Kane Boulevard. He worked with Roger Gaydos of the Gaydos Memorial Company to have the memorial refurbished and repolished.

Another of the Judge's friends, Richard Thomas of the Richard L. Thomas Body Shop, furnished a crane and the manpower to move the 2,300 pound memorial to its new site. And he did this all in about two months, in time to have the memorial rededicated on Veteran's Day, November 11th.

Over a hundred people gathered on that day, making the rededication ceremony that the Judge organized one of the most memorable in some time.

Many of those present were World War II veterans who came to remember their friends who served this country so bravely and so well 60 years ago.

Their courage preserved our freedom, and as we well know, Americans are still serving today to preserve that freedom.

One of them, Air Force Colonel Alan Thompson, who attended the re-dedication with the color guard from the University of Pittsburgh, was himself headed overseas after the ceremony.

The Judge, during his remarks, said that freedom is not free. The stars beside the names for four of the veterans on the memorial, and all of the names on the memorial are a silent testimony to their sacrifice. Maybe the next time you're driving by, you can stop to read the names, or leave flowers at the memorial. Thanks to the efforts of the Judge, the memorial will be there a long time, and the names will be remembered for a long time. God help us if we forget.

Cub Scout Pack 849
Conservancy Proud Sponsors

The Pack, along with members of Boy Scout Troop 834, also from Glendale, have participated in many activities resulting in improvements to the community and our environment.

Some of their projects have included trail and stream clean-ups, the building of steps on a popular trail, community clean-ups, and various service projects. Keep up the good work!

The Scott Conservancy is the proud sponsor of Cub Scout Pack 849 of Glendale. The Cub Scout Pack is chartered in Scott Township.

The scouts are involved in many worthwhile community projects. Visit their website for more info or if your children are interested in joining.

Spring Cleanups

Cubs & Boy Scouts Lend Helping Hand

Conservancy Erects Marker on Historic Bower Hill Site

WW II Bower Hill Memorial Rededicated Conservancy Members Make a Difference in Scott

Cub Scout Pack 849 Conservancy Proud Sponsors

WW II Bower Hill Memorial Rededicated
Conservancy Members Make a Difference in Scott

Cub Scout Pack 849
Conservancy Proud Sponsors