LAGC Meeting Notes July 22, 2025

Club members assembled outside prior to the meeting for a group photo taken by Bill Goff.

Vice President, Marlow Madeoy presided over this evening’s meeting instead of Nancy due to the passing of her mother. 

 

Mary Jo Benedetti addressed the group about the need for additional volunteers to help maintain the Chapel Garden. Please consider volunteering for a week in August. The sign-up sheet was circulated amongst members. Please contact Mary Jo with any questions.

 

Rosemary Highman is stepping down as the LAGC Blog Coordinator. We thank Rosemary for her many years of taking photos and managing the club’s blog.  We appreciate the excellent work she has done. Please let Nancy know if you are interested in assuming the role of blog coordinator.

 

We thank Mary Jo Clayton for hosting the LAGC annual picnic last month at her beautiful home. We had a lovely time touring her garden after a delicious potluck dinner.

 

Mary Anne Kurtz brought irises that she received from Larry Grundler to share with LAGC members.  We could choose from “Vibrations” and “Queen Dorothy” varieties.  Larry Grundler also approached Denny with an offer to sell some of his irises to LAGC for $1 per rhizome which members can pot up and sell at our annual plant sale. Members took a vote and agreed to purchase the rhizomes from Larry. A couple of members agreed to take on the project of potting up the rhizomes to bring to the plant sale.

 

Claudia talked about the September 23^rd "Honoring our Past" celebration at the McCandless/Northern Allegheny Heritage and Cultural Center. Members have to register for the event. Please look at your e-mail for more information and be sure to adhere to the deadline.

 

Claudia explained that all LAGC members are invited to enter the raffle to win a ticket to attend the Shining Star Gala 2025 at the Camelot Event Center on Saturday November 1^st where LAGC will receive the Shining Star award.  The club received 2 free seats for the event.  An anonymous donor gave 8 seats to the club to be raffled off.  Please complete a raffle ticket if you are interested.

 

The LAGC 75^th Anniversary Celebration will be held on October 28^th. Members need to sign up to attend the event which is being held at Northmont Church. The cost for members to attend is $22, which will cover some of the food costs and paper supplies. A signup sheet was circulated to sign up to help set up or bring an appetizer or dessert. Please contact Claudia if you want to sign up or have questions.

 

The refurbishment of the sign at the Chapel Garden is underway. There is no plan yet for the rededication of the garden. 

 

Marlow spoke about the November 15^th LAGC Holiday tour and luncheon. Please hold the date on your calendar. Plans are being made for the tour at Phipps Conservatory to start at 10:30 a.m. The luncheon will be held at Monte Cello’s restaurant on Babcock Blvd.  More information about the cost will be relayed in the next few months.

 

The Penn State Master Gardeners Garden in the Park takes place on July 26th, 9am–1pm, at North Park's Trial Gardens (Babcock & Ingomar Rd).

 

We were reminded that we will not meet at Northmont church in August.  We will have a tour of  Beechwood Farms.  Please watch your e-mail for details and let Mary Anne Kurtz know if you plan to attend.

 

Dues for 2026 remain at $15. Linda Brown will collect dues as cash or check in September and October. You can also mail your check to her.

 

Hostesses:  Thank you to Rose and Sue for being the hostesses for the evening. They brought delicious lemon bars, crackers and fresh fruit. The beautiful summery arrangement contained white hydrangeas, shasta daisies, rudbeckia, and coneflower. Thank you!

 Program – Lightning Bugs presented by Allegheny County Park Rangers

 

This evening the Allegheny County Park Rangers, Deaglan McManus and Ranger Zach returned to give another interesting talk to our club. Tonight, we learned about fireflies, also commonly referred to as lightning bugs. Despite their name, fireflies are neither true bugs nor flies; they are beetles. Globally, there are approximately 2,000 species of fireflies, with 170 found in the United States and 33 in Pennsylvania.

 

There are two common types of fireflies: Photinus: which is smaller, lighter in color, and glows at dusk and Photuris which is larger, darker, and typically appears after dark. The official state insect of Pennsylvania is the firefly, specifically Photuris Pennsylvanica. This designation occurred in 1974 because a 3^rd grade class campaigned to have a state insect. 

 

Fireflies have three main body parts: abdomen, head, and thorax. They possess compound eyes, six legs, and a structure known as a lantern. The lantern is the area where the chemical reaction of bioluminescence takes place. Approximately 25,000 fireflies would be needed to power a light bulb. Flash patterns vary among different species. Deaglan orchestrated a game with a few members and program guests to illustrate how fireflies find their partner by looking for another firefly with the same flash pattern.

 

Collecting and observing lightning bugs has always been a favorite activity for children.  The Rangers emphasized the importance of proper etiquette to keep the fireflies alive.  Handle them gently, avoid insecticides/bug spray on your hands when collecting, and use a large jar to contain the lightning bugs to allow an ample amount of oxygen. 

 

Although fireflies are considered to be in a vulnerable state there is an indication that their population is on the rise.  The key threats to the firefly population include artificial night lighting, habitat destruction, and the use of insecticides and herbicides. Deaglan said that to combat these threats we should use motion detection lighting in our gardens instead of leaving lights on all night, limit the use of insecticides, leave a small area of our gardens with taller grass, and don’t be too quick to clean up the leaves in the spring because it probably contains firefly grubs.

 

Our speaker mentioned that individuals interested in supporting firefly conservation can join efforts to track and monitor populations through initiatives like the Firefly Atlas. For more information, please visit www.fireflyatlas.org.  

North Park Rangers (left) Zach and Deaglan McManus

 

 

LAGC's 75th Anniversary: Planted 75 Native Trees in North Park, April 11, 2025

Congratulations to our membership for successfully planting 75 trees this past Friday. As you may remember, we collaborated with Allegheny County Parks Foundation and Tree Pittsburgh on this special project. Their representatives were thereas well as a reporter from the Tribune and several of our family members and neighbors. All participants agreed that it was a wonderful experience.

Mary Jo Clayton did a marvelous job initiating this project and organizing every detail. She inspired us with her comments and the "tree poem" she read just before we had our tree planting tutorial from Ranger Braeden Meiter. Kudos to Mary Jo for her

dedication and leadership.

Anita Wagner posted the tree planting photos to our Facebook page and Rose Mary Highman will post them to our blog. 

From Claudia Hickly

Cages or tubes protect from deer.

Ranger Braedin Meiter gives planting instructions.

North Park Rangers assisted (note that each pot contains a tree).

Linda Ferguson & Dianne Machesney dressed for the weather.

Wearing new blue LAGC shirts.

All done, 75 native trees planted. Longvue Acres Garden Club thanks our members over the years, North Park Rangers, Tree Pittsburgh, & the Allegheny County Parks Foundation. 

Chair of the 75th anniversary tree planting is Mary Jo Clayton, middle row, 3rd from left. 

Claudia Hickly & Mary Jo Benedetti with newly planted, staked, and tubed tree.

Jane MacCredie & Amy Foreman clearing the grass from the tree hole.

Mary Jo Clayton, chair of the tree planting, reads a poem about trees.

Linda Ferguson, Kate Powell, Mary Jo Clayton, & Chris Kerin are ready to return the shovel.

March 2025 Meeting Notes

 President Nancy Madeoy welcomed members to the March 2025 meeting of the LAGC. 

Nancy had a joke for the group.  What kind of pickles do gardeners like?  Daffodils!

 We have a new LACG member: Mark Donatelli.  He did not attend the March meeting. We hope to welcome him at the April meeting.

 We were reminded about the upcoming Tree Planting Service Project which is scheduled for Friday, April 11^th at the Horse Arena in North Park.  We’ll begin at 3:00pm and work until we’re done.  We anticipate completing the project by about 6:00pm but, if we have great participation then we could be done even earlier. Parking is available at the location. All the tools will be provided. It’s suggested that you bring your own gloves. Please wear your new LAGC T-shirt. The event will occur regardless of the weather so please be sure to dress appropriately.  The North Park Rangers will provide a tutorial to show how to plant the trees.  Members are encouraged to bring kids and grandkids to participate in the planting process. Drinking water will be available for participants.  

 The Penn State Master Garden Symposium will be held on Saturday, April 26th at the Hampton Community Center. Last month LAGC members voted to be a “Friend” of PSMG and will have our club name printed in the program brochure. The symposium is a great opportunity to do some shopping for plants even if you don’t want to attend the symposium.

 Mary Ann Kurtz, Plant Sale Coordinator, was unable to attend this evening's meeting so Claudia stepped in to talk about the preparations for our annual Perennial Plant Sale which will be held on Saturday, May 18^th. Please check your e-mail for a message from Mary Ann with many details but, here are some of the highlights.

·      Publicity is important for a successful sale.  Paper reminders were distributed to all members to hand to family and friends.  When you see the post on Facebook, please share it with your friends.

