The  Poquessing Pathfinder Online
The Friends of Poquessing Watershed Inc. of Philadelphia and Bucks County
Dedicated to the Conservation and Beautification of the Poquessing Creek and Its Environs

NOTES FROM THE  PRESIDENT

Sorry  we’ve been out-of-touch  for awhile. Sometimes everything  happens at once. I’ll try to explain in song!

While Strolling Through the Park One Day in the Merry, Merry Month of May - Actually, it was strolling through
the mall with the Franklin Mills Milers - & the month was March 98 - when I injured my knee. This fiasco became a
year of surgeons, MRIs, X-Rays, physical therapy and, at times, incapacitation. This is not a plea for sympathy or “get-
well” cards. I merely wish you all to know that my activities have been painfully limited. I still do therapy 3 times a
week, but I am better and soon hope to be my old functional self.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm - Yep, Chuck and Marilyn Benshetler bought the farm - all 65 acres of it - near
Bloomsburg, PA. All of you who know Chuck are aware that he is very involved in Boy Scouts, refereeing track and
wrestling, educational associations and civic groups. Also, he is our Recording Secretary. Now with two domiciles to
tend he’s really not knowin’ if he’s comin’  or goin’.

Carry Me Back to Old Virginny - Well Deb Scott, VP Membership, also decided to buy a larger estate. She & Dave
built a home on 13 acres they purchased in 1997 in Orange County, VA. The family moved last September. We wish
them well and we miss them.

By the Sea  - Tony & Mary Eisele became so smitten with their summers in Wildwood since Tony retired from the
Phila Fire Dept, that they decided to eventually live there full time. So in October they made settlement on a year-
round dwelling. Naturally, almost all their spare time is being spent fixing  up the new house.  Tony will be extra
occupied with his two homes until things all come together. However, he’s not yet moving full time, so we’ll have his
happy, helpful countenance with us (at least part-time) for awhile.

Fiddler on the Roof - was calling to Donna Remick to raise her attic roof. Once she found out how much repair work
was needed on the attic of her 19th century Mechanicsville home, she decided to enlarge and expand the area for the
use of her son Mike. But living in a home during such major renovations in the hot summer is stressful to say the least.
However she seems to have survived and the new space seems worth all the “crazies” that ensued.

I’m Beginning to See the Light - So fellow FOPW friends you know that each of these life style changes is major
and when they happened all in the same period to FOPW Exec Board members you can see how they have caused our
activities to be greatly curtailed. Now hopefully “normal” or something close to it is returning and we can look
forward to productively working together for the protection of our watershed. We hope to see you at our meetings.

  Dianne Welsh-Retzback
 
 

POQUESSING WETLAND CLEANUP

     After 30 or more years of neglect, quite a lot of junk had accumulated in the forested wetland area of the
Poquessing Watershed. On February 6, neighbors volunteered their time to clean it up, pulling out about 50 old tires
and other typical refuse such as rusted shopping carts and old  bike and automotive parts. Mr. Whiting, the District
Supervisor from the Phila Sanitation Dept. personally came out to survey the situation and called in the  appropriate
trash removal team.
     A thank you goes to the volunteers including Joe Cerrone of the Philadelphia Water Dept., who donned his
work boots to wade through the wetland area in need of cleaning. Mary, Mike and Kate Cerrone assisted, forming an
“assembly line” chain to roll the tires out of the water and up the bowl shaped wetland. Also, Cub Scouts David and
Josh Zlotnick got muddy helping out. Thanks as well, to Dianne Retzback for initiating me at an earlier FOPW clean-
up which gave me the impetus to arrange the much-needed affair.
     This forested wetland area is located at Woodhaven Rd and Pandrail Place, west of Bustleton Avenue, near
the church of St. Andrew in the Field. A pair of magnificent blue herons have been sighted soaring above the trees
during spring and fall migrations. These birds are considered “at risk” by the Audubon Society. I saw one of these
herons myself last fall, in a pond on Clearview Rd in Lower Moreland Twp (near Pine and County Line Rds). The
Poquessing flows from this pond across Philmont Rd into NE Phila where it forms this wetland in my neighborhood.
     The wetland supports a long list of other birds including wild turkeys, which I had heard much about from
neighbors and  finally saw (to my delight) two days before the clean-up! Also tree frogs can be heard singing from the
wetland on spring evenings!
     Now that is clean again, I invite you to visit it! Other portions of the forest area still need work... more news
to follow.

  Suzanne Zlotnick

CHARLOTTE HAS HER WEB,
NOW WE HAVE OURS

http://www.friendsofpoquessing.com

Thanks to the determined, dedicated knowledge and creativity of our own Donna Smith-Remick last summer, FOPW
is out there in cyberspace. Come visit us!

 By the way, Donna’s other talents for FOPW include coordinating the water-monitoring team, scheduling
the town watch patrols, and setting up the format for  “The Poquessing Pathfinder”.

 Thanks again and again, Donna, for your faithfulness!
 

