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Fall Newsletter

November, 2011

 
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In This Issue
Our Gift to You
Wish List
The Green Hour
New Castle Wellness
Junction and Breakwater Trail Interconnectivity Study
Lewes Byway- Gateway to the Nation Corridor Management Plan
Bay to Bay Scenic Byway
Penn Farm

Our Gift to You
 
Become a member of Delaware Greenways in 2012, and recieve 10% off all purchases at Penn Farm's Tract 6 Produce Stand. 
Delaware Greenways Wish List
 
Special thanks to all who have donated to our annual Gala and Silent Auction.  The launching of many new educatial programs and community events are directly related to the success of this event.  We have had a great start and will continue accepting donations until the event next Spring.

 

  

 

 

Thanks to all our Trail Stewards hitting the trails to become ambassadors and providing eyes-and-ears for the trail's managing partners. NDG Trail Stewards assist trail users with directions and advice. They promote use of the trail and report on trail conditions, visitor needs and safety concerns.

Making everyone's experience more enjoyable!   

 

Volunteer Form 

Click Here  

Delaware Greenways' seeks volunteers to help us with programs, planned events, outdoor activities, trail projects and administrative support. Our projects vary in type and interest area, which offers vast opportunities for our volunteers to learn and enjoy.

 

Delaware Greenways depends on volunteers to help us maintain our mission of preserving and enhancing Delaware's natural, scenic, historic, cultural and recreational resources. If you are looking for an organization to give your time to and feel rewarded -- Delaware Greenways is it!

 

 Volunteering at Delaware Greenways is a fantastic way to to get outside, stay active and learn more about what Delaware has to offer.  Enjoy meeting new people who share a passion for the outdoors and living healthy lifestyles!  There are a wide range of opportunities available to fit your skills!

 

 

Join Delaware Greenways
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Delaware Greenways is the only statewide organization dedicated to establishing greenways. Delaware Greenways works to connect open spaces, preserve scenic vistas and historic sites and create ribbons of green that connect to places we love. By supporting Delaware Greenways, you support enhancing and increasing the quality of life for Delawareans!
 

Membership Benefits

 

 

Supporting Members

 

$25 College Student
$35 Individual
$50 Family
$75 Enthusiast

 

Supporting members benefits:

  • Periodic newsletters
  • Discounts on selected program and event admissions
  • Advance alerts to upcoming Delaware Greenways' sponsored events and programs
  • Gratification of supporting a statewide organization providing leadership in greenways protection, recreational development and healthy lifestyle advocacy in Delaware

Sustaining Members

 

$125 Greenways Guardian
$250 Sponsor
$500 Patron
$1,000 Benefactor

 

Sustaining members benefits (all the above plus these additional benefits):

  • Priority registration for all programs
  • Two complimentary tickets to the annual Greenways Gala 
 
 
The Green Hour
Click Here

 


The Green Hour program is starting this winter in New Castle at:

 

 Carrie Downie Elementary School

 

 The program aims to get kids outdoors to enjoy physical activity and to learn about nature and wellness. 

 

We are looking for volunteers to commit to working one-on-one with students for at least 8 sessions, which will take place on:

 

 Tuesdays/Thursdays, from 3:30-4:30pm through the remainder of the school year (dates may vary depending on school schedules). 

 

The program will be delivered to a group of approximately 15 students by a Delaware Greenways staff person. The Green Hour is part of the New Castle Wellness Initiative being managed by Delaware Greenways. 

 

For more information, please contact: 

 

Andrea Trabelsi atrabelsi@delawaregreenways.org
 302-655-7275
 

 

Dear Friends of Delaware Greenways:

  

Welcome to our online newsletter! With so many exciting new plans on the horizon, we would like to invite you to explore what Delaware Greenways has to offer, and what lies in store for the future. Our fall issue describes the many areas where we are active across the state and in your community. 

 

As we begin to enter 2012, we reach out to our friends and supporters and ask your help to allow us to continue our efforts to:

  •  Preserve and connect open space and        greenways
  • Protect scenic and historic roadway corridors 
  • Increase opportunities for walking, bicycling and close to home recreation 
  • Foster healthy lifestyles and truly livable communities
You will find as you read this newsletter, that the products of Delaware Greenways are seen all around you in the trails created, open spaces protected, and new wellness and healthy lifestyle initiatives generated in communities across the state.  We are your advocate and voice for sensible development and the protection of our scenic and natural resources.  

