A Park Defender

An Insult To Sledders
December 17, 1987|The Morning Call
To the Editor:

While Mayor Daddona is confronted with resistance in his effort to deprive the people of their parklands, a less subtle and more effective deprivation has taken place. Parklands were effectively lost recently when park workers erected stout fencing and "No Sledding" signs on a slope in Lehigh Parkway where wholesome recreational activities have been traditional for five decades. Pathetic will be the frustration of kids, teeners, and adults who used the slope joyously day and night. Hikers, birders, and meanderers, equally frustrated, are likely to exclaim, "What knavery," some using a more juicy epithet expressing revulsion.

How and why did this miserable taking, a fait accompli without foreknowledge, come about? The motives of the perpetrators is clear. Grass cutting on the slope has suddenly become an impossible burden, patently beyond their capabilities. (Ron "Punkin" Miller handled the job for decades with supreme excellence). But the park management, with amazing stupidity, introduced a new mowing tractor equipped with heavy, sod-busting treads. Aghast, one observer inquired, "Are they going to plant potatoes in the ruts?"

The fencing and no-sledding mandate is just the beginning, however, of a heavy-handed intrusion militating against use and enjoyment of our parkland. The park people know the best way to eliminate grass cutting is to get rid of the grass. Ah, yes! To be sure. Pine trees. No grass, no leaves - the loss of a view? So what?

Three dozen pine trees already have been planted on the slope. If not removed, shortly there will be a thicket of pines, eliminating grass cutting, of course, but devastating an incomparable view and historic passage via the slope into the park.

What this town needs is for its citizenry to assert its basic rights and priorities over those public servants who perform with an assumption of proprietary interest, ignoring their true status.

BERT A. LUCKENBACH
Allentown

Mr. Luckenbach lived above the Parkway, in the twin homes, now called Little Lehigh Manor. As a child, I also grew up in that neighborhood, and we all sled on the hill (above the Stone and Log House). Luckenbach passed away in 2000 at the age of 99. In the previous post, although 92 years old, he was still defending the park.

Parkway Tears

Director Harms Lehigh Parkway
February 04, 1993|The Morning Call
To the Editor:

How much longer must park devotees put up with Allentown Park Director Donald Marushak's misuse of evergreen trees, no trespass signs, and wrecking tools to destroy cherished elements of the people's parks?

First Marushak closed off a much-used slope by planting a dense cluster of 60 evergreen trees across its width.

Next, four "No trespass" signs were posted to prohibit access to 30 acres of deciduous woodland with its magnificent understory of many species of plant life. Trespass, a legal term, is defined in a children's encyclopedia as intrusion on private land. The term has no application for restricting passage on public land.

The WPA in the 1930s created a three-acre island by diverting water from the Little Lehigh Creek. The island had remained a source of joy for birders, naturalists, and nondescript strollers. No one foresaw Marushak arriving on the scene with wrecking tools to rip up the bridge, terminating public access to the island. Three masonry piers remain in place. Also remaining are 12 discarded auto tires gathering silt in the small stream.

BERT LUCKENBACH
ALLENTOWN

17 years later......
Most people have long ago forgotten that there was a bridge to the island, although the stone piers still remain, obscured by overgrowth. The curved wall and landing of the Boat Landing, shown in the lower right of the photograph, are buried. Last fall, with help from others who appreciate our treasured parks, I had the privilege to rescue the steps which lead to the landing.

Men's Stuff, Clearing the Tracks

One of the challenges faced by The Lehigh Valley Transit Company was keeping the tracks cleared of snow during long winters. Special cars were constructed with huge plows for that purpose, plus some regular passenger cars had small plows mounted on the front for continuous cleanup. Shown above is a special plow car stored at the Fairview Yard.







The trolley system required much more infrastructure than later buses. Shown here is track intersection being constructed in center city Bethlehem. Corresponding electric lines would have to be constructed overhead to power the cars. For your viewing pleasure, here is an introduction to an available video by Gerhard Salomon on the service in Easton.



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Al Bundy Museum to get $6.9 million Stimulus Money

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Self Love

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