Pocono Talk

Pocono Parent Magazine Family Expo 2008
This upcoming Saturday, May 3rd, 2008,  is the Pocono Parent Magazine Family Expo.  I personally have not had the chance to attend the past few years and although we have previous plans this weekend that doesn’t mean that you can’t go!

Its FREE to attend – most expos require at least a few dollar admission charge but its absolutely free so if nothing else it can get some family energy out for a few hours by walking around.  It is located at the Pocono Mountain East High School Gym – apparently last year there were many complaints that the location was too small and that there were barely room to fit strollers up and down the isles.  This year they have planned ahead and have picked a much larger location to accomodate everyone.  I can’t blame them at all if there was a size issue last year since it is a free event so no prior registration means that you’re pretty much guessing how many people will attend.

The event will feature information on local programs of interest to Pocono families including crafts, childcare, summer camps and more. They will also be giving out FREE DigiKids Child ID kits – for any parent this is a huge help – no one likes to think of the possibility of their child getting lost or stolen, but if they do minutes even seconds can make a difference.  ID kits normally store a digital photo(that you usually have access to update) and some basic information incase of an emergency it can be distributed quickly.  As important as having a kit is making sure it gets updated, so if you do get one be sure to revisit it every year – or set it as a reminder when you change your clocks/batteries for daylight savings time.

If you do not already receive Pocono Parent Magazine and would like to subscribe it is FREE, just visit their site at PoconoParent.com and click on the “subscribe free” link.  The magazine started just a few years ago but is a great resource for all families in the Poconos, it provides useful monthly columns, restaurant reviews, activities for your children and more!

Ew!  That’s the one word comes to mind when I think of the possibility of another year with Gypsy Moths.  They come in cycles and since this is the third year in a row that they’re out, that gives at least some hope that relief may be in sight as they should disappear again for a few years after this cycle.  Now I’m no bug expert so its possible that it will be a mild year and the nests I’ve seen near our house and around town are just flukes.  The thought of being infested again this year is definitely a downer though.

If you haven’t encountered them before I’ll give you a quick overview as to why they suck…

1)  The amount.  I like to think of myself as a nature person, I grew up camping with my family every year, to this day I’ll pick up a snake when I see it(which freaks my husband out), I’m not too fond of spiders or any insects inside the house – but outdoors I’m not really bothered by bugs except nats since they’re just plain annoying. 

With the gypsy moths its a whole new game – its not a catepillar here or a moth there – there are literally hundreds, even thousands that are on the trees, your house, your car…they dangle from trees so when you look up all you see is hundreds of floating catepillars.  When the moths hatch you almost get swarmed by them – its disgusting to say the least.

2) They ruin the trees.  In order to survive they feast on the leaves and trees – not only is this damaging to the trees and can even possibly kill them off, but it looks terrible as the regular beautiful canopy of leaves are devoured into just stems. 

3) They eat so they…relieve themselves.  Well the leaves have to go somewhere right?  Imagine this…its a beautiful summer day, you grab a glass of iced tea and go into your yard and take a chair out, sit down, close your eyes and take in the quiet peaceful sounds of nature.  You hear what you think is maybe a spring shower…ping…ping…you stand up and look around then back down at your chair which is now covered with catepillar feces…EW!  It gets EVERYWHERE!  No one in their right mind is going to stand outside knowing that they’re literally being rained on by catepillar droppings.  It downright destroys the ability to go outside and relax under the trees – and its a mess to clean up.

4) The moths – The moths aren’t as dirty as the catepillars, but the hundreds even thousands that have been hiding in the trees are now all over your yard, car, you take a few steps and before you know it have a hundred moths in your face.  Not as disgusting but definitely annoying – think huge nats – ick!

Our Gypsy Moth Attack ‘07

Ok, so it wasn’t an ‘attack’ last year but it might as well have been.  My husband and I had a summer event planned, we invited up relatives from Philadelphia and from farther parts of the Poconos to come join us for an outdoor party.  In the weeks leading up to the event the weather was beautiful and we worked our butts off to get the yard looking great.  We were happy and optimistic…until ‘they’ came.  About 2 weeks before our event they started to expose themselves – we had previously seen some in the trees and around the yard – but now they were COVERING the siding on our house.  We tried to spray them off with the hose to no avail and finally ended up using a pressure washer, it didn’t get them all but at least it made a dent.  We spent the next 2 weeks spraying to kill what we could as they continued to fall and drop waste from the trees.  In the days leading up to our event we started setting up tables, tents and chairs – bad idea.  We spent the final days before the party cleaning off the chairs, tables and tents a few times a day from the catepillar droppings.  The day arrived and the catepillars were still there – still in the trees, still crawling on everything, still leaving their little presents everywhere.  Everyone arrived and just as we were about to go outside….it rained…and poured.  We ended up moving the party to our community center where we could be inside away from the rain and the bugs.  Long story short – if you’re planning an outdoor event this year and the infestation is anything like it was last year, it would be really wise to save yourself the time and effort and just have an indoor party.  If you have a large area that is no where near trees you might be safe, if not, I’d just cross your fingers.

