CACTC students build picnic tables for local trail group
?CONNELLSVILLE — Those utilizing the Great Allegheny Passage can stop in Connellsville and enjoy their lunch, dinner or snack at several picnic facilities now located along the route.
Through a cooperative effort between the Yough River Trail Council (YRTC) and the Connellsville Area Career and Technical Center (CACTC), two covered picnic tables were recently installed adjacent to the Adirondack shelters at the rear of the Martin’s grocery store.
A third table is located at Furnace Run near Dawson, and a fourth is to be erected later at Virgin Run.
Clyde Martz, YRTC member, said that the organization was very pleased with the shelters and wanted to add picnic tables, so they decided to enlist the help of the CACTC carpentry class.
“We bought the materials and they did a great job building them,” he said.
CACTC senior Don Fisch, along with nearly 30 other carpentry class students, took part in the planning, design and construction of the picnic tables.
“We put them all together at the school, except the roof, and brought them out here where we cemented the posts in the ground and put the roof on,” he said.
Tyler Andersen, a ninth-grade student, said the project allowed him to learn how to add roof shingles.
“It was interesting,” he said.
Fisch said that the tables should last a decade provided that they are not vandalized.
“The (YRTC) is going to stain them, so they should be good for 10 years if no one starts carving in them,” he said.
Jerry Matthews, carpentry class teacher, said the students are very proud of their work.
“They have made comments that if they were to see anyone damaging the shelters or the picnic tables they would not hesitate to approach that person and let them know about the work that went into them,” said Matthews. “(The project) has meant a lot to the (YRTC) and to the students.”
Over the past several years the YRTC has sought to make improvements at the Connellsville trail head with the construction of the three-sided, overnight shelters, restroom facilities, water fountain and the picnic tables, said Gary Wandel, YRTC member and Connellsville Area School Board member.
The partnership, he said, has far reaching benefits.
“As the chairman of the CACTC committee, I could see that the students were doing a lot of things in the classroom, but were not getting the practical experience,” he said. “Because of my ties to the trail, I thought this could be a great opportunity and it has been.”
In the past, trail users often bypassed Connellsville when seeking a rest stop or overnight accommodations. With the added amenities and two new bed and breakfast locations, shops and restaurants, more trail users are staying overnight.
“We’ve had people from all across the country stop and stay in the shelters,” said Wandel, adding that guests are asked to fill out a brief survey during their overnight stay.
“Connellsville is the perfect location; we are the perfect spot if you are traveling from Washington, D.C. or coming from Pittsburgh.”
The class, meanwhile, has also been asked by the Connellsville Area Historical Society to construct a pavilion on its property located near the trail and Yough Park.
“That’s going to take a little more time and the help of the masonry class,” said Matthews.
“We’re so close to the end of this school year, it is likely a project we’ll do in the fall.”