 

We hope that you will choose to support our mission and the work we do across our state, as well as our ongoing efforts to maintain and enhance your community. Please help us continue to keep Delaware a special place and keep us in mind as you make your plans for annual donations. If you have not become a member yet, we invite you to do so.

 

Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year.

 

Sincerely,
Mark R. Chura
Executive Director



Rehoboth Beach
Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan
 
Delaware Greenways has been selected to develop a Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan for the City of Rehoboth Beach. The Plan is being designed to support the city's recently adopted Comprehensive Development Plan.
 
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware's most prominent beach community, is a compact city that is home to 1,600 year-round residents in slightly more than one square mile. The city hosts 3.5 million visitors per year, however, and its compact nature encourages bicycling and walking around town. Many visitors and residents take advantage of the variety of recreational venues and trails throughout the coastal region that are accessible to bicyclists and pedestrians alike. Rehoboth Beach, acknowledging the city's growing appeal as a destination, wants to increase pedestrian and bicycle trips in the city to mitigate automobile congestion on its streets.
 

The Plan, when completed in May 2012, will be designed to:

  • Make the public right-of-way more accommodating to pedestrians and bicycles
  • Improve connections within the City and to external destinations
  • Improve safety

So far, the first of several technical memoranda has been published and one public workshop has been held on November 18. Current activities are centered on developing the infrastructure, management, and policy elements of the Plan. A twenty-nine member Stakeholder Committee has been established to assist the Rehoboth Beach's Streets and Transportation Committee adopt the elements of the Plan.

Brandywine Valley 
Scenic Conservation Plan

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Since August 2010, Delaware Greenways has been developing the Brandywine Valley Scenic Conservation Plan.

 

The purpose of the plan is to create a strategy that preserves the scenic beauty of the Brandywine Valley and the Brandywine Valley National Scenic Byway. The Project Team, consisting of the Scenic Conservation Committee and the Viewshed Committee, has completed an analysis of the existing land use in the area, the current transportation conditions, and has cataloged the most valued and endangered viewsheds in the valley.

 

The Project Team developed projections of future population, employment, and development activity that could impact the Valley. The data show that approximately 2,500 to 4,900 new houses and 2.4 million square feet of non-residential space could be constructed -- covering about 63% of the valley on 350 parcels of land.

Granogue, Woodlawn, and perhaps two of the three country clubs are the most likely parcels to be developed over the next 30 years. Clearly, if nothing is done, the Brandywine Valley will be changed forever.

With the challenges identified and quantified, the Study Team has turned its attention to developing the tools to preserve the character of the Valley and develop design guidelines for the portions that cannot be preserved.


 
New Castle Wellness 
walkers











The City of New Castle Community Wellness Initiative began in late 2010 with the goal of improving the health of community members by making it easier to live a healthy lifestyle. Delaware Greenways, with support from the City of New Castle, is managing the Initiative.
 
The Community Wellness Advisory Team was formed, comprising representatives of community organizations, businesses, and residents, to begin this community-driven effort to counteract major public health concerns related to unhealthy weight, tobacco use, and chronic disease. Rather than emphasize the more traditional individual-centered approach to health intervention, the Initiative aims to affect change at the community level.
 

Throughout the winter and spring of 2011, Delaware Greenways and the Advisory Team assessed existing systems, environmental conditions, and policies of local schools, health care providers, work places, community organizations, and the community-at-large. Delaware Greenways then analyzed the findings of surveys, field documentation, interviews, and meeting minutes to serve as the basis for developing the Community Wellness Action Plan. The Advisory Team participated in guiding the plans contents and developed a vision for the community: to become known as the most health-oriented, livable city in Delaware.

