River Towns Await Collaboration to Attract Increased Trail Business

Washington PA  Observer Reporter
28 October 2011
By Tara Kinsell, Staff writer
tkinsell@observer-reporter.com

There was a time when Greensboro, Rices Landing, Point Marion, California and Fredericktown were thriving river towns. The craftsmen in these Washington and Greene County towns drew travelers on the Monongahela River onto their shores, but there is little evidence that is happening today.

That may change if lightening strikes twice for the development company that reinvented the trail towns along the Greater Allegheny Passage.

McCollum Development Strategies of Connellsville partnered with towns along the GAP to create a brand image that would increase business and draw tourism to the area.

It was so successful that the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation has approved a two-year funding stream to the Upper Monongahela River Towns Program to do the same type of project that could benefit these river communities in Washington and Greene counties.

Services for the project are through a partnership between the National Parks Service, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the Student Conservation Association.

Residents of these five communities have a reason to be optimistic that each might thrive once again.

The Benedum Foundation jumped on board after they saw the success of a similar collaboration of trail towns along the Great Allegheny Passage.

Signage is a key step in tying these towns together, according to Richelle Mateucci Marini, an assistant to Catherine McCollum, owner of the consulting firm.

"The creation of signs with a common look to brand these five towns as river towns will be the first step," she said. "After that a newsletter and brochures will be developed that highlight the assets each town has to offer. When you see the signs, you will know you are in one of the Upper Monongahela River Towns."

The planners have two years to come up with something sustainable and perpetuating of community involvement.

"That is the key to the success of the project," Marini said. "There has to be community involvement. The people living here have to want this to happen. This is a very exciting thing to be involved with."

In the trail towns that border the GAP, they found the longer people were on the trail, the more services they needed. That led them off of the trail and into the communities to use the services available. It spiraled into more businesses and new services in towns that were once struggling. Now the GAP is a tourist destination for outdoor enthusiasts.

Using that same outdoor approach as part of the UMRT program, the National Park Service Rivers & Trails staff will assist in creating "Paddles On The Mon" events, to encourage community members to explore the river in canoes and kayaks. These themed-day trips will create a stronger connection to the river, expand the palette of business opportunities and promote river conservation and stewardship.

The National Park Service's involvement comes through the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. The UMRT program is one of only four projects accepted in Pennsylvania this year.

"We will be giving technical assistance," said Peggy Pings, Outdoor Recreation Planner and Program Manager for the National Parks Service. "We will offer different topics each time we are on the river or the major tributaries, such as Dunkard Creek and Cheat Lake."

Tying the river to the history to create a tourist destination in these towns won't be an easy task, but it is one that many local leaders believe in, according to Darlene Urban Garrett, Elm Street Manager for Greensboro.

"I am confident that we can make this happen. Everyone has to be engaged in the process," she said. "There are some really outstanding people working to make this happen."