More than 50 volunteers from New Jersey removed the harsh weeds at the City of Pottsville's Joan S. Fanelli Overlook Park on Monday and Tuesday, then set about trying to complete the park-in-development.
Meghan McConnell, 22, of Millville, N.J., was among the representatives of the JUNE Project, pulling weeds on the hill Tuesday morning.
Along with Kimberly Musarra, 12, and Abby Daigle, 13, both also of Millville, they were cutting thick weeds along the hillside facing the area where L&K Construction, Pottsville, is building a one-story, 10,000-square-foot office building, the future home of the Schuylkill office of Service Access and Management Inc., on the 500 block of Terry Reiley Way.
"It's Japanese knotweed. It's an invasive species. So it will keep coming back every year. So you have to come in and put some chemicals on top, or just keep being very aggressive. They will keep getting shorter every year too if you just keep knocking it down," McConnell said.
Jeffrey A. Feeser, director of housing and community development at Schuylkill Community Action, was there with the volunteers Tuesday, with sweat beading on his brow in the blazing sun.
The knotweed was one of the challenges he was facing.
"It might take two or three years to kill it," he said.
The JUNE Project is a reliable and handy group of volunteers from New Jersey who make an annual trek to the region to lend a hand to communities in need. Organized by the Rev. Darryl D. Duer, pastor of New Dover United Methodist Church, Edison, N.J., it's called the Jesus Unites Neighbors Everywhere. This is the 21st year the JUNE Project has visited the county to do volunteer work.
"We have 120 people this year and we sent half of that group to Pottsville and then split the other 60 up to three other work sites," said one of the JUNE Project leaders on site, Matthew "Tug" McErlain, also of Millville, N.J.
On Tuesday, the groups were spread out. While some worked at Overlook Park in Pottsville, others were helping out at the Barefield Outdoor Recreation Complex, 823 Terry Reiley Way. Meanwhile, others were in Hamburg, Hazleton and Reading, McErlain said.
Overlook Park is a city park Schuylkill Community Action is developing under the Elm Street Program. Work on the project began in 2009. Its full name is Joan S. Fanelli Overlook Park and it is behind the "Welcome to Pottsville" sign just off Route 61 on the city's north side.
It was developed on a half-acre which was owned by Fanelli Brothers Trucking. In 2009, Louis J. Fanelli, Orwigsburg, donated the land to the city. The park was named after Fanelli's wife, who died Aug. 29, 2005.
Last year, the Overlook Park project got a boost when volunteers from the JUNE Project, like Marquis Reece, 17, of Millville, N.J., stepped in.
When Reece returned to the site Monday, awaiting him were layers and layers of weeds.
"I look forward to seeing the end, seeing everything accomplished, what all our hard work will amount to. I was here last year and we did a lot of work on it. When I came here Monday, it was kind of shocking. It wasn't maintained. But that's all a part of coming back. It gives us something to do, in a way," Reece said.
"We want to get this park finished and hope it can be maintained from year to year. We've gotten, like, 80 percent of it done last year, but we never got it to the end zone," McErlain said.
However, the JUNE volunteers don't have advanced carpentry skills to establish one of the park's centerpieces, a pergola.
Schuylkill Community Action hopes to find volunteer carpenters in the community to complete the pergola this summer. Feeser said anyone interested can call his office at 570-622-1995.
"I'm hoping we can finish this maybe in a month," said Marc J. Gabardi, Pottsville. He worked on the Overlook Park project while he was Pottsville's Elm Street manager from May 2009 until funding for his position ran out in late 2010. Now, he's volunteering his time, hoping to see the park project to its completion.
With the right carpenters, it could be finished much sooner, Feeser said.
While a few wooden beams have been erected, a stack of lumber remains off to the side, waiting for the right volunteers to come in and put it in place.
"The roof will be slated, so at any point in time as the sun's coming across it will provide shade," Feeser said.
On Tuesday morning, Feeser was encouraging the volunteers to take rocks from the area and use them to create borders around trees and walkways.
Gabardi said he hopes a local volunteer organization steps forward to keep the park clean and neat. So far, he said, he hasn't been able to find one.
"I think it would be very nice to see groups from the area volunteer to help their own instead of having people come from out of the area to do it. It's kind of disappointing when you don't have local interest in our programs," Gabardi said.
"We believe in the people in this community and we believe in this site. It's a beautiful spot. And we think if we can get it to the finish line, it will take on a life of its own," McErlain said.