Tag Archives: Blossburg

Event

Finale Concert Celebrates Coal Miners of PA and the Tioga River’s Restoration Journey

Mark your calendars for Sunday, September 28 at 2:00 PM (doors open at 1:30 PM, first come/first seated) when folk musician, educator, and former coal miner Van Wagner takes the stage at the historic Victoria Theatre in Blossburg for Songs Celebrating Coal Miners of PA. This free, family-friendly concert honors the miners who shaped the region and offers an opportunity to reflect on the ongoing work to restore the Tioga River.

The free concert, Songs Celebrating Coal Miners of PA, features folk musician, educator, and former coal miner Van Wagner.

This concert is the final event in the Rivers, Coal & Crafts series, a series of community events led by the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy (NPC), Blossburg Memorial Library, and Tioga County Conservation District. Over the spring and summer, the series brought people together through hands-on activities, storytelling, and art projects focused on the area’s mining past, the damage caused by abandoned mine drainage (AMD), and the partnerships working together to make the Tioga River healthy again.

A Look Back on the Rivers, Coal & Crafts series

In April, the series launched with a make-a-long workshop at the Blossburg Company Store, where attendees crocheted Tioga River Gnomes. The official mascot, Gnolli, was created during this event and now serves as a traveling symbol of the river’s restoration journey.

Gnolli checks out the Make-A-Long kit, featuring yarn from the Blossburg Company Store! Each color tells part of the Tioga River’s story, from polluted past to a brighter, healthier future.

In June, artist Bibi S. Brion led an Urban Sketch Workshop, where participants used pencil and watercolor to capture Blossburg’s buildings and scenery. Later that month, families joined a Cookie Mining activity, using chocolate chip cookies to explore land use and mine reclamation in a fun, hands-on way. The month wrapped up with a Tie-Dye Party at the library. Guests dyed shirts using pigment made from iron oxide collected from AMD, turning pollution into wearable art and sparking conversations about the river’s challenges and restoration.

Urban Sketch Workshop
Cookie Mining
Tie Dye Party

July featured the second of two workshops that invited people to help build a community Water Quilt, a fabric collage made from river-themed drawings. The finished quilt is now on display at the Blossburg Memorial Library.

The community Water Quilt hangs on display at the Blossburg Memorial Library.

Throughout the entire series, participants learned how AMD has affected the Tioga River and how NPC and partners are working together to improve the Tioga River and the land around it.

A Musical Finale in Coal Country

We hope you will join us for the final celebration on September 28 at Songs Celebrating Coal Miners of Pennsylvania to honor the community’s role in healing the River.

Song Celebrating Coal Miners of PA 
Sunday, September 28, 2025
Doors open at 1:30 PM / Show begins at 2:00 PM
Victoria Theatre (222 Main St, Blossburg, PA)
Free and open to the public (First come, first seated)

This event is made possible by support from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, The Jones Foundation, and the Friends of the Blossburg Memorial Library.

About Van Wagner

Van Wagner is an educator, forester and musical artist. In the classroom, he teaches Agriculture Science at Danville Area High School. He has been selected as Conservation Educator of the Year in 2005 from Schuylkill County and in 2007 and 2009 in Union County.

In 2012 he was awarded the Sandy Cochran award for natural resource education from the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. In 2015 the Red Cross presented Van with the Robert N. Pursel Distinguished Service Award.

Outside of the classroom he educates audiences with his music and programs on Pennsylvania History. He received an Outstanding Achievement Award in 2018 from the Pennsylvania Heritage Songwriting Contest. In 2021 he was recognized with an outstanding alumni award by the Danville High School alumni association. He is the 2025 recipient of the Penn State University School of Forest Resources alumni of the year award. In 2025 he completed his goal of climbing the tallest tree on the tallest mountain in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties in an effort to raise awareness about forestry in the state. 

In 2024 he was awarded “best male solo artist” of the year from the Central PA music awards.  His music has been featured on the History Channel, WVIA tv, Country Music Television (CMT), and in several film productions. He has released 35 original albums and published a book entitled “Coal Dust Rust and Sawdust.” 

His music and programs not only entertain but inspire audiences to become involved in learning more.

Visit Van Wagner Music to learn more.