TIDBITS FROM TONY

“THE ENEMY IS US!”  So said Pogo. Explanation follows:
    One night I was behind a car on Woodhaven Rd. We were stopped for a red light at Knights.  On the bumper were two
stickers — one lauding the Irish and the other endorsing unionism. “Ah,” I thought to myself, “my kind of person.”
I’ve been in a union for many years and my ancestry is Irish. Then it happened. Trash dropped from the vehicle upon
the roadway. How demoralizing! I like to think that so-called “litterbugs” are always “THEM”. (Whoever THEM are.)
But the truth of the matter is that the enemy is not THEM but US.
     On a brighter note, let me report this. Recycling at the Wildwood shore is mandatory. And I do mean
mandatory. If even one can or bottle is mixed in with your regular trash (and the collectors spot it), your trash is left.
None is picked up. And won’t be until you remove the offending “culprit”. And believe me, there are a lot of cans and
bottles being emptied down the shore in the summertime. And all being recycled!

  Tony Eisele    Executive Vice-President
 

Chlorine In Drinking Water Can Exceed Pool Water Limits - Effective 2/16/99 Nationwide

     The U.S. EPA has set a maximum limit for chlorine in drinking water of 4.0 milligrams per liter (mg/l). This
limit is 33% higher than chlorine used in pool water. Pool chemical suppliers instruct users to limit chlorine level to
1.0-3.0 mg/l.
     The justification for the 4.0 mg/l chlorine in drinking water is that federal law mandates water companies to
ensure a minimum of .02 mg/l to customers living at the end of lengthy     water mains. Consequently, customers
living at the front end of the main will be drinking water with higher levels of chlorine.
     The EPA says that “...studies show an  association between bladder and rectal cancer and chlorination
byproducts in drinking water”, “...Chronic exposure to concentrations of chlorine of around 5 ppm (ppm=mg/l) caused
respiratory complaints, corrosion of the teeth, inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nose and increased
susceptibility to tuberculosis.”
     Limited and conflicting data from the EPA and other  agencies show a relationship between chlorinated
water and birth defects including spina bifida. Also, the effects of inhalation exposure of chlorine is being studied.
Chlorine is inhaled while bathing, showering, washing dishes or laundry and watering lawns.
     Many European and some Canadian cities have stopped chlorinating water in favor of ozone technology to
disinfect water. The American Water Works Assn. reports that ozone is being used because it is a powerful oxidant
that disinfects without increasing the by-products that chlorine produces. The  Phila Water Dept is testing ozonation
and other state-of-the-art processes at the Baxter and Belmont facilities. Some FOPW members visited Baxter a few
months ago and found the ozone pilot process really exciting.

 For more information:
Philadelphia Water Department                                             215-685-6300
EPA                 http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW                 1-800-426-4791
Zero Waste America        http://ZeroWasteAmerica.org         215-493-1070
 

FROM THE CREEK’S EDGE
Turning Away Uninvited Guests

      If you have problems with slugs, put empty cans (open at one end), jars or plastic containers in holes
throughout the garden. Traps should be pushed into the soil so the top rims are flush with the ground. Once in place,
traps can be filled with soapy water.
     Next, you should place foods that are attractive to slugs (lettuce, cabbage, sliced potatoes, turnips and
fermenting bread dough) around the traps. Slugs will take the bait, fall into the traps and drown. Alcoholic and non-
alcoholic beer can also be used to bait traps - it’s not the alcohol that lures slugs to their drowning doom but the
fermented yeast used in brewing.
     Also a pesky problem, tree drippings might be caused by aphids feeding on the underside of foliage. As
they suck the leaf juices, aphids excrete honeydew, a sticky substance that lands on cars, decks and sidewalks.Aphids
gradually decrease in number as summer progresses. Mostly a general nuisance, there is little cause for treatment
except in rare instances.

  Jo Edwards          Creek Edge Gardens

Philadelphia Cares  About Fairmount Park Day

1998
    We had a super turnout at Stephen Decatur School - 83 people! We collected lots and lots and lots of trash.
Through the persistent (nagging) efforts of some teachers and students, a number of abandoned autos were removed
from the creek by the Philadelphia Water Department. PWD also donated tee shirts and water in reusable sport bottles.
Fairmount Park fed all the hungry hard workers.
 The day was hectic but rewarding!

1999
 Already we are planning for this year’s Citywide day, Saturday May 15. Jackie Olson, the Northeast
Fairmount Park Volunteer Coordinator and FOPW have targeted the area at Hegerman Street and Frankford Avenue
(going east on  Hegerman toward Holy Family College). We plan to  coordinate with the college for volunteers; but
we need our FOPW members to support this project. Call, fax or email us to sign up and for more details.

Glen Foerd Gatherings

St. Paddy’s Day Glen Foerd Style                  Sunday March 7 from 2 to 5 PM.
Back by popular demand the Celtic Crossroads and children from the Ryan School of Irish Dancing. Also a traditional seanclaie (storyteller) will weave her myths in the Mansion’s Rathskeller. There will be light fare and a cash bar.

Lunch With the Easter Bunny                          Saturday March 27 11AM to 2 PM.
Clowns, entertainment, Easter Egg Hunt, boxed lunches and prizes.

Proceeds benefit restoration of Glen Foerd.  Please call 215-632-5330 for  information. Tickets will NOT be sold at
the door.

When you’re making that phone call, inquire about the “Glen Foerd Celebrates” cookbook at $15 each. It makes a
great gift!