Events & Activities
Meetings Etc.
Planting days enhance Fry's Run buffer zone
Fry's Run Family Fun
Monthly Meeting
We meet on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm at the Williams Township Community Center.
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Roadside Cleanup
TBA
Contact us at frysrun@gmail.com for details.
Fry's Run Family Fun
Planting days enhance Fry's Run buffer zone
Fry's Run Family Fun
On Saturday, September 17, Fry’s Run Watershed Association held its annual fall Family Fun event at Fry’s Run Park in Williams Township and welcomed at least 100 adults and children for demos, talks, arts and crafts, and a native plant sale.
Separately, 20-25 attendees traveled to Roger Wolfe’s nearby “Century Farm” (a designation recognizing that the farm has been continuously owned by a single family for 100 years or more) along Fry’s Run to talk about the history and to see a real-life example of stream-bank restoration and erosion control.
As FRWA President Bob Schmidt said at Wolfe’s farm, “We like to bring people to a place like this that’s private and otherwise inaccessible so you can see what it is we’re trying to preserve. The adage goes, People take care of what they love, and people only love what they know.” He also explained that whatever actions the association takes to remedy storm damage at the park, which is near where Fry’s Run empties into the Delaware River, can be totally undone if others upstream don’t exercise the same care and nurturing of the creek, stream banks, and boundary areas.
Event participants learned about watersheds and healthy streams, including how to identify key macroinvertebrates — young water-borne insects — that are among the best indicators of water quality. Children painted and assembled cardboard replicas of those creatures and colored pages featuring hand-drawn artist’s renderings by FRWA member Mary Budkoski.
Scott Douglas, president of Cooks Creek Watershed Association, just down Rt 611 in northern Bucks County, engaged youngsters with his expert stream-side presentation on macroinvertebrates and freshwater stream ecology.
Dave Brandes, Lafayette College professor and general outdoor/watershed enthusiast, spoke at Wolfe’s farm about the impacts of climate change and land use on soil and water quality.
Planting days enhance Fry's Run buffer zone
Planting days enhance Fry's Run buffer zone
Planting days enhance Fry's Run buffer zone
On October 20 (2021), a handful of intrepid FRWA volunteers helped Northampton County Parks & Rec’s Jim Wilson to plant about 60 container trees and shrubs available thanks to a grant secured by Wildlands Conservancy.
This latest planting area expanded our stream side buffer at Fry's Run Park upland into the lower meadow at the park.
This was our fourth planting at the park since 2015. Six years after our first planting, some of the sycamores, river birches and oaks are nearly 30 feet tall!
These stream bank planting projects are designed to enhance the riparian buffer zone alongside the creek, to mitigate flooding and erosion when stormwaters come through.
By definition, a riparian buffer is a vegetated “buffer-strip” near a stream, which helps to shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent urban, industrial or agricultural land use. It plays a key role in increasing water quality in associated streams, rivers and lakes and provides a greatly enhanced and varied habitat for wildlife.
In August and September, we had serious flooding due to a flash flood from an unnamed storm and then Tropical Storm Ida. The buffer zone held up well through Ida despite yet another record flood level. And after the flash flood, FRWA volunteers and NorCo Parks staff salvaged and staked back upright more than 100 young trees that had been flattened by the flood. Not a one was lost, however—testament to the staying power of well-rooted trees.