Highlights from the SRT Spreekend

SRT Ale is back! And once again Sly Fox Brewery has generously agreed to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this "Ale for the Trail" to the Schuylkill River Heritage Area to maintain, expand and improve the Schuylkill River Trail. Sly Fox helped us celebrate the beer's Earth Day release with a weekend of trail activities dubbed the SRT Spreekend.

Friday April 22

The Spreekend got underway on Friday April 22 with an evening trail cleanup in Riverfront Park in Pottstown. Over 20 volunteers turned out, collecting about 20 bags of litter, six tires and a collection of interesting trash that included a ceiling fan blade, vacuum part, broken bicycle pedal, rug and a tent.

After the cleanup, volunteer and our staff helped Sly Fox celebrate the first tapping of SRT Ale.

Saturday, April 23

The day began early with a morning kayak launch as 40 paddlers left Riverfront Park to enjoy a day on the river and make their way to Lock 60 of the Schuylkill Canal in time for the Spreekend Festival which began at 3:00.

While they paddled, a 50K Spreekend Relay Race also got underway on the Schuylkill River Trail, beginning and ending at Schuylkill Canal Park. And the Schuylkill River Heritage Area led a group of 30 volunteers in a cleanup of another section of the trail in Douglassville. They collected 20 bags of trash and helped with a trail-widening project.

All volunteers were given Spreekend T-shirts and vouchers to try the new SRT Ale at the Spreekend Festival which featured Sly Fox Beer, Food and live music throughout the evening.Some people took advantage of the opportunity to camp out in the park and help with our final Spreekend cleanup Sunday morning.

Sunday, April 24

On Sunday, another 25 volunteers showed up for a cleanup at Lock 60. They cleared another 20 bags of trash from along the river and trail. Altogether, we had 66 volunteers at three cleanups remove over 60 bags of litter, in addition to some other large items--numerous tires, a child's plastic swimming pool, a lawn chair, tent, blanket and rug. They worked a combined total of 132 hours! And two other Spreekend cleanups were held in Phoenixville and Norristown in which another 80 volunteers participated.

Overall, the Spreekend was a great way to celebrate, clean and enjoy the trail and the Schuylkill River!

See more photos of the Spreekend!