They’re not spraying

Towards the end of last year the Pocono Record reported that there were no municipalities in the Monroe County area participating in spraying – although its a hit or miss thing and can cost a lot, at least there is the possibility of warding them off, saving people a lot of hassle – and saving our trees.  Our community sent out a letter hoping to get enough people to participate in having our community sprayed privately but not enough people signed up to participate.  You can check with your community to see if its available but it might already be too late.

 Whether they’re actually here or just a few are visiting, I hope this is the last year for awhile that they do visit so we can finally get a truly peaceful summer!

This past Sunday was the annual American Red Cross of Monroe County Telethon which ran from 12pm to 9pm on Blue Ridge Cable Channel 13.  I’m ashamed to say but this is the first year I actually saw it aired and hope that we can spread the word so the viewers and donations can improve each year.  The telethon raised over $57,000 all of which goes to the Monroe County Red Cross to help local fire victims.  There were local fire victims that told their stories during the telethon and local singers, dancers, magicians and other talent filled out the rest of the day.  Connie Roberts, Mario Scavello and Kim Bell were just a few of the MCs for the day that joined together to help the cause.

Eric and I actually got a chance to participate this year as we recently redesigned the Monroe County Red Cross website: http://www.redcrossmonroepa.org this past year as part of their building makeover.   So we were there for the telethon handling the online auctions which included the following:

Autographed Eagles Football
A piece of Eagles Memorabilia. It is an Eagles limited edition football autographed by: QB Donovan McNabb #5, K David Akers #2, and FS Brian Dawkins #20. A certificate of Authenticity is included.

Autographed Eagles Helmet
An authentic on field, Riddell, NFL pro line helmet. It is autographed by Brian Westbrook. A certificate of Authenticity is included.

Autographed NFL Football
An authentic NFL game ball signed by, 2006 Hall of Fame, Harry Carson. A certificate of Authenticity is included.

Autographed Penn State Football
A Penn State football autographed by the Penn State Coach, Joe Paterno.

Will Daskal Painting
WillDaskal.com
Will Daskal Fine Art
RR7 Box 1258
Saylorsburg, PA 18353-9344
1-610-381-6188

Open cockpit by-plane Ride
An open cockpit by-plane ride provided by Fred Duckloe. Must be used on a Sunday Morning.

Helicopter Ride
Dave Moyer 570-656-4172
30 minute helicopter ride for 3 people out of Mount Pocono Airport. Sight Seeing Tour of Monroe County.

5-10 Page Website
5-10 page business or personal website. Includes 1 year FREE hosting(initially 3 months) & 1 year domain name registration. WebLeaps – www.WebLeaps.com – 570-629-6980

The auctions were available to bid on during the day and then went to bidding by telephone only after 8pm.  I think some of the items were a STEAL for the prices bid on them.  I would definitely keep my eye out next year as many items went for less then what they would fetch on ebay and would make great gifts if nothing else.

The Monroe County Red Cross has their next big fundraiser coming on May 4th, 2008 – the Pocono Mountains Run for the Red Marathon.

The Pocono Mountains Run for the Red is an annual marathon and 5k road race in which the profits are given to the American Red Cross of Monroe County to be used 100% towards disaster relief in Monroe County.

This is the third year running(pun intended) and the race will fall on May 4th, 2008.  If you are a runner the race is an official Boston Marathon qualifer.  If you’re not a runner but would still like to help they are always looking to volunteers to help out not only on race day but throughout the year as well. 

If you are visiting the Poconos that weekend or even if you just live in the area you should really take note as to what roads the course runs on.  It covers a large area that can be seen on this map: http://www.poconomarathon.org/coursemap.html  From what I remember of last years race the roads they use are completely CLOSED so you will want to find alternate routes in advance – especially if you know you have somewhere to go so be sure to add a detour to your travel time.

The event overall is great for both the runners and the community as well, so keep your eye out on the 4th if you’re not a runner to see a great cause at work.   http://www.poconomarathon.org

Getting your hopes up that spring has finally arrived in the Poconos can be a really depressing idea once you realize that there are always a few late storms to endure before the warmer weather officially hits.  There’s usually a series of warmer days, maybe 1-2 at a time followed by the bitter weather, maybe an ice or snow storm that knocks you right back into the winter reality. 