·      The sign up sheet was circulated for members to volunteer for specific jobs at the plant sale. 

·      Plant sale tags were available for members to take.  Please be sure to mark the top of the tag with the symbol of the light requirements for your plants. Draw a sun for “full sun”, a solid circle is “shade” and a circle that is half-shaded signifies “part sun/part shade”.

·      Please bring as many plants as you can. The more plants we have then the more we have available to sell. 

WWear your new blue T-shirt.  

·      Bring your gently used plant and garden items for the free table.  Shoppers love to look at the treasures and get something for free.

·      If you have extra plastic pots to share with members, please bring them to the April meeting or the Tree Planting Project on April 11^th.  

·      Marlow Madeoy, Vice President announced that our holiday tour and luncheon have been confirmed for Saturday, November 15, 2025.  We will be visiting Phipps Conservatory and having lunch at Monte Cello’s Restaurant on Babcock Blvd.  More details will be given when they become available.  Please mark the date on your calendar.  

·      Diana Berendowski invited LAGC members to the Earth Day Celebration sponsored by  Bradford Woods Conservancy on Saturday, April 26th from 10:00am to 2:00pm at the Reserve in Bradford Woods.  Admission is free along with a free picnic lunch.  The highlight at 11:00am is a Birds of Prey Presentation. Enjoy the other programs and vendors. 

 Hostess and Arrangement:  Linda Brown’s table arrangement represented Spring with the bright yellow daffodils, purple Siberian Iris and adorable ceramic bunnies.  Rosemary Highman delighted everyone’s taste buds with a selection of apple cake, cashews, grapes and maple cream cookies.  Thank you, Ladies!

 

Program – “Backyard Invasive Species - Don't let them bug ya!” by Dawn Shaffer

Our March speaker, Dawn Shaffer was very informative and engaging as she presented her talk about some common backyard invasive species.  She focused mainly on the praying mantis.  We learned that there are 2,400 species of praying mantises in the world and 20 species in the USA.  In Pennsylvania we have 3 species: Asian or Chinese mantis, European mantis and the Carolina mantis which is our native mantis.

Praying mantises are indiscriminate eaters and will eat all varieties of bugs, bees, butterflies, mosquitoes, Spotted Lanternflies and even hummingbirds if the praying mantis is a large species.  Mantises hatch from an egg sac which can contain between 70 to 200 nymphs.  All mantis nymphs are bright green and look alike, which makes it difficult to determine what species of mantis you are observing.  Adults can vary in shades of green and brown.

There are some common misconceptions about praying mantises that we may have learned as children.  Many people think that the praying mantis is a protected species but, this is not true.  They are not classified as a protected species.  The second misconception is that all mantises are green but, mantises can be green or brown.  The last misconception that Dawn discussed is that all females eat their male partner after mating.  Studies have shown that mantises may eat their male partner, but not always.

Since mantises eat everything in our gardens from pollinators to our plants we should try to remove them from our gardens.  The best way to deal with praying mantis is through integrated pest management rather than pesticides.  Dawn suggests destroying the egg sacs by putting them in water or feeding them to your chickens. You can keep the native sacs. 

Our speaker presented us with a few cautions when dealing with praying mantis: don’t take the egg sacs inside your house because the egg sac will think it's spring and the nymphs will hatch and disburse everywhere; Don't buy praying mantises or nymph sacs online because you can't guarantee what kind of praying mantis you're going to receive; Don’t interact with the praying mantises – just leave them alone and they won’t bother you.

We also talked about the Spotted Lanternfly and the fact that it is still expected to be a problem in our area again this year.  Our speaker is concerned that the invasive insect is moving towards Erie County and will affect the grape vineyards and in turn affect wine production.  This could be a major issue for the Erie economy because grapes are such an important money-making crop in that area.

Now is the time to be looking for the egg masses of the Spotted Lanternfly on flat surfaces of your car, trees, outdoor furniture, etc.  The best way to remove them is by using an old credit card and discarding the egg masses in your municipal trash.  Dawn brought along a variety of handouts with her display and members could pick up a scraper to remove the egg masses.

Our speaker, Dawn also spoke about the decline of butterflies and that the plant we know as the Butterfly Bush is now on the invasive species list and we should be removing this non-native from our yards.  Instead, we should be planting milkweed for Monarch butterflies, spice bush for Swallowtails and plants from the parsley family for Black Swallowtails.

