Sign offers a sense of pride
After months of planning and three days of hard work, a sign was erected on Sept. 27 near Ten Mile Creek to welcome visitors to West Bethlehem Township. This ambitious project was first proposed by a volunteer member of the new advisory board of West Bethlehem Township, but the board lacked the resources to make it happen.
The Ten Mile Creek Watershed Association (TMCWA), which has worked with West Bethlehem Township in the past on creek cleanups, believed it to be a worthwhile project, and so formed a coalition with the township. After weeks of planning, the TMCWA managed to acquire a Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful grant of $500 through the sponsorship of the Washington County Watershed Alliance.
Once the grant was approved, West Bethlehem Township supervisors played an active role in designing the sign, along with an area artist who worked for free. The sign shows an original print of a township schoolhouse built in 1906. A group of volunteers, along with township employees and a hired stonemason worked together to set up the sign and a surrounding planter. Not long after, the sign inspired a few local residents to donate a sign spotlight, hotel birdhouse and several hundred flower bulbs.
This was all possible because of hard work, commitment and dedication. It is the hope of the township that this project will bring the community together in solidarity and offer a sense of pride and belonging, as well as an appreciation for the area’s natural surroundings.
Robert Mercante
Tom Donahoo
Duane Piatt
West Bethlehem
Mercante, Donahoo and Piatt are supervisors in West Bethlehem Township.