ON CENTRE: BALD EAGLE VALLEY

Volunteