Bait and Switch

Live Tiger, Free Pizza, Kids' Activities! Saturday from 1 to 3pm in Hufnagle Park. That's a great community benefit event being put on by a Bucknell Management 101 Company this semester. Events like that are a great perk of living in the Lewisburg area, where we have students engaged in organizing activities and staffing them and organizations like T&D Cats to celebrate. Life in this area also comes with a different set of benefits (and responsibilities), like the imperative to do right by the river. Sometimes, now, we are working on doing clean ups to be kind to the river…

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November 6, 2014
9:40 am
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Live Tiger, Free Pizza, Kids' Activities! Saturday from 1 to 3pm in Hufnagle Park. That's a great community benefit event being put on by a Bucknell Management 101 Company this semester. Events like that are a great perk of living in the Lewisburg area, where we have students engaged in organizing activities and staffing them and organizations like T&D Cats to celebrate.

Service-AdvocacyFlyer-Sheldon-Taylor-FInal

Life in this area also comes with a different set of benefits (and responsibilities), like the imperative to do right by the river. Sometimes, now, we are working on doing clean ups to be kind to the river and the wider world. Other times, like tonight, we are asking people to share some of their free time with us in order to participate in charting a course for our community as we move into realizing our potential as a River Town.

Here's today's Daily Item coverage:

Planning meeting set in newly minted ‘River Town’

LEWISBURG — Following its recent designation as rare River Town, Lewisburg citizens are now being asked for ideas to enhance the borough’s under-utilized riverfront.

Hosted by the Lewisburg Neighborhoods Corp., the River Town Community Planning Forum begins with an open house from 6:30 to 7 p.m. at the Lewisburg Senior Center, 116 N. Second St. The meeting will follow from 7 to 9 p.m.

Lewisburg was awarded the River Town designation last month from the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership, opening new funding opportunities. Tonight begins the process of determining what borough residents envision on and around the banks of the Susquehanna River.

Samantha Pearson, executive director of the neighborhoods group, likened it to a blank slate. There are a decade’s worth of ideas to build on, she said, if that’s the direction the public wants to take, but new ideas are welcome. Pearson stressed that ideas aren’t restricted to the riverfront, and that connecting the borough to the water is as important as improving the experience along the water itself.

The Susquehanna River at the St. George boat ramp in Lewisburg on Wednesday.
Robert Inglis/The Daily Item

“The really important thing is to have people thinking about this. We want the general public to weigh in,” Pearson said Wednesday.

St. George St. dead ends at the river, where a gravel boat launch exists. It’s a site ripe for improvement for access for kayaks and boats. Further upriver is the Soldier’s Memorial Park, where dense foliage, even in early November, obstructs views of the water. Clearing brush would open the panorama and potentially open another access point to the river. Sidewalks and paths are limited between St. George and St. Anthony streets, and beyond. Pearson said thought should be given to tying in existing community events to any River Town projects.

The Lewisburg Downtown Partnership and borough officials have partnered with Lewisburg Neighborhoods Corp., with Susquehanna Greenway Partnership acting as steward. Zachary Pyle, River Town program coordinator, said the partnership will aid in grant writing and fundraising.

There are eight fully designated River Towns along 500 miles of the river, including Lock Haven, Montgomery and Jersey Shore on the West Branch. The Partnership assisted it in acquiring about $500,000 in funding for the creation of a concrete boat launch in Jersey Shore, Pyle said. It’s not what he would expect in Lewisburg, where Pyle figures borough residents would prefer a more natural launch. But the result is indicative of what can come for a River Town community.

Aside from Lewisburg, there are three communities on the North Branch with the River Town designation: Athens, Sayre and Shickshinny.

Danville Borough Council also voted to seek the designation, and the recreation commission has since formed a River Town team.

Members of the community working together to preserve natural settings and streetscapes, strengthen ties among neighbors, and improve the quality of life in Lewisburg for residents and visitors.