Apple Grove Park, for decades a quiet, shady place along Dyberry Creek at the north end of Honesdale, has been enjoyed for picnics, fishing, disc throwing or just a place to enjoy with the kids and take in nature. While it may look forlorn without its apple trees, thanks to Honesdale Rotary Club, verdant leaves can shade us again.
On Sunday, April 14, the club planted a dozen young apple trees, a new promise for the longtime park on Fair Avenue between the pool complex and the county fairgrounds.
Sue Miele, Michelle Gilder, Dana Scott, Andrea Chapman, Bonny Cousins, Melody Robinson and James Hamill participated.
Hamill, in addition to being a Rotarian, is a Honesdale borough councilmember and chairperson of the borough Parks & Recreation Committee. He explained that the old trees had grown very tall, were diseased or dead and had not produced fruit in many years.
Two or three years ago a forester advised a gradual replacement. Over those couple of years, however, their condition worsened, and the trees had to be felled out of safety concerns, Hamill said. The borough Department of Public Works cut them in February.
A plan to plant new trees was discussed with the Rotary Club when they sought grant funding from the district level. The Rotary, along with the Parks & Rec committee, partnered with Penn State Cooperative Extension to plan the planting.
They expect to work with other groups, potentially Honesdale High School students from the school Agriculture Program.
Rotary President Dana Scott said that the district grant was $750, and the local club donated about $500. Penn State Extension recommend the tree nursery. They planted a variety of types of species that will cross-pollinate well, Scott related. She said they are expected to reach about 20 feet high.
"I love that we are helping the parks, the community, the environment. It’s a great feeling. I have this feeling of wanting to protect them and help them grow up," Scott said.
The park is used by people fishing and cooling off by going tubing on the Dyberry Creek on hot summer days. There are picnic tables. People bring dogs together to run. YMCA day camp also spends time here when not at the pool. Hamill said there had been some old playground equipment that was taken out years ago, and hopefully they will have some equipment there again.
"We're fortunate to live in a community that steps up in big and small ways," Hamill reflected. "Apple Grove has been a popular spot to enjoy nature and fellowship with neighbors. So, it's extra special to see a project like the renewal of the apple grove with the efforts of the Honesdale Rotary and exciting future plans for this shared public space."
Parks & Rec has tentatively planned a bonfire of the stacked wood from the old trees to mark the new chapter for Apple Grove. “The event would be an informal opportunity to witness the symbolic rebirth of Apple Grove,” Hamill said. The public will be welcome to bring food and games. The event is pending coordination with the fire department, he stated.
The Lackawaxen River Trails group lists Apple Grove Park as a site for boating access, although it remains unimproved for canoes and kayaks.
A disc golf course was proposed in 2002 and work was started. Hamill said there are some disc golf baskets in the park, and Parks & Rec intends to upgrade this activity.
In recent years, Apple Grove has been a proposed location for a community skate park and a future site for the Wayne County YMCA. The latter has recently been looking at a site in Cherry Ridge Township.
A current project underway is the dog park, funded by a $114,000 state grant. Bids were opened at the March council meeting but were tabled. Hamill said it will likely be re-bid in the fall of 2024. The dog park will go between the pool complex and Apple Grove Park.
Looking back
Apple Grove may have been set aside as a borough park in the 1970s when the borough was organizing the Fair Avenue Park Complex. The Parks & Rec board was started in 1978. The borough pool was built there and opened on July 1, 1980.
Veterans Memorial Park was created in 1993 on the south side of the pool complex.
Apple Grove has been the site for numerous special events. In 2000, there was a demonstration of several vintage, horse-drawn Silsby fire engines, when Honesdale Fire Department's Protection Engine Company No. 3's celebrated the 125th anniversary of its own Silsby fire engine.
At the August 2006 council meeting, Apple Grove was officially renamed the Apple Grove Firefighters' Memorial Park by a unanimous vote. Stan Pratt, who was chief of Honesdale Fire Department at that time, made the request.
For generations, the Dyberry Creek meandering by here included a popular watering hole for kids.
The whole area was part of the Schoonover farm, early settlers who arrived in the 1790s. When Honesdale was being laid out in the 1820s, the southern portion of the Schoonover tract was surveyed by Jason Torrey for streets that make up a large part of Honesdale. The pool complex is alongside the Schoonover family burying ground that is up on a shady knoll.
Honesdale Rotary meets on the second Tuesday for lunch and the fourth Tuesday for dinner at Tick Tocks on the Terrace.
Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.
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