Living further up on a mountain ensures that we are typically the last area of the Poconos to be able to experience spring – its almost a different world even though its 20 minutes from downtown Stroudsburg.  During the winter you double check your own sanity as you leave your home and 6 inches of snow to arrive to just a dusting in town.  An innocent “sorry guys I can’t make it because of the weather” leaves people pretty skeptical as they look outside at the drizzle or flurries they are getting as we’re busy knee deep in snow. 

Spring is pretty much the same story – we’re stuck looking at fall like weather while our friends and family in town have flowers and trees blooming and are starting their spring yardwork.  Easter is a bit of a bummer as I’d love to have it warm enough to be wearing just a light jacket but it seems the past few years we’ve had to bundle our son up to Easter egg hunt as if we’re sending him off sledding.

But…I think spring might finally be here!!  It was 60 today – that’s an accomplishment considering this time last week it was getting down into the 20s and sleeting.  Brrr.  So…I won’t completely get my hopes up but I think spring is on the way.  That means its time to fire up the grill – yum!,  get the yard raked up yet again – ugh, and start preparing for the nicer weather.

The past 2 Tuesdays Eric from Pocono Talk has appeared on the new internet radio show “Pocono Blog Talk Radio” by PoconoPreview.com.   You can listen to them here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kenenglish

A recap of the most recent episode:
From the ghost of the Buck Hill Inn to the host of the Bizzy Awards, Eric Kimes and I talked about the Poconos during today’s show.We touched on the International Beer Festival at Split Rock Lodge on April 12, the Jazz & Blues Festival at Big Boulder in July and the Pocono Crafts Festival in August.We also talked about the plan to put tolls on interstate 80 and the new Mount Airy Resort and Casino.Our featured attractions were Camelbeach and Penn’s Peak, an entertainment facilty overlooking a valley.

Get on the Air
If you have an idea you’d like to talk about or if you’d like to call in and chat about the Poconos feel free to call in on Tuesdays from 12pm to 1pm EST.

“Call in if you have been to the Poconos and would like to talk about your experience. The Guest Line is 347.945.6801. The show is on from Noon to 1 PM EST.” – PoconoPreview.com

The thought of adding tolls on Interstate 80 personally makes me cringe.  If you haven’t heard already Act 44 was passed in July 2007 which gave the ok to put tolls on 80.  Living in the Poconos I-80 is a HUGE part of the transportation flow - for residents who hop on 80 to avoid the slower back roads, for tourists visiting the area, and for commuters that commute to New York, New Jersey and even Philadelphia.  Adding tolls would cause a number of problems – increased traffic on the back roads due to people avoiding the tolls, a possible dip in tourism, with gas prices constantly getting higher for the weekly tourists tolls add on that much more cost to their trip, and to commuters who already are stretched due to gas prices it would be yet another daily expense that cuts into their bottom line.

Many commuters try to find local jobs once they’ve been living in the Poconos for a bit – it saves travel time and money and is definitely a smart option.  The issue is that the average salary and availability of work in the Poconos doesn’t hold a candle to New York City and other popular locations that Pocono commuters work.  Adding tolls makes it that much more difficult for people that want to live in the Poconos and commute to do so. 

The only glimpse of hope is that the federal government has not yet given its approval, it actually denied it back in December due to lack of details.  Pocono commuters and residents putting up a fuss but so are businesses and truckers – businesses are concerned that they’re going to need to increase their prices to make up for additional freight fees.

Whether it gets approved or not I think the bigger concern is will it actually work and do what it is suppose to?  The casinos in Pennsylvania were suppose to make huge changes – have they?  Pocono residents haven’t seen any reduction in property taxes, it might take awhile but will it ever happen?  Adding tolls to I-80 and making it that much more expensive to live and work in and out of the Poconos makes it that much less appealing to live here as a resident.

My hope is that the big Pocono changes and potential changes increase the area as a whole rather then turn it into a “little New York” or “little Philadelphia”.  The railroad system – has the potential to reduce traffic on the roads, help commuters, and bring in additional tourists.  It also has the potential to increase crime and congestion.  I-80 has the potential to assist with fixing our roads - it also has the potential to drive away commuters, tourists and even residents.  The constant building of new stores – has the potential to bring additional employment and tourist to the area and provide residents with a wider variety of options.  It also has the potential to slowly wipe out the beautiful landscape of the Poconos – the changes to Route 611 in the past 5 years are a perfect example.

The Poconos is a beautiful place to live, work and visit.  Change is inevitable and has to be embraced as a part of life and changing times.  Without a doubt the Poconos is expanding and changing daily – I personally would like to see more effort put into restoring some of the businesses that made the Poconos what it is today versus starting fresh – but either way when I stand on my deck at the end of a long day and see nothing but trees and a beautiful sunset I’m reminded of what it is that truly makes the Poconos a special place to live.