By Cathy Foy Lyons
There's an old saying that "you can't go home again." I would have to respectfully disagree. Almost thirty years ago, I left northeast Pennsylvania to go to college, which led to getting married, raising my daughter, and having a very rewarding teaching career. In all those years, as fortunate as I was, I never stopped yearning to move home again. In September, I was able to do just that.
Although I still have friends and family in the area, finding things to do and places to fit in was a new, and slightly intimidating, venture. That's where the Sierra Club of NEPA comes in. My niece Kali is very involved with the Club and invited me to an event she was running: Dog Walk at Carlton Drake Memorial Park. Despite the drizzly weather, a group of us and our four-legged friends walked along the Wallenpaupack Creek in Newfoundland enjoying its beauty. The dogs didn't mind the wet weather at all as they romped in both the fields and the stream. We learned a great deal about the town's history as it related to “The Flood of 1955”, the straightening of the stream bed as a misguided attempt to prevent future flooding, and the current-day stream bed remediation project from guest speaker Nick Spinelli, Executive Director of the Wallenpaupack Watershed Management District.
Everyone who participated in the walk was so warm and welcoming that it led to my attending the Club's monthly meeting in October at The Wallenpaupack Brewing Company. There I was very pleasantly surprised by the varied mix of people; truthfully I was expecting to be the only "old" person there, mistakenly assuming most Sierra Club members would be in their 20s. I met a group of wonderful, intelligent, passionate people who truly care about making a difference in the world. I think I've found "my people "....so it feels very good to be home again.
Cathy Foy Lyons is a NEPA Group volunteer. Learn more about Sierra Club NEPA outings and events.