Members really enjoyed Dawn’s informative presentation and asked many interesting questions. The handouts that we could pick up and the egg mass scraper are very beneficial takeaways. We enjoyed another interesting lecture from a Penn State Master Gardener speaker.

 

 

February 25, 2025 Meeting Notes

After welcoming members to the 2nd LAGC Meeting of the year, President Nancy posed a few new questions for members to respond to: What does a gardener do in February? Have you made a map of your garden? Have you purchased plants or seeds?  Members responded that they have made a map of their garden, but that it is everchanging.  Some members have already started purchasing seeds for their 2025 garden. Bill Goff suggested that Select Seeds is a good resource for seeds.

 Most of the membership t-shirts have been distributed.  Contact Helen Dean if you haven’t received yours to make arrangements for pickup. 

 

Mary Jo Clayton talked about our 75th Anniversary Tree Planting Service Project which is scheduled for Friday, April 11^th from 3:00pm to 6:00 p.m. at the Horse Arena in North Park. Parking is available at the location. All the tools will be provided. It’s suggested that you bring your own gloves. Please wear your new LAGC t-shirt. The event will occur regardless of the weather so please be sure to dress appropriately.  The North Park Rangers will provide a tutorial to show how to plant the trees.  Members are encouraged to bring kids and grandkids to participate in the planting process. Drinking water will be available for participants.  The idea of having snacks and a reception post-planting was vetoed. We will be planting a total of 75 trees and the varieties are Red Maple, Sugar Maple, Black Birch, Shagbark Hickory, Eastern Redbud, Witch Hazel, Hophornbeam, White Pine, Chokecherry and Chestnut Oak.

 

Treasurer Denny gave a quick update about the LAGC budget. We had approximately $6,100 at the start of January.  Denny made payments in the amount of $2,500 which covers some of the 75th Anniversary expenses, the hall rental fee for Northmont Church and the paver for Northland Public Library. The current balance is $3,500.

 

Publicity Coordinator Claudia discussed the fact that we promote our programs to notify the public of LAGC activities, but we don’t do any post publicity.  Members are encouraged to send photos that you have taken to Anita.  She will post them on the Facebook page to show what we do at our meetings and programs. Also, please remember to share our Facebook notifications with your Facebook friends. 

 

Vice president Marlow talked about the proposal to have the 2025 annual holiday tour at Phipps Conservatory which will be decorated for Christmas.  Members have questions about whether the tour will have a guide to show us behind the scenes area of the greenhouses or if it will be self-guided to see the Christmas displays. Also, what will be the cost - for those that have memberships, senior rates, holiday rates. Marlow will do some more research to get answers to these questions and other details.  Lunch options were not discussed.  Please contact Marlow if you have any suggestions. 

 

The Penn State Master Garden Symposium will be held on Saturday, April 26th at the Hampton Community Center. LAGC members voted to be a “Friend” of PSMG and will donate $100 to have our club name printed in the publicity information. 

Hostesses: Nancy brought a beautiful vase arrangement from McCandless Floral and added her white orchid and a purple orchid which were in bloom. Amy delighted us with brownies, bananabread and nut mixture. Ladies, we thank you for providing a beautiful table and refreshments!

 

Program – Maple Sugaring by Chris Kubiak

Chris Kubiak, Director of Education at the Audubon Society of Western PA returned to give another informative presentation to LAGC.  His talk, titled “Tapping through Time: Science and History of Making Maple Sugar “enlightened us about the history and production of one of Pennsylvania's unique food items: Maple syrup and sugar.

Chris explained that there are two critical elements that are necessary to tap delicious sap. Pennsylvania has both of them: Maple trees and the correct temperatures.  There are many  different varieties of maple trees which produce sap but, Sugar Maples are the best for tapping because of the quantity and quality of the sap they produce. Sugar Maples produce the sweetest sap.  

One can usually identify a maple tree by the shape of its leaves in spring and summer.  In the winter and early spring one can identify the tree by opposite branching buds, leaf scars and the trident shaped bud end. 

Generally, the maple tapping season lasts from mid-February to early April. For the best sap production the optimal temperature should be about 40° during the day and 32°at night. When  the tree buds begin to flower, it signals the end of the maple tapping season.

Our speaker explained that a woodpecker named the yellow-bellied sap sucker was probably the first to discover maple sap. These woodpeckers make distinctive holes in maple trees to extract the sap.  Native Americans noticed these holes and discovered that the sap was edible.