The plan's goals include:

Healthy Eating

  • Make fresh ingredients more accessible to all community members
  • Improve eating habits of youth in the community through in-school and extra-curricular food offerings and education, with a focus on translating to habits among parents and outside of school

Physical Activity

  • Make active transportation (bicycling, walking, etc.) safer and more appealing to all
  • Get more residents, workers, and visitors physically active through recreation and daily activity

 

Tobacco-free

  • Protect the rights of non-smokers to breathe smoke-free air

 

Awareness, Leadership, and Education

  • Build community capacity to carry-out policy, environmental, and systems changes
  • Track wellness progress so that program can adjust based on success of outcomes indicated by data, and to provide a case study and model for other communities in the state
  • Build recognition as the healthiest, most livable community in Delaware

 

Since the plan was finished in August 2011, implementation has begun on a number of the recommended actions in the community, including:

  • Penn Farm and William Penn High School integrated learning partnership, which will engage students in hands-on educational activities at the farm
  • Implementation of No-Smoking in Parks policy in the city of New Castle's parks and playground areas, including the playground and basketball courts in Battery Park
  • Preparations to kick-off the Green Hour elementary education program on December 1st, at Carrie Downie Elementary School; the program engages young people in physical activity and instills an appreciation of nature by engaging them in fun outdoor activities
  • Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure planning and development, including: The New Castle to Wilmington (Industrial Track) Trail, Route 273, and enhancements of the Broad Dyke Marsh Trail system

Junction and Breakwater Trail Interconnectivity Study

Delaware Greenways was awarded a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Grant from the State of Delaware to perform the Junction and Breakwater Trail Interconnectivity Study.
 
The purpose of the study is to improve the accessibility of the trail to the cities of Lewes and Rehoboth Beach as well as to the communities along Route 1. An increase in accessibility will result in a lower dependence on auto trips to access the trail and other nearby attractions and, along with it, a reduction in greenhouse gasses.
 

So far, the study has conducted an extensive program of user counts and surveys along the trail. Over 50 hours of data was collected, totaling 1,563 trail users in 896 groups of one to six people, with an average size of 1.7 people per group. The data shows:

  • 62 percent of survey participants reported being between 46 and 65 years old. 11 percent reported being 65 years or older with the remaining 27 percent being younger than 46 years. Of those observed on the trail, 84 percent of all individuals were adults and 4 percent were seniors.
  • Nearly 70 percent of survey participants reported using the trail during both the weekend and the weekdays.
  • 85 percent of survey participants spend between 30 minutes and 2 hours on the trail with just under 11 percent spending more than 2 hours on the trail. The remaining 4 percent spent under 30 minutes on a given trip.
  • 8 percent of the surveyed users said that they used the trail daily, 22 percent three to five times per week, 21 percent use the trail 1 to 2 times per week, 17 percent a few times per month, and 13 percent a few times per year. Interestingly, 17 percent said this was their first time using the trail.
  • Over 90 percent of survey participants responded to most frequently use the trail for recreation and/or health and exercise. The most popular response was recreation at 47 percent with health and exercise a close second at 43 percent.
  • In total, 81 percent of all observed trail users were on bicycles, with the remainder of users split between joggers and walkers. Less than 24 percent of survey participants reported that they drove to the trail. 

Over the next several months, the study team will be developing recommendations to improve accessibility and meeting with the public.



Lewes Byway: 
Gateway to the Nation Corridor Management Plan

Delaware Greenways received notification late this summer that nearly $100,000 in grant funding was being awarded to the Lewes Byway Corridor Management Plan (CMP) project. The funding will enable Delaware Greenways, the City of Lewes, the Lewes Byway Advisory Committee, and other stakeholders to formally designate the road corridors-including New Rd, Pilottown Rd, Savannah Rd, King's Highway, Gill's Neck Rd, and Cape Henlopen Dr-as a state Byway.

 

A nomination application for the Byway was approved in June 2009 by the Delaware Secretary of Transportation, Carolann Wicks; a CMP is required in the state of Delaware to complete the designation process. The CMP will encourage sustainable development, livable communities, multimodal and context sensitive transportation solutions, and green initiatives in the byway corridors and surrounding communities.

The Lewes Byway is known as the Gateway to the Nation because of the remarkable 378 year history of the Greater Lewes area that can be seen and experienced along the Byway. Both physically and historically, the roads and surrounding buildings, land and seascapes have played a vital role in the town's development and reflect its evolution since 1631, the time of the first Dutch settlement in the New World . These resources also remain vital to the community's social, economic, and cultural fabric to this day and are the reason that the City, Delaware Greenways, and many community groups and leaders are working to protect them. A need for a greater, coordinated effort to protect and enhance the byway resources and safe/convenient access to them, has been identified as imperative to maintaining the scenic beauty, natural environment, economy, and visual history of the area. The overall goal for this project is to insure that the outstanding resources along this Byway do not become diminished as growth takes place, but rather that one of the most livable communities in Delaware remains that way for future generations.

