Barrels of Fun Exploration Center Director Leah Brooks reads a page of “I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More!” by Karen Beaumont with kids from the child care center. The picture book is the first story highlighted on the Ghost Town Trail’s StoryWalk that officials unveiled during a ceremony Monday morning in Ebensburg.
Mirror photo by Matt Churella
EBENSBURG – A new chapter of the Ghost Town Trail’s story began Monday as a crowd of about 100 people braved the heat for the unveiling of Ebensburg’s StoryWalk – an initiative that provides an outdoor reading experience using interchangeable pages of a children’s picture book mounted along the trail.
The first featured book is Karen Beaumont’s “I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More!,” which was selected to coincide with Color Our World, the Ebensburg Cambria Public Library’s SummerQuest Program, officials said.
That story consists of 16 posts to read and features activities to do along the way – like swinging your arms as you walk to the next post. But, in terms of length, each story is going to be different, library director Jenn Link said.
After the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program in Cambria County shut down last month due to a lack of funding, Link said the StoryWalk is “just one extra resource to get kids out” and develop their literacy skills at a young age.
Among the attendees for Monday’s ceremony were about 40 children – ranging in age from infants to preschoolers – from the Barrels of Fun Exploration Center, a child care center adjacent to the trail that’s located along Reddinger Street.
Leah Brooks, the center’s director, said the children love reading and being outside. They are on the trail together “all of the time,” she said, noting the StoryWalk will enhance their experiences.
“This is just so cool that now there’s an actual StoryWalk,” Brooks said. “It’s pretty awesome.”
The StoryWalk’s featured book will rotate seasonally, with more frequent changes during the warmer months, Link said.
Even when it’s too cold out to enjoy the trail, all featured books will be available for check out at the library, she said.
Link said plans are already in place to switch the featured book in September to correspond with the Ebensburg Main Street Partnership’s PotatoFest event.
Danea Koss, Ebensburg’s community development director, said the StoryWalk is a win-win for families because they can enjoy the trail’s recreational opportunities and promote literacy at the same time.
Having thousands of people walk on the trail each year is also a win for Ebensburg’s downtown business community since people tend to stay in an Airbnb, eat at restaurants and shop local in downtown shops, she said.
“It’s just another way for people to be introduced to Ebensburg and find some other things that they love about it while they’re here,” Koss said.
Cambria County Commissioner Tom Chernisky said he agrees with Koss, noting the StoryWalk is great for local residents and people visiting the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ 2020 trail of the year.
“This is another great asset for outdoor recreation,” Chernisky said in a statement. “This is another win for our area and it shows public and private partnerships working together.”
Link said she got the idea for the project during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the library’s staff deconstructed a children’s story book and posted the pieces on stakes throughout the library’s lawn. Fundraising efforts to make the vision a reality took nearly two years, she said.
Link said adding the StoryWalk on the trail would not have been possible without the help and contributions from many community partners: the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, the Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority, Ebensburg Borough officials, the Ebensburg Women’s Club, the Festival of Books of the Alleghenies, the David A. Glosser Foundation, the Long Barn Inc., Barrels of Fun and three anonymous donors.
“This project is near and dear to my heart,” Link said. “To see it come full-circle, it’s an honor to give to the community.”
According to Caytlin Lusk, the Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority’s assistant executive director, Link reached out to see whether the authority would be comfortable with installing the StoryWalk along the Ghost Town Trail.
“Naturally, we said ‘yes’ because we love working with the area youth in various capacities,” Lusk said, noting a group of Central Cambria visual arts teacher Brian Dumm’s students recently installed a mural on the trail.
That mural is visible while walking past the StoryWalk’s posted signs on the trail, which begins between South Center and South Locust streets in Ebensburg.
The trail is also home to other public murals, student-built structures, historic landmarks and the county’s first two reinforced pedestrian bridges, Lusk said while walking from sign to sign with her daughter, Wren Lusk, 11.
Lusk was thankful for the ceremony’s turnout, noting it warmed her heart to see so many kids with smiles on their faces running down the trail, excited to see the next page of the story.
“It just really shows that something good was definitely done today,” she said.
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.