We want this kayak to go to a good home. Will it be you? If you want $5 tickets let us know!!! Or go to: https://rallyup.com/764f8e/Campaign to buy online! Thank you for being part of the revival!

We are raffling a RUGGED RIDE 115 Fishing kayak! All Proceeds benefit the Howland Preserve!! Please contact us for tickets!

We have quite the line up planned for you at this year's Rockin' The River!
*9:30 am-1:30 pm Kayak Paddle with Endless Mountain Outfitters ($50 Rental w/ free admission into event and proceeds benefiting the Preserve) Please call or contact us for reservations! EMO:570-746-9140 Meshoppen-The Howland Preserve
*1:00 Gates Open
1:30-2:30: Jessica Illuzzi: Musical Talent in the Barn
3:004:00-Don Shappelle: Musical Talent in the Barn
4:30-?: High Falls Duo: Rock out in the Barn!!

All day we will have the following vendors:
*Triple S Gourmet Food Truck!
*Mannings Mobile Ice Cream (3-6pm)
*High Point Greens Juicing Co.
*Lollipop Party Services for the KIDS!! Face Painting & Activities
*ConTRIPutions w/ Gem 104
*Doterra Oils
*Hiking 
*Mountain Biking
*Stand Up Paddle Board Demos
*AND MUCH MORE!

Please help us spread the word! All proceeds go towards renovations at the Historical Howland Preserve! 

Want more info? Want to be a vendor for free? Email: [email protected]

The Friends of Howland Preserve along with Endless Mountain Outfitters are starting their Thursday Night Paddles tonight! Join us! Please contact us with reservations if you need a boat or want to jump in our shuttle! We go from Howland to Tunkhannock! 570-746-9140

Tucked away in the countryside along the Susquehanna River just north of Tunkhannock is a 669-acre property with historic buildings from the 1800s, a canal bed, a rail bed, a graveyard from the 1700s, stone walls, non-motorized boat access, picnic areas, a planned trail system and more.

Although open daily to the public from dawn to dusk, The Howland Preserve, 546 Vosburg Road, Tunkhannock, remains something of an unintended secret to the majority of the community — which the Friends of The Howland Preserve is attempting to change.

The volunteer group held its inaugural Gathering at the River fundraiser Aug. 9 at the property, which is owned and maintained by the North Branch Land Trust, Trucksville, and located adjacent to Camp Lackawanna. With a dual goal of raising funds for and awareness of the preserve, the community event featured kayaking with Endless Mountains Outfitters, live music by Don Shappelle and Barry Derninis, refreshments from a Fire and Ice food truck, children’s activities with the Endless Mountains Nature Center, hiking tours, a jewelry class, various craft vendors and information tables, outdoor games and more.

The day was a success, according to event organizer Ali Wilson, with over 150 people in attendance.

“The importance of the Preserve is community green space,” she said. “Wyoming County is the only county in PA with a state run park. That is because it is mostly privately owned and we are in the middle of gas land. We need to protect and maintain this special property. We have smaller parks in Tunkhannock, but nothing with a trail system on 669 protected acres along the Susquehanna river.”

Funds raised from the Aug. 9 event are planned to help complete work on the historic barn and purchase trailhead signs.

In addition to its monetary needs, the group is seeking volunteers from the community to help with a variety of tasks, such as trail building, grounds maintenance and monitoring, skilled labor on the buildings and more.

“Without volunteers,” Wilson said, “the place would be unkept. We work nicely with the North Branch Land Trust, and gaining support and volunteers is what this project is all about. We all need each other. We are coming together to improve and maintain historical nature preserve and it’s so worth it. We are always looking for positive help and we are forever grateful to all our volunteers.”

Howland Hero: Jeff Fleming, Trail King. Jeff has given us over 15 hours of trail flagging, planning and exploring. He has flagged one amazing back woods loop! We hiked it together on Saturday and the blooming dogwoods, ferns, pines, switchbacks, deer, vernal pools, old township road lined in stonewalls, and vista point wowed us all! Thank you Jeff for sharing your expertise and enthusiasm with us! 
There is an amazing new trail coming soon...want to join the fun building? Get at us!

The Howland Preserve, 669 acres of protected forest land west of Tunkhannock, played host on Saturday to a Tunkhannock Area Middle School Art Show, the theme of which was “Howland Preserve.”

There were about 200 unique pieces of artwork in the show, which featured works done by Tunkhannock students in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8. The show was organized by TAMS art teacher Ali Woods Wilson in the hopes of drawing attention to the natural beauty of the Howland Preserve. Woods and her husband are the founders of the “Friends of the Howland Preserve,” an organization of about 25 people who are determined to raise awareness of the property.

“There is so much natural beauty out here,” Wilson noted, “and because the Howland Preserve is off the beaten path very few people realize the beauty that exists right in their backyard.”

All of the pieces in the art show were inspired either by visiting the preserve itself or by studying visuals and photographs of the Howland Preserve.

Wilson said she hopes that paintings have inspired her students to appreciate the natural beauty of the area. This is also what she hopes visitors will have taken away from the show.

Tunkhannock eighth grader Brianna Mason, who had several pieces of art in the show, helped to actualize Wilson’s goal. “I love nature and depicting it through art,” said Mason, “and I loved being a part of this project.”

Much of the art in the show was a product of an “Artist-in-Residence” program, explains Debbie Donowski, another TAMS art teacher. This year’s “Artist-in-Residence” was Earl Lehman, a local landscape artist who has worked with students in the classroom for more than 25 years.

The “Artist-in-Residence” program, which offers one-on-one instruction for students with a professional artist, is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts.

The larger pieces in the show were done by student members of a “core group” who met with Lehman for an hour before school during a 4-week instructional program.

These 4x8 masterpieces, along with many other paintings done by Tunkhannock art students detailing the Howland Preserve’s trees and waters, coated the walls of the Preserve’s barn.

Eighth graders Leah Rome and Angela Colbenson both agreed that having art in the show was “pretty cool.”

“My art has never been in a show before,” said Rome, “and we like being able to express ourselves and our love for nature through art.”

Lehman, himself, shared the girls’ spirit.

“Nature is paramount,” he said. “We come from it and live in it. It is a natural subject and the kids understand that.”

He added, “They are like open doors, and they are always excited to learn.”

As a landscape artist, Lehman said this particular project was perfect for him, and together with Wilson’s vision and the student’s hard work, the show was a rousing success.

In the long term, Wilson hopes that they can maintain the Howland Preserve as a space that the Tunkhannock community can enjoy for years to come. The “Friends of the Howland Preserve” hope to put in hiking trails in the future, and encourage others to utilize the barn which hosted the art show, which was recently furnished with a new roof.

“I am so happy to see this all come together,” Wilson said. “To see our students forge a connection between our area’s natural beauty and their own artistic creation is a wonderful thing.”

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Photo Gallery of Students Art