They enjoyed the delicious sap and wanted to find a way to preserve it because the sap is only available for a few months of the year. They decided to cook it over fire to concentrate it into a maple syrup, and then cooked it further to remove all of the water until it becomes maple sugar. 

The maple sugar was then pressed into wooden molds. The Native Americans were able to store the finished product for their own use or traded it for other goods that the tribe needed.  American pioneers learned the process from native Americans.

 

Hopefully, maple sugar and syrup production will continue for many years in Pennsylvania but, Chris has already seen a decline in the number of sugar tapping businesses. There's concern that climate change is affecting sap production because the key elements, maple trees and optimal temperatures are being changed. The Spring season is coming earlier and hotter. 

 

 

 

LAGC Meeting Notes – January 28, 2025

 President Nancy Madeoy welcomed members to the first LAGC meeting of 2025.

 

What’s growing in your garden?  Members agreed that we don’t have anything growing in our gardens right now. Andrea Maire mentioned that she saw snowdrops growing in the area.

 

Our new T-shirts were distributed by Helen. They look great! Members will be asked to wear their T-shirts to LAGC group events. Thank you to Helen for organizing the ordering and distribution of the T-shirts.

 

The 2025 LAGC Directory was distributed to members.  All members will receive a paper copy this year because it’s a special color edition for our 75^th anniversary.  Claudia and Andrea did a fantastic job creating this special handbook by including photos and historical information about LAGC. Great job! We appreciate your hard work to make the handbook memorable for 2025.

New logo.

 

Members were asked to please verify that your name, address and email address are correctly listed in the handbook.  Please notify Linda Brown if there are any corrections. 

 

Nancy reviewed how the text chain will be implemented in the event that we need to quickly contact all members.  Please see page 4 of the LAGC handbook to review the Text Tree.

 

Treasurer Denny reviewed the proposed budget for 2025.  Many items remain unchanged from the 2024 budget. One important change is the increase of the Fellowship Hall rental fee from $360 to $450. The 75th anniversary celebration budget will be $2,500. We held a vote and the 2025 budget was approved by members. 

 

Claudia reviewed all the activities that are planned for the 75^th anniversary which LAGC will celebrate throughout 2025. One particular event of interest discussed this evening is the planting of the trees which was arranged in partnership with Tree Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Park Rangers.  Members were presented with 2 potential sites where we could plant the trees. The final vote concluded that members will plant the trees in the area near the horse arena in North Park.  The tree planting will occur, rain or shine, on Friday, April 11, 2025 at 3:00pm. Members are encouraged to bring their own shovels and gloves.  More details will be communicated in the coming months. Thank you to Mary Jo Clayton who spearheaded the planning of this activity.

 

Mary Jo and Lynn circulated the sign-up sheet to volunteer to weed and maintain the Chapel Garden at Passavant Hospital.  Please consider volunteering your time to help with this project. Don’t worry if you didn’t get a chance to sign-up for a week or two! The sign-up sheet will be circulated again at the next few meetings until all the slots are filled.

 

Hostesses:

Claudia brought a pretty winter centerpiece which included pine boughs, pine cones and hydrangeas. Dianne brought delicious baklava and scrumptious toffee cracker bars. Thank you for creating such a lovely table display.

 

Program --- Women in Conservation by speaker Deaglan McManus

LAGC members welcomed returning speaker, Deaglan McManus who is a Park Ranger with Allegheny County Parks with a wealth of knowledge about the history of the parks.  This evening’s program titled “Women in Conservation” conveyed the message that women have played a major role in both the creation and conservation of the parks of Allegheny County. His interesting and informative presentation focused on 4 women who had an important impact on the Allegheny County Parks, as well as environmental interests across the USA.

·      Liz Cushman Titus Putnam born in New York in 1933 was inspired by an article she read in 1953 “Let's close the national parks”. As a college student she founded the SCA which stands for Student Conservation Association.  It was modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930’s. Pittsburgh has the largest number of alumni for this conservation program. She had strong ties with park rangers and garden clubs.  Many of the Allegheny County Park rangers received training thru the SCA. Our speaker said that his first year as a park ranger he was paid through the SCA and its seasonal ranger program. 

 

·      Mary Flinn Lawrence In1969 she sold her 485 acre estate to Allegheny County and Hartwood Acres Park was built.  In 1920 she was appointed to the State Forestry Commission.  In 1927 she planted 96,000 pine trees on the Hartwood estate to prevent soil erosion. She was named the second largest tree planter that year. She was a suffragist, philanthropist and involved in politics.

