TodayFestival seeks to educate on dangers of storm-water run-off
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Pat Early/Special to The Sentinel
Evelyn Stone, 3, of Mt. Holly Springs, colors a page telling her how to properly maintain a car so it doesn’t pollute streams.
Signs commemorating historical buildings, events and people in Carlisle’s past dot the town, providing onlookers a brief history as they walk by.
But no sign commemorates one of the town’s most treasured resources, LeTort Spring Run, which snakes through the town’s heart.
Until Saturday, that is, when borough and conservancy officials gathered at LeTort Park next to the waterway to unveil a new historical marker that explains the stream’s importance to the town, its formation and its future.
It was part of the first LeTort Festival, which organizers hope to become an annual event.
“This town would probably not have been here without this water source,” said Mark Scheneman, president of Historic Carlisle, in front of a small crowd before the sign’s unveiling.
Historic Carlisle paid for the sign, which will sit at the entrance of the park.
The festival, which featured a picnic-like atmosphere with food and face painting available, sought as much to teach about preserving the LeTort as celebrating its past.
Storm-water run-off, which flows untreated into the run and includes fertilizers, motor oil and pet excrement, threatens to disrupts the stream’s rare ecology. LeTort Spring Run originates from springs, which gives it high volume and a consistent 50-degree temperature that makes it excellent for trout fishing.
The Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring, or ALLARM, a Dickinson College-based organization that seeks to protect Pennsylvania watersheds, has launched a yearlong campaign to educate the public about how its everyday activities can harm the stream. It helped organize Saturday’s event.
ALLARM has existed since 1986, said director Julie Vastine, but decided this year to try to educate the public.
Changing their habits is critical to keeping the spring clean, she said.
“We need to engage them,” she said.
She told the crowd during the ceremony’s remarks that she was happy to see so much support for ALLARM’s efforts.
“It’s a great resource we have here in Carlisle, and it’s great to see the community come together and celebrate it,” she said.
ALLARM joined with the LeTort Regional Authority, Carlisle Borough and Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited to put on the celebration.
Mixed with stands selling food and ice cream at the festival were people that sought to give tips about staying environmentally friendly. The effect was a science-fair-like display, where presenters could explain their poster board to those at the festival.
Twenty-three-year-old Stephanie Hair sat in front of her poster board mounted on a picnic table. It touted cost-friendly sustainability, such as changing to energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs.
“They’re a way you can kind of green the earth and save yourself money,” Hair said.
State Sen. Pat Vance, R-31, attended to applaud those who help keep the stream clean.
LeTort Spring Run is a treasure that needs to be protected, she said.
“I hope that all of you realize what a wonderful treasure we have,” she said, “because if you’re silent we’re going to lose it.”