Event, On the Blog

A Community “Water Quilt” Comes Together

Blossburg – On June 30, the Blossburg Memorial Library came alive with bright colors and big ideas during Part 1 of the Water Quilt project. This special event was part of the Rivers, Coal & Crafts series from the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy (NPC) and partners. The hands-on workshop invited kids to learn about rivers through a story and an art project. 


Julie Weaver, a retired teacher and NPC Board Member, leads the creation of the community “Water Quilt” at the Blossburg Memorial Library.

Julie Weaver, a retired teacher and NPC Board Member, led the workshop. She began by reading a river-themed story that encouraged children to imagine the sights and sounds they might encounter while traveling down a river. As they listened and shared, they also learned about the Tioga River—how it has been affected by Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) pollution in the past – and how people are working together to help it recover. After the story, the kids brought their ideas to life by drawing river-inspired scenes on sandpaper.

Their designs have since been transferred onto fabric squares using an iron, and those squares have been pieced together into a quilt top! 

Children gather to listen to a river-themed story and then create their own artwork to add to the community Water Quilt.

The “Water Quilt” Continues: Join Us for Part 2

Now it’s time to finish the quilt together! On Monday, July 28 at 1:30 PM, we invite you to return to the Blossburg Memorial Library for Water Quilt (Part 2). This free event is open to everyone. You do not need to have attended Part 1 to join. 
 
Julie will read a new river-themed story, then new participants will have the chance to create their own sandpaper artwork to be ironed onto a Rivers, Coal & Crafts t-shirt. Afterward, everyone will work together to tie the final knots and complete the Water Quilt. We’ll be using yarn from the Blossburg Company Store’s Tioga River yarns, adding a special local touch to the project. Once finished, the quilt will be displayed at the Blossburg Memorial Library.

A Stitch in a Larger Story: Restoring the Tioga River

The Water Quilt project is part of the ongoing Rivers, Coal and Crafts series, made possible by grant funding from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), the Jones Foundation, and Friends of the Blossburg Memorial Library.   

The series – coordinated by NPC, Tioga County Conservation District, and the Blossburg Memorial Library – celebrates the Blossburg community and shares information about the Tioga River’s ongoing restoration. 

Through hands on workshops, craft projects, and storytelling, participants of all ages are learning about the decades-long impacts of AMD on the Tioga River, and how local partnerships are working together to restore the health of the river and its surrounding landscape.   

Event

Cookie Mining in Blossburg: A Sweet Look at History and Land Use 

Blossburg’s coal mining past got a tasty twist at the recent Cookie Mining workshop, presented by the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy (NPC), the Tioga County Conservation District (TCCD), and the Blossburg Memorial Library. Together, these partners welcomed 34 excited “miners” to learn about the region’s coal history through chocolate chip cookies! 

Cookie mining in action! Participants took on the challenge of extracting chocolate chips while learning about coal, land use, and reclamation.

A Tasty Take on Local History

Erica Tomlinson from the Tioga County Conservation District started things off with a short talk about coal mining in the area. Then it was time to mine some cookies. First, there were no rules—just dig out the chocolate chips however you could. Then, new rules were added to show what responsible mining looks like. Toothpicks and paper clips became pickaxes and shovels. While some kids hoped for bigger tools, they soon got the hang of these smaller, more careful methods. 

Reclamation and Responsible Mining

The activity led to some great conversations. Older kids talked about “reclamation,” the process of fixing land after it has been mined. Everyone discussed the importance of cleaning up after your work and trying to limit the damage. 

Once the mining was over (and the cookies safely set aside), the group enjoyed fresh chocolate chip cookies from Farmer Dave at The Farmer’s Table. They were a big hit and well worth the wait! 

Once the mining was over (and the cookies safely set aside), the group enjoyed fresh chocolate chip cookies from Farmer Dave at The Farmer’s Table.

Rivers, Coal and Crafts: Highlighting the Tioga River Restoration

This event is part of the ongoing Rivers, Coal and Crafts series, made possible by grant funding from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), the Jones Foundation, and Friends of the Blossburg Memorial Library. 

The series, coordinated by NPC, TCCD, and the Blossburg Memorial Library celebrates the Blossburg community and shares information about the Tioga River’s ongoing restoration. 

Through hands on workshops, craft projects, and storytelling, participants of all ages are learning about the decades-long impacts of Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) on the Tioga River, and how local partnerships are working together to restore the health of the river and its surrounding landscape. 

