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CT20250216

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Volunteer Workday Sat 3/15
Sun 2/16 Volunteer Workday CANCELED
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2025 Volunteer Workdays
Cresheim Trail: A rewarding 2024, a promising 2025

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We encourage you to join our group by making a donation ($50 suggested) online at our Square page or by mail to:

Friends of the Cresheim Trail

PO Box 4341

Philadelphia, PA 19118

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Email: info@cresheimtrail.org

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Howdy folks. Just checking in with a reminder that

Howdy folks. Just checking in with a reminder that our next volunteer workday will be our first Sunday of the year — the week AFTER the Super Bowl. (Go Birds!) Join us on Sunday, February 16th and take a nice good look into the near future.

We’ll be joined by our good friends @fowissahickon and @chestnuthillcommunity as we tidy up the Friends Loop and prep the year ahead in the old quarry. It’s where the venn diagram of trail building, ecological restoration, and archaeology overlap, and with the leaves down in the dead of winter, we’ll get a real good look.

We’ll meet at 9am at Chestnut Hill Mermaid Park, the grassy space owned by @philaparkandrec and cared for by CHCA’s Greenspace team. Drop a pin at 7645 Germantown Avenue (between the flower shop and Mermaid Inn).

#cresheimtrail

Pretty excellent outing for a dreary January day j

Pretty excellent outing for a dreary January day just ahead of a snowstorm! Thank you to the 14 volunteers came out for a variety of tasks:
- clearing invasive english ivy from the bridge abutment next to the Germantown Ave trailhead (swipe pics 1 & 2 for before & after and pic 3 for during)
- clearing english ivy from the Germantown Ave bridge over Cresheim Creek (pic 4 shows the cleaned bridge and the ivy spoils)
- lots of invasive vegetation removal in the Friends Loop quarry and a cleanup of the stairs (pics 5–9)
- productive trash hikes both in the rail trail (pic 10) and on the CT south from Germantown Ave to the outdoor classroom (not pictured, alas)

Enjoy the snow and stay tuned for details about next month's volunteer event.
#cresheimtrail

A forecast of cloudy and 41º sets the table for T

A forecast of cloudy and 41º sets the table for THE most January of first volunteer workdays of the year. It’s happening THIS SATURDAY at 9am. We’ll meet at the Cresheim Valley Pergola, corner of Germantown Ave & CV Drive.

We’ll give some offseason attention to the greater area around that historic intersection - a little around the Germantown Avenue trailhead, a little on the Friends Loop, maybe a little up the trail a ways. Bundle up and join us?

If not (or even if so), our next one will be our first Sunday volunteer workday of the year, on February 16th.

#cresheimtrail

The first Cresheim Trail volunteer workday of 2025

The first Cresheim Trail volunteer workday of 2025 is tentatively planned for Saturday, January 18th.

We only got a couple inches of snow yesterday, but the cold forecast promises to keep it on the ground for a while. We’ll keep an eye on things and still work to have some wintry tasks ready for us. We'll make the call sometime next week and share here.

Either way, save these dates and plan to join us in what should be an exciting year on the trail.

#cresheimtrail

Swipe THROUGH for a REVIEW of the work we DO. Espe

Swipe THROUGH for a REVIEW of the work we DO. Especially for the year that was, 2024.

Seriously: THANK YOU to all of you who’ve volunteered, donated, bought a t-shirt and hat, and generally supported the work that Friends of the Cresheim Trail does for another calendar year. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, we’re excited for the year ahead, and we’re grateful to be a part of this wonderful community.

Hit the link in our bio for a detailed review of the things covered in these slides, and if you’ve got it in you, we’ll be ever more thankful for a year-end donation.

Thank you thank you thank you, and see you on the trail in 2-0-2-5. 🍾

#cresheimtrail

Got some last second shopping to do? May we recomm

Got some last second shopping to do? May we recommend a Cresheim Trail t-shirt? (Link is in our bio to purchase.)

Conceived, designed, and printed in Philadelphia, these shirts support our all-volunteer organization and tell everyone that you get it — that trails provide an avenue for physical recreation, mental health, and community connections, and that this one checks all three right here in our little corner of the world. Illustrated by @ehinkley (who’s done great work for Philly legends @dietzandwatson and @thewarondrugs since submitting the CT design), it features the eastern screech owl and the tulip poplar, two species native to Pennsylvania who both reside in the Cresheim corridor.

Further great news in this time crunch: We have in-person pickup available thanks to our friends at Mt Airy’s awesome new outlet for bagels, baguettes, BREAD: @downtimebakery! They’re at 6624 Germantown Avenue and open Thursday through Sunday, 9am–3pm. PLEASE NOTE: Shirt purchases must be made in advance online, but we encourage you to purchase Downtime product, especially if sandwiches are available.

Friends of the Cresheim Trail is grateful for your support and wishes you all the happiest holidays!

#cresheimtrail

Impromptu volunteer planting opportunity: TOMORROW

Impromptu volunteer planting opportunity: TOMORROW! In light of recent damp days and the promise of an unseasonably nice day tomorrow, we are getting the crew together to get the last of our plants in the ground. If you’re available, we’d love to have ya.

We’ll meet at high noon, 12PM, in our planting focus area between Germantown Avenue and the boardwalk — just walk in from the Germantown Ave trailhead till you see us. BYO tools too if you’ve got em (shovels and trowels in particular), this one’s informal so we won’t have the usual full set. Thank you thank you.

Dates for 2025 volunteer days will be posted shortly, so stay tuned for those too. #cresheimtrail

Congratulations to @fowissahickon on today’s ope

Congratulations to @fowissahickon on today’s opening of Lida Way, the new ADA-accessible pedestrian bridge at Valley Green. Made of concrete, steel, and timber, it’s the culmination of a 10-year project to replace the previous wooden bridge, which collapsed in a storm in 2014, with a more permanent solution. The project was done in partnership with @philaparkandrec and @phillyh2o, who restored Valley Green Run in the process.

Also, congratulations to our friend David Bower, the longtime volunteer leader and longtime friend of the Wissahickon, who was honored with a plank on the bridge, along with his Q-Team. That’s as in “quarantine team,” the tight knit, dedicated corps of volunteers who started getting together regularly during the pandemic in 2020 and continue today. David and the Q-Team are great supporters of the Cresheim Trail, including this past weekend’s cleanup of Cresheim Valley Drive. He’s pictured here with Jim McClory, Debbie Hoellein, and Rick Hock, who teamed up to honor David and the Q-Team with the plank.

The bridge seams back together the Orange and White Trails along the eastern side of Wissahickon Creek at Valley Green Road. From the Cresheim Trail, it’s about 1.5 trail miles to the bridge. (Use caution to) cross Cresheim Valley Drive at Buttercup Cottage and follow the creek downhill to the White Trail and make a right. Or continue downstream past Devil’s Pool to the Orange Trail and make a right. When you get to Valley Green Road, you can’t miss it. (Please note: the bridge is pedestrian-only, so dismount and walk bikes after riding to it.)

(c) 2025 The Friends of the Cresheim Trail

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