Community Corner
Palmer Beautification Project Makes an Impact
Stones Crossing west side area spruced up and clean
David Carr walks the lush greens surrounding his Palmer Township home, stopping to point out the elephant ears, cannas, calla lillies, hostas, irises, butterfly bushes and ferns.
He beams at the hummingbirds that approach the three bird feeders in his back yard and admires the nearby pond full of goldfish. It's like his own Longwood Gardens. And the 62-year-old retired teacher wants to share his natural treasures with everyone else.
"I've got a green thumb," he said. "I just love it."
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Carr said he could easily spend four to eight hours in his garden each day, but instead he's going to take his hobby to the next level: launching the Palmer Township Beautification Project.
The project centers around the township's bike path -- something with which Carr is quite familiar. He rode it 110 times in the past year.
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"I drive the bike path all the time," he said. "I look at it. It grew naturally over the past 20 to 30 years and looked like a dump."
In May, Carr pitched a plan to the Board of Supervisors to volunteer to clean up a section of the bike path, starting along the west side of Stones Crossing Road.
"I made a photo essay and took pictures of a stretch of the bike path to show how it looked," he said. "I said that we can do some good things here."
The supervisors agreed that a volunteer group would be a welcome addition and gave Carr the green light. They also thanked Carr for his years of keeping the southern section of the bike path clean and his interest and involvement in this project.
For his volunteerism, Carr asked for a dump truck and a backhoe to help cut off and clear some branches of blue spruce trees, which had overgrown onto the bike path. He also enlisted some other recruits. The Children's Home of Easton helped do some work.
As Carr walked along the bike path by William Penn Highway, the work he has done is evident. This section of the path near Fairview Park is free of debris, just in time for the Palmer Township Community Days on Aug. 17-21, and people are enjoying it biking and riding on this warm afternoon.
Like the garden around his home, Carr is once again beaming.