The Corridor Management Plan will provide an opportunity for communities along the byway and stakeholders to help identify the qualities that make it special; identify strategies and methods to protect and promote the byway, its assets, and access to them; and prioritize those strategies. The plan will be used to attract more visitors by promoting heritage, recreational and eco-tourism to expand the community's economic base, while ensuring that the balance between development and preservation is achieved.

Bay to Bay Scenic Byway
Lewes Byway Shot



Recently, Delaware Greenways has formed a collaboration between Southern Delaware Tourism and a number of Sussex County municipalities to explore the development of the
Bay to Bay Scenic Byway. This Byway would connect the already established Blue Crab Byway in Maryland, and expand into both Cape May New Jersey and coastal Virginia.

The Delaware component of this regional Byway would have several different routes across Sussex County, and would connect with coastal towns such as Fenwick Island, Oceanview, Millville, Bethany Beach, Rehoboth and Lewes to the South, as well as Laurel, Seaford, Bethel, Bridgeville, Milford, Milton and Slaughter Beach to the west and north.

 

The intent of this Byway is to highlight the economic, recreational, cultural, historic and natural assets of the towns noted above, as well as create a scenic highway network of roads that explains and promotes Sussex County's rich heritage of shipbuilding, agriculture, lighthouses and lifesaving stations, and religious settlement patterns. The Byway program is not a regulatory program whatsoever.  It is designed for those that live, work, and recreate in the byway corridor to make the decisions.  They can decide which issues they see as important and which community assets they would like to remain the same. Some aspects they would like to see enhanced for future generations.

To date, several meetings have been held with interested communities and stakeholders on this project. More are scheduled over the next several months. Watch our website for dates and times. Please contact Christine Thomas, Southern Delaware Coordinator for Delaware Greenways at CThomas@delawaregreeways.org or at 302-745-2229 for more details.      



The Historic Penn Farm
Delaware Greenways' annual meeting marked the formal launch of the Friends of the Penn Farm. The New Friends group will play an important role in supporting Delaware Greenway's sustainable urban agricultural initiative.
 
The mission of the Penn Farm is to improve the health and wellness of Delawareans through the sale, production, and promotion of our state's finest produce and agricultural products.

 

Our vision is to educate, document, interpret and perpetuate the rich heritage of Penn Farm for the benefit of future generations and the betterment of our community. 
 
barn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Farm is a collaboration between:

  • Growers dedicated to providing local foods, seed and other plant and animal products developed through sustainable and organic farming methods, to local markets
  • Educators committed to teaching the importance of locally grown food and animal products as part of a healthy and active lifestyle

 The goals of Delaware Greenways' newest initiative include:

  • Preserve, promote and educate the public on the cultural and historic landscape of Penn Farm
  • Grow, promote and sell Penn Farm produce and other Delaware-raised and made produce and products
  • Provide farms and the surrounding communities a model educational center focusing on wellness and nutrition, innovative and sustainable agricultural practices, and creative land use and energy practices 
  • Use green or sustainable methods for renovation, adaptive reuse and the ongoing operation and maintenance of the farmhouse, the barn, outdoor education facilities and the gardens, CSA and production fields
  • Establish an ongoing relationship with William Penn High School and integrate students from the schools various CTE courses into the planning, programming and production of various facets of the Farm's operations
  • Use the Tract Six Produce operation to showcase and cross promote other Delaware farms and their products 
For more information, please visit our website.
        
 
Like me on Facebook   
 
Penn Farm: Its Past and its Future
View our videos on YouTube  
 

Delaware Greenways is located at 1910 Rockland Road, Wilmington, DE 19803

www.delawaregreenways.org

greenways@delawaregreenways.org

Phone: (302) 655-7275 Fax: (302) 655-7274

 

 Save 

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On all purchases at Tract 6 Produce Stand at Penn Farm by becoming a 2012 member of Delaware Greenways. Have a smartphone? Scan the barcode below and become a member to receive your discount.      

               
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Delaware Greenways | PO Box 2095 | Wilmington | DE | 19899