KLINGERSTOWN - Remind the kids to bring their creek shoes.
Klingerstown will host a Community Spirit Day, beginning at noon Sept. 15. Activities around the Mahantongo Creek are just a part of the planned festivities.
Organizers said the event is to thank everyone who helped during the flood clean-up in Klingerstown last September.
It's a day designed to honor the residents in Klingerstown, to recognize their hard work and effort to get back on their feet, and also to extend a huge "thank you" to people in person who aided the community in its recovery in any way, according to Tricia Reed, case manger for the Klingerstown Long Term Recovery Committee.
Residents did not have to suffer a direct flood loss last year to take part in the free event.
People who gave of their time or those that donated funds to the cause are also invited to return to this western Schuylkill County neighborhood to celebrate with their friends and family.
"There is a spirit to this community," Reed said. "There's something about this town that touches people. It's a proud community."
Activities scheduled throughout the day will include a hearty meal, volleyball, softball, horse-drawn carriage rides, children's activities and live entertainment. The Klingerstown Fire Company will have its truck available for people to tour.
Magician Randy Snedden, Williamstown, who performs "Close up Magic of Randy" is scheduled to offer a one-hour show, tentatively set to begin about 1 or 1:30 p.m., shortly after the completion of the noon meal.
Following the magic show, kids will be able to try their hand at floating a boat down the Mahantongo Creek at the carnival grounds in a regatta boat race.
Contractor Martin Barry, Elizabethville, projects coordinator with the KLTRC, made 47 wooden boats for the event which will be distributed to children interested in joining in the regatta. Organizers want children to have a positive experience along the community's waterways, according to Reed. The Mahantongo and Pine creeks in Klingerstown were among local waterways that jumped their banks during the September 2011 floods following heavy rains from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.
The Amish community will be catering the meal and many Amish families - who were among the countless volunteers who assisted during the flood - have been invited to the celebration. The meal will include a pig roast and all the fixings, and drinks will also be provided. Guests are asked to bring a dessert to share, lawn chairs and ball gloves.
Others invited to join in, according to Reed, are state Rep. Mike Tobash, R-125; Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-108; state Emergency Management Agency representative Marty Miller; and Tim Brown from Lutheran Disaster Response. Pastor Jan Mills, who previously served St. Michael Lutheran Church in Klingerstown, where several disaster recovery meetings were coordinated, is also expected to attend the Community Spirit Day.
Fire company volunteers from the Klingerstown, Pillow and Gratz departments are among those invited to the gathering.
Reed said she recently spoke with Neil Harrison, an adult volunteer from Barto who worked with a youth group this June during their volunteer clean-up efforts in Klingerstown. Harrison said local musicians who were on the clean-up crew, and those involved with a "Building Lives" concert, may be able to return to Klingerstown to perform during the Community Spirit Day.
"They were a perfect fit," Reed said of the youth group and their possible return.
While an RSVP was needed by Saturday for the meal, community members are encouraged to attend the other events.
There are still some needs in the community and donations continue to be received at Klingerstown Flood Relief Fund, Gratz National Bank, P.O. Box 159, Gratz, PA 17030.