Perry Twp. officials field questions regarding upcoming events at Sampey Park
Local Civil War re-enactors may not be part of fall festivities in Perryopolis again this year.
The Perryopolis Heritage Society, which was responsible for the upkeep of Sampey Park, the site of the former Pioneer Days festival, is now defunct, and Pioneer Days was not held last year for the first time in several years.
Michael Maffei, a local re-enactor, questioned council Wednesday night about the use of the park since the group has an event on their calendar scheduled for September.
Councilman Frank Masney said they haven’t been able to come to an agreement because of insurance issues.
Maffei said the group needs to know at least by Aug. 1 if they are able to use the park because they need to cancel the event by then, if it’s not available. Maffei went on to say, even if approved, he wasn’t sure the event could go on as planned because he was unsure whether or not the group could handle the park clean up in time.
Councilman Robert Zundel questioned why council was even being addressed about the issue since the park property is owned by the Perryopolis Parks and Recreation Authority.
Council President Paul Black said the re-enactors would hear from someone by Aug. 1.
Mayor Charles Petrosky said they are planning a fall festival event this year, but it will now be known as the Washington Mill Festival rather than Pioneer Days.
In other business, representatives with the VFW Post 7023 in Perryopolis asked members of council if the borough could take over the upkeep of the veteran’s monument.
John Shortman said when the monument was in disrepair several years ago, VFW members solicited funds for repairs and took over the maintenance.
Today, Shortman said, there are only two or three World War II or Korean War veterans still involved with the VFW, and they are getting too old to take care of it.
He added that there is currently about $10,000 left in an account for the monument, and they want to turn it over to the borough.
Black said the borough’s solicitor would have to look into the situation and get back to them.
Also at the meeting, members of council accepted the resignation of Jimmy Blair as president of the parks and recreation authority, and appointed Lisa Schumacher Buchina to the authority. Blair will continue to serve on a volunteer basis.
During the meeting, secretary Colleen Pontoriero informed members of council that Goodwill would no longer be picking up their recyclables for free by the end of the month. Zundel said the program actually costs the borough about $2,000 a year and hardly any residents even take advantage of it. A motion was made and passed to discontinue the recycling program immediately.