Annville park marks 35th anniversary with bench dedication ceremony

Quittie Creek Nature Park marked National Take a Walk in the Park Day by providing visitors with a few new places to sit.

National Take a Walk in the Park Day is celebrated each year on March 30 to encourage people to improve their physical and mental health by strolling in local parks, enjoying nature while boosting their activity levels.

In Annville, March 30 also marked the 35th anniversary of the dedication of the nature park on the banks of Quittapahilla Creek.

According to a release from park volunteer Mary Woolson, BlueScope Building North America donated funds for the purchase of the two benches. One of the benches honors Ann Marie Lasky, who was instrumental in founding the park in 1991, and David Lasky, who established the Quittapahilla Watershed Association in 1997.

The other bench recognizes BlueScope, a major employer in Annville, and its parent company Butler and Varco Pruden. BlueScope employees contribute volunteer hours towards park maintenance, the release notes.

The bench dedication was held at 2 p.m. Monday, led by Annville Township Commissioner Anthony Perrotto along with Matt Woolson, Owen Moe, and Michael Schroeder, all of whom are members of the Quittie Creek Nature Park Committee of the Friends of Old Annville. The dedication was followed by a guided walking tour of the township-owned park.

According to the Friends of Old Annville website, a group of concerned citizens approached the township in 1989 “about unregulated dumping near a wetland in an abandoned limestone quarry near the Quittapahilla Creek.” The group suggested that the quarry and additional creekside woodland, which was owned by the township, be developed for recreation. Accordingly, township commissioners designated the 23-acre woodland area and quarry as a passive recreation park.

The park committee raised funds to expand the park by 11 acres in 2012, and another 2.64 acres in 2018. The latter expansion led to the creation of a 1.3-mile hiking path along the creek from High Street to Willow Drive.

Trails at the park take visitors past five lime kilns and the site of a water-powered mill that once slaked and ground lime for use in fertilizer and cement. The park also contains the remains of an old weir dam used to direct the flow of the creek through a water wheel pump house that sent water from Penryth Spring to reservoirs in the hills north of town, the website notes.