Abandoned mine drainage (AMD) discharges have polluted the Tioga River for more than a century. Now NPC and our partners working together to restore the health of the Tioga River.
Conservation Project, On the Blog

Survey Ribbons Marks Progress

By Renee’ Carey

You can measure progress in a lot of different ways. One way we’re measuring the progress of cleaning up the Tioga River’s Abandoned Mine Drainage is the colors of survey ribbon on the Coal Creek property. The design for the Active Treatment Plant (ATP) for the Tioga River clean-up is underway and you can see signs of the design process in pink, orange, and blue tied to tree branches and pinned to the ground.

With the help and support of our members and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, we purchased the Coal Creek property in May 2022 to ensure construction access to the largest discharge in the watershed (on a neighboring property). Last week, in January 2023, I spent a little time on the property before a meeting in Blossburg.

The surveyors have been hard at work. There were different colors of ribbon marking roads, paths, and flow paths. I have no idea what they were actually surveying and working through, and that’s okay. I was just super excited to see the ribbon and all the colors of ribbon.

To me, this is the next step. There are people on the ground gathering information and plotting out aspects of the ideas and concepts being considered. Progress!

The engineering firm is on schedule for wrapping up the design work this fall. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission estimates construction of the plant should start next year and cleaner water should be flowing into the Tioga River in two years.

Thank you to all the members and partners that are making this project a reality!

The sunset as I was walking out had similar shades to the survey ribbon!

Conservation Project, On the Blog

Municipal Officials Walk Through the First Draft of the Tioga River Mine Drainage Treatment System

The active treatment system that will be cleaning up abandoned mine discharge (AMD) from Coal Creek, Fall Brook, and Morris Run will have pipes moving water to the plant for treatment and then back to the streams for release through three municipalities. Recently, representatives from those municipalities and Tioga County were given an overview of the project concept and then visited several sites that will be used in the Tioga River Mine Drainage Treatment System.

Sami explained the overall concept as well as what infrastructure would be in each municipality.

The group began in the community room at Island Park for the overview.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) and their engineers from Kleinfelder explained the current plan for how the water would be collected, conveyed to the treatment plant, and then how it will get back to the streams.  

After the overview and some questions the group headed out to see some of the sites being considered for pump stations.

The first stop on the tour was at the largest discharge, the one on Coal Creek. Many members of the group had never seen the discharge before, only heard about it. While the flow was lower than normal, it still impressed many of the attendees with the volume of water coming out of the hillside.

The consultant explained that the entry had collapsed, but had once been the “man entrance” to the mine. After the mining was complete, the entrance had been sloped to make it easier for the water to flow out and other modifications were made to help de-water the area of the mine that was being worked.

Tom (on the left) was explaining to George from Blossburg Borough how the Coal Creek discharge would be captured.

The group then walked down the road to see a potential location for a pump station that will help move the water from the discharge to the treatment plant. The site is along a well-used road. Discussions included known utilities (the consultants will be doing a formal review) and the depth the utilities are set at, as well as conversations related to plowing snow. There will need to be air vents along the lines, and the consultants wanted to ensure the vents won’t damage snow plows or be damaged by the plows.

The old mine road would be reopened to gain access to the Coal Creek discharge. The road the group is standing on would be used to get the water to the active treatment plant. In the next phase of design specific questions will be discussed about how the road will be rebuilt after the pipes are set.

The next stop was Morris Run. The village is named after its stream which is AMD impacted. There are two discharges close together here. These two will be captured and brought together before being conveyed to the treatment plant.

The two discharges in Morris Run are near the Township’s maintenance shop. (which made for easy parking for the tour)

Fall Brook was next. There is a passive treatment system currently treating some of the water from Fall Brook. In a passive treatment system the water flows through a series of limestone treatment cells or ponds. The water slows down and flows through the limestone increasing the pH which allows heavy metals to settle out. The passive system will stay in place and continue to operate with a set volume of water. The flow above that set volume will be directed to the active treatment plant.

The Caribbean blue in the distance, on the left is part of the current passive treatment system for Fall Brook.

The last stop on the tour was the proposed location for the actual active treatment plant. Here questions related to traffic patterns were discussed. There will be materials brought in frequently to keep the plant operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, for years and years.

Now SRBC and the consultants will begin following up with each of the municipalities and discussing details. These detailed discussions will inform the next phase of planning and design. It’s anticipated the next draft design will be presented to the officials in October.

The excitement about a cleaner Tioga River is building!