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Sunday, October 06, 2002

By Larry Walsh, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Early settlers often looked for "a good piece of bottom land," a tract of land near a stream or river that was ideal for growing crops.

Jose Taracido found such a site along the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail near the Dravo Methodist Cemetery between Buena Vista and Greenock,. It's about six miles up the Youghiogheny River from McKeesport.

But instead of traditional grain or hay crops, he and others cleared the land last spring and planted about 20 species of native grasses and flowers that were here when the first Europeans arrived more than two centuries ago.

Taracido, 50, a wildlife conservation specialist at California University, said the plants are beneficial for nesting grassland species of birds and animals, including meadowlarks, bobolinks and the Bob White quail.

Post-Gazette photographer John Beale and I saw none of the latter when we accompanied Taracido to the "new prairie" on a warm, sunny Friday a few weeks ago. We did, however, see dozens of mourning doves and several Monarch butterflies that took flight as we approached.

The six-acre site also will attract the rare henslow sparrow and vesper sparrow as well as bluebirds, chickadees, finches, titmice, tree swallows and other species.

Although the prairie is a little bare in spots because it is still establishing itself, Taracido was pleased with its progress. It will take several years to mature. The root systems eventually will reach a depth of five feet or more and help the plants survive drought and fire.

The flowers will bloom from early spring to late fall. "It will be greenish-blue in summer and turn orange and red in the late summer and fall," he said. We saw a lot of annual sunflowers, a yellow version of Black-eyed Susans and plants that had blue, lavender, purple and red flowers.

"A lot of migrating birds will be stopping here to rest and feed before moving on," Taracido said. "And it will be a good wintering site for those that stay."

A nature trail will allow bicyclists and other visitors to walk through the site. About 20 bird nesting boxes donated by the Pennsylvania Game Commission already have been set up. And, like a prized family lawn, the fancy food plot will have to be periodically monitored to remove non-native plants.

The prairie project was funded through the Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program at California University.

Other participants included the Regional Trail Corporation, the Laurel Highlands Chapter of Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the state Game Commission.

"They did a real nice job with [the prairie]," said Paul Haurilesko, 70, of Level Green, who rides the trail at least once a week.

"It's a great place to take a break," said Connie Clark, 59, of Scottdale.

"There's a lot of history around here," added her husband, Bruce Clark, 66, a retired pipefitter from the Irvin Works. The couple enjoyed the shade provided by an open-sided wooden shelter adjacent to the Dravo Methodist Cemetery. An old-fashioned -- and still operating -- green water pump and the classiest rest rooms along the trail are within 100 feet.

The cemetery is maintained by the Elizabeth Township Historical Society. Its executive director, Richard Morgenstern, supplied the following history.

The old town of Dravo and the cemetery are named for William Dravo, who opened a coal mine nearby in 1856. A large, two-story wooden Methodist church that could hold up to 500 persons on each floor burned down twice from fires caused by sparks from passing Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railroad trains.

The new prairie had been a corn field years ago. The Regional Trail Alliance acquired the land, cleared it of a variety of old farm implements and other items of questionable value and at least two ramshackle buildings. "They got rid of everything," Morgenstern said. "They did a terrific job."

Stringtown, which may have been given that name because its 10 or so houses were strung out about one half-mile along the railroad tracks, was populated by coal miners who worked six days a week. The coal was loaded on barges that didn't move downstream to McKeesport until high water permitted it.

Irwin Malisee owned the only grocery store in town. He also operated what was known as a Sky Ferry -- a waist-high wooden box with tall corner posts that supported a roof. It carried up to four persons across the Youghiogheny River on a wire cable.

One winter, when the roads were impassable, a man named Adams died. Two men put his body on a railroad handcar, a vehicle operated by raising and lowering a handlebar on either end, and took him about a mile down the tracks to the Heisterman & Johnson Funeral Home in Buena Vista. It is the oldest continuous business in Elizabeth Township.

For more information about the historical society, call 412-754-2030 or go to www.15122.com/ETHS. Photocopies of "Between Two Rivers," edited by Joan Stefanko and Norma Werner, are available for $20.

For more information about the Great Allegheny Passage, the bike trail that runs 100 continuous miles from McKeesport to Meyersdale, call the Allegheny Trail Alliance toll-free at 1-888-ATA-BIKE or go to www.atatrail.org.

Bike, picnic, win

The Eighth Annual Connellsville Yough River Trail Fall Foliage Ride, a great family event, will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20.

Participants will ride south from Connellsville to Ohiopyle or north to Dawson or farther if they wish. But get back by 3 p.m. for the family picnic at Yough River Park provided by Janet and George Pushkar, the Lions Club of Connellsville and the Yough River Trail Council.

The cost is $15 per person before Oct. 18, $18 afterwards, including the day of the ride. Proceeds benefit Lion's Square Park and the Yough River Trail Council.

Get there by noon to register and pick up a packet of information that includes a raffle ticket. The raffle at 4 p.m. will feature prizes donated by local organizations and merchants.For more information, call 724-628-5500 or go to www.greaterconnellsville.org.

Recycle-A-Cycle

Now is the time to check your attic, basement or garage for bikes, bike parts and bike helmets to donate to Citiparks Sixth Annual Recycle-A-Cycle Holiday Collection Drive. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Hazlett Theatre loading dock, Six Allegheny Square East, North Side.

Mechanics will check each bike and make any necessary repairs. The bikes will be given to social service agencies who will give them to families unable to afford bicycles for their children. For more information, call 412-255-2493.