EMHR executive director Cain Chamberlin (right) invited heritage partners to talk about how their projects have benefited from the EMHR’s Partnership Mini-Grant Program. Presenters included (from left) Lynn Conrad from the Rail Trail Council of NEPA, Jessica Pennella from the Loyalsock Foundation, Morgan Clinton from the Wyalusing Valley Museum, Leo Wills from Monroe Borough, and Debbie Lutz from the Heritage Village and Farm Museum.
The Endless Mountains Heritage Region (EMHR) hosted an annual meeting and luncheon at the Bradford County Safety Building in Towanda on Oct. 2. Board members, project partners, and other supporters celebrated the achievements of the past year and embraced plans for the future that include a bid to become a National Heritage Area (NHA). There was also a shuffling of the deck as a new spate of community leaders were brought into the fold as several long-time board members whose terms had expired were thanked for their years of service to the organization.
“The meeting had a very positive vibe to it from beginning to end,” said EMHR executive director Cain Chamberlin. “The success that we have experienced in recent years with a growing number of events and initiatives has set the stage for us to expand our horizons and grow in ways that we couldn’t have imagined just five years ago.”
Bidding farewell to the EMHR this year were Brian Lione of Susquehanna County, Matt Williams of Bradford County, board president Chris Desrochers, and Candy Williams of Sullivan County. Each was given a personalized plaque with a collage of postcards depicting iconic vistas of Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties.
“Saying goodbye to people who have given so much of themselves to the Heritage Region through the years is always bittersweet,” Chamberlin stated. “But we’ve found that these valued board members continue to work with and support the EMHR in new ways. And we’re always delighted when any of them want to come back.”
Such was the case with former Sullivan County commissioner Donna Ionnone, who was instrumental in the development of the Endless Mountains Gravel Bikepacking Loop (EMGBL). She returned to the board as a Sullivan County representative. Other new board members include Bradford County Airport manager Scott Hauser, Susquehanna County Promotion and Tourism Agency director Staci Wilson, and Lackawanna College Towanda Center director Kelly White, who broke a three-way tie to take a seat on the board.
Susquehanna County member Dave Palmer was elected as the new president of the board, and Bradford County Tourism and Promotion Agency director Robyn Cummings accepted a nomination to become the board’s new vice president. Amy Benjamin of the Northern Tier Planning & Development Commission opted to retain her position as secretary/treasurer.
Participating in the meeting via Zoom was Augie Carlino, one of three representatives of Point Heritage Development Consulting who have been working over the past year with the EMHR’s quest to achieve a national designation. He and fellow consultants Nancy Morgan and Peter Samuel have visited the area to tour heritage sites, hold public meetings to explain the NHA process, and taken Chamberlin to Washington, DC. and other NHAs like the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area near Pittsburgh, from which Carlino is soon to retire as executive director.
Carlino stressed that the road to NHA designation is complex and not always linear but that the EMHR’s NHA Committee has done an outstanding job in making the case for and justifying inclusion as an NHA to take its place among 62 other NHAs in the United States, six of which are in Pennsylvania. While encouraging patience with the process, he urged everyone involved with the project to continue development on all fronts simultaneously so they are as ready as possible when the matter comes to the attention of those in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
In addition to the level of engagement at the public meetings, Carlino and his associates were impressed by the response to a survey conducted by the EMHR on the topic. “You all broke the record on the number of people who answered the survey,” he said of the 558 respondents. “And the enthusiasm that came out of the people you work with was incredible and extremely supportive.” Carlino considers the process to be at about the half way point as plans have been submitted to a five-member subject matter expert panel that includes DCNR secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “They all came back with supportive letters that said that the information we had provided for the was accurate, true, and deserving of national recognition,” Carlino related.
Once it is paired with an approved action plan and public comment is factored into a feasibility study, the report will be delivered to the U.S. Park Service, which is tasked with making the official recommendation to introduce the EMHR’s bid as legislation to Congress.
“We are so blessed to have a team from Point Heritage Development Consulting that not only understands our vision and loves this area but is also uniquely qualified to sift through the many layers of history that we have presented to them to figure out what meets the criteria of national significance,” Chamberlin stated.
EMHR water trail coordinator Emily Baldauff summed up the river paddles and sojourns of the last year and shared some plans for 2025. Some future paddles will target areas of the river not previously used to help people seeking membership in the 444 Club (those who have paddled the 444 miles of the Susquehanna River from Cooperstown, NY, to Havre de Grace, MD) achieve that goal. The EMHR will also work with the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership to secure a grant to bring uniformity to all river wayfinding signs.
Other presenters at the meeting included six representatives from organizations that have received EMHR Partnership Mini-Grants. Projects reviewed ranged from restoration and maintenance of historic structures in the region to museum enhancements and promotion of special events and innovative programming. The meeting concluded with Chamberlin’s executive director’s report and his perspective on what the EMHR has accomplished in the last year.
To learn more about the Endless Mountains Heritage Region, including activities already scheduled for 2025 and ways to get involved, interested readers can log on to EMHeritage.org.
Those elected to three year terms on the EMHR Board on Oct. 2 included Kelly White (left), Donna Iannone and (not pictured) Scott Hauser and Staci Wilson.
EMHR executive director Cain Chamberlin (right) presents outgoing board member Brian Lione with a plaque of postcards from the four representative counties.