 

·      Caren Glotfelty was the Executive Director of the Allegheny County Parks Foundation and had a strong partnership with county government.  Her experience in environmental planning and efforts to raise funds led her to implement projects in the Allegheny County Parks. One of her instrumental achievements was through a partnership with the Audubon Society where she was able to have over 100 chimney swift towers built and installed at nine parks. She established a 4 acre meadow in Hartwood Acres which is planted with native wildflowers and grasses.  It’s been named the Caren Glotfelty Meadow.

 

·      Rachel Carson was born in Springdale, Pennsylvania. She worked for the Fish and Wildlife Services.  She’s credited as being the mother of the modern day environmental movement. She had a great interest in the effects of DDT insecticide which caused a decline in birds and bald eagles. Her novel “Silent Springs” was published in 1962 and caused the public to take notice of the environment and rally for change.  She’s a well-known Pittsburgher and the Rachel Carson Bridge and Rachel Carson Trail have been named in her honor. She died of breast cancer at age 56.

Rachel Carson, scientist

DDT sprayed on people.

 

LAGC October 24, 2024 Meeting Notes

President Nancy Madeoy welcomed members to the last meeting of 2024.

Members were asked What’s blooming in our gardens?  Monkshead, dahlias and mums.

LAGC members agreed to once again donate $250 to the following organizations:

·      Western PA Conservancy

·      Botanic Gardens of Western PA

·      North Area Environmental Council

·      Tree Pittsburgh

The Hostess signup sheet for 2025 was circulated to fill a few openings.

Marlow Madeoy spoke about a few details regarding the holiday luncheon and tour on November 16^th.  The restaurant will accommodate dietary needs and will offer a vegetarian food option.  The club will not be organizing a carpool for the events.  As in the past, members may arrange their own carpool and use the church parking lot as a meetup location.  Directions to the Kerr Museum and Hartwood Whisper’s Pub restaurant will be sent by our Email Coordinator, Claudia.  You may also use your GPS or cell phone for directions.  Dessert for the lunch will be a variety of cookies.  A few members have volunteered to bring cookies.

Claudia gave an update about the plans for the 75^th Anniversary celebration next year.  Plans are progressing smoothly thanks to Claudia and the committee members.  Claudia showed us a sample of the table centerpiece which is a real pumpkin containing live flowers.  The base of the signpost at the Chapel Garden will be sanded and stained.  There’s some positive discussion about having a rededication of the garden.

Our hostesses created a lovely and most delicious table.  Mary Jo Clayton brought an amazing and abundant vase of dahlias from her garden.  Andrea Maire shared her delicious homemade jam along with cream cheese, crackers and grapes.  It was delicious!  Thank you.

 

Program – A New Deal for North Park by Deaglan McManus

Our speaker, Deaglan McManus, Park Ranger for Allegheny County Parks returned to give another interesting talk about the history of North Park.  He began his talk with a reminder about how fortunate we are to have North Park so close to home with its 3094 acres of land and many miles of hiking trails. 

This evening Deaglan came to talk to us about how the New Deal transformed North Park.

He explained that the New Deal is a series of programs enacted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt between 1933 and 1938 to rescue the United States from the Great Depression.

 

The first program that he talked about was the Civilian Conservation Corps or CCC.  The program which ran from June 1933 to October 1935 involved housing about 200 men in a tent camp set up above a hillside on Wildwood Road.  The workers were young, unemployed men and were given jobs to help build some of the various buildings in North Park. This program allowed the workers to earn money, skills and become literate before they left the program.

Our speaker also talked about the Public Works Program and Civil Works Admin Program which are responsible for building some of the many structures in North Park such as the swimming pool, Golf Club House, North Park Lodge, standpipe, boathouse, and gatehouse.  The workers of these programs built the latrines, shelters and even the picnic tables that are still used today.  The most amazing feat is that the workers dug out Marshall Lake. When you are in North Park look for the metal commemorative plaques that were hung to signify jobs that were made possible with federal funding from the New Deal Programs.

 

Deaglan gave a very informative talk.  His love of history and the Allegheny County Parks is apparent in his enthusiastic delivery.  We look forward to him returning to bring another interesting presentation.

For more details about how North Park was developed by programs of the New Deal, please visit the Allegheny County Parks website.

https://www.alleghenycounty.us/parks-and-events/parks/northpark/history-of-north-park