Andrew Kleiner and the Allentown Parks

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I was at a blogging conference last night and another Lehigh Valley blogger very curtly said to me in response to discovering that I was the author of Remember: “Remember? More like I forgot.”  That was not the nicest thing I have heard in three years of writing this thing but it is far from the worst and, it really got me thinking.  As I am preparing to return to the Parks for new and fresh series of examinations, I feel like it is appropriate to take a walk (ha) down memory lane today.

The posts I am about to link to are a complete literal documentation of how a laid off employee with no proper science background began to learn about the world around himself and over time found himself becoming a scientist.  These are unedited.  All the mistakes I made scientific and otherwise are here laid bare because they help tell the story.  These posts are a chronicle of why a park system is so important in an urban corridor.  These posts show what something as simple as a Park can do – a Park can change someone’s entire life.
(There is more post after the links – click and read Please! But keep on heading down!)

1. West Park (April 30th 2009)
2. Trexler Park (May 2nd 2009)
3. South Mountain (May 9th 2009)
4. Lehigh Parkway (Spring –Fall 2009)
5. Keck Park (May 23rd 2009)
6.  The Fish Hatchery ( May 27th 2009)
7. East Side Reservoir (May 29th 2009)  
8. Muhlenberg Lake (June 1st 2009)
9. The Rose Gardens (June 2nd 2009)
10. Cedar Beach Parkway (June 3rd 2009)
11. Union Terrace (June 5th 2009)
12. Trout Creek Parkway [Part One – June 8th 2009]
       Trout Creek Parkway [Part Two – June 9th 2009]
13. Canal Park (June 14th 2009)
14. Jordan Park (June 19th 2009)

Before continuing with the links, as I go back through the history of my blog, I want to mention that the change really began here.  As construction at Cedar Beach Parkway reached a head, I revisited the early parks and began writing about riparian buffers and invasive species. It took just under two months for these Parks to change me and my writing and content shows just that.  I mean, that Muhlenberg Lake post is completely scientifically uniformed and truthfully – in error; but that is what makes this journey beautiful!  It makes that which comes in 2010, 2011 and now in 2012 that much more important!!
More Park Logs:
15.  Fountain Park [Part One – July 21st 2009]
        Fountain Park [Part Two – July 22nd 2009]
16. Percy B. Ruhe Park (July 24th 2009)
17. Bucky Boyle Park (July 29th 2009)
18. Jordan Meadows (July 30th 2009)

Then, I was set.  But, that is the story of how all this began! It is how The Muhlenberg College Journey happened – how I ended up on top of mountains (like the picture that started this post!) and knee deep in the cold winter waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  It is where I am going back to now and where I hope you come with me!

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  1. #1 by fromherenow on January 17, 2012 - 7:44 am

    Great list of parks! I definitely didn’t know about some of these—I’ll have to check them out!

    • #2 by Andrew Kleiner on January 17, 2012 - 7:56 am

      Thanks. It is pretty interesting to stroll about in so many different kinds of green oases and see how these varied park types have become part of the identity of the people who grew up in them. At a City Council meeting back in 2009 about the parks, rather than identifying themselves by their address when speaking during the open floor section of the meeting, people named the park they grew up in. I liked that.

      These places were also the stepping stone to much more “epic” adventures in the real wildernesses around here and I will be digging all those posts out soon too in another list type – cleaning out my closet deal in a week or so.

  2. #3 by noroomforseconds on January 17, 2012 - 2:55 pm

    I didn’t know about some of these myself. Can’t wait for some warmer weather for the dog and I to go check them out. Out of the ones I did know Trexler Park is by far my favorite. My wife and I take our dog over in the evenings in the summer and walk the loop there. It’s so close to the major roads and yet so removed from it all.

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