Blossburg Visions in Business and Entertainment held a visioning session in January 2009 to help plan 2009 goals and action teams. The three common areas where VIBE action teams will be focusing on in 2009 are: Community (Rec) Building, hiking/bikiking trails, and free/low-cost community activities (rec programs) for all ages. If you're interested in finding out more or lending a hand, please attend the next VIBE meeting. VIBE meetings are held on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 6 PM at the Kiwanis Building on the Island Park, Blossburg.

Light Up the Holidays Decorating Contest Dec. 21 Decorate your house or business storefront for the holidays and maybe you’ll win a prize from V.I.B.E.! Light Up the Holidays judging will be held Dec. 21, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. everywhere in the borough of Blossburg. Last year’s winners included Bloss Hardware for best business display, Maurie Delinski, 19 Briarpatch Lane, for most Victorian, Edmund Bogaczyk, 236 North Williamson Road, for most whimsical, Barbara Beatty, 111 Schuylkill Street, for most modern, and Lisa & Gary Fidler, 116 Schuylkill Street, for most Christmas spirit.

BLOSSBURG, Aug. 7 -- After months of hard work in her plot at the Blossburg community garden, Mary Higgins entered her snapdragons in the Tioga County Fair and won a blue ribbon. Higgins is a member of the Blossburg V.I.B.E. community garden team that turned an empty lot across from the Blossburg Fire Hall on Main Street into a thriving garden this growing season and the harvest is beginning.

V.I.B.E. President Tonya McNamara led the effort to create a garden with expert guidance from Anne Fisher-LoPinto of Liberty and Diane Stehman of Arnot and lots of help from many community members.The garden consists of 19 individual 4' by 4' and 4' by 8' plots and four large community plots with potatoes and squash to rejuvenate the soil.

"The idea of a community garden has been floating around for a couple of years," McNamara said. "This year it all came together. The Borough of Blossburg allowed us to use the empty lot located in a flood zone and the Blossburg Municipal Authority provided access to water."

The goal of the garden is to provide access to land for planting for those who might not have it, as well as a supportive environment to learn about gardening, McNamara said. It has the additional benefit of using an unproductive lot of land near the borough business district.

"There's an innate need in people to see things grow," said Anne Fisher-LoPinto, who has run a "Community Supported Agriculture" garden in the Liberty area. "Somehow, touching soil opens up another dimension for people when they put a seed in the ground, tend and water it, watch it grow and come to fruit. The garden helps fill that need for people to see things grow by their own hand, providing a sense of accomplishment. It seems miraculous. It connects me to the cycles of life. If I'm not doing these things, I feel like a wheel with a flat spot."

In June, the garden hosted a composting class taught by Ardith Boostrom from the Penn State Cooperative Extension master gardener program. The 15 people who attended received a free composter. In May, Fisher-LoPinto gave a class on starting plants from seeds and transplanting.

"The garden has been very successful. We have about 15 different individuals and families with plots, plus Toddler University," McNamara said. "The age range of the gardeners is three to over 70."

Toddler University Daycare & Preschool offered a gardening summer camp for three-to-five year old children. Sixteen children worked on two four-by-eight boxes. They grew peppers, squash, flowers and cucumbers, learned about composting, made a worm farm and watering cans. "The garden is blooming!" said Toddler University owner and director Jill Nickerson. "This helped the children connect with the community and with the natural environment."

In May, V.I.B.E. received a $2,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to promote the existing farmers' market held every Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Riverside Plaza parking lot. V.I.B.E. used the funds to purchase advertising, benche, and a shed to store signs for the farmers' market. The shed also holds tools used by the community garden members.

The garden has been supported by donations of cash and goods from Jack and Mary Eckman, Carol and Larry Tama, Anne Fisher-LoPinto, Bill Nickerson and Blossburg Borough in addition to the box rent fees.

Photos of the garden are available at www.blossburg.org/vibe.

Blossburg V.I.B.E. (Visions in Business and Entertainment) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for those who live, work, play or attend school in Blossburg. Tax-deductible contributions for the garden or other projects may be mailed to PO Box 126, Blossburg, PA 16912.

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In December 2007 V.I.B.E. had a new welcome sign erected by the green bridge to replace the one that had been there for many years and was ready for a face lift. Plans are in the works to have the area landscaped under and around the sign and spot lights to illuminate the top of the sign at night. The sign has the added advantage in being much safer for the people who change the messages on the event sign.

Blossburg V.I.B.E. Announces Holiday Light Contest Winners

Blossburg V.I.B.E. held an Environmental Fair Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Blossburg Memorial Library. Approximately 50 people attended from as close as Blossburg and as far as Brookfield Township. Most brought items to be recycled by Northern Tier Solid Waste Authority, including computer parts, magazines and textiles. Nearly 3,000 pounds of materials were collected for recycling. Lynne Graham of Middlebury won the door prize, a bag of environmentally safe cleaning products from Shaklee Corporation donated by Shaklee distributor Heidi Hickok. Picture 1: Del Kirkendall of Arnot recycled computer parts with the help of Donald Kurzejewski from NTSWA. Picture 2: Two of Ivan and Rose Erway's children made trailmix at the booth of Mansfield University's Environmental Awareness Club with the help of the club's representative, Elizabeth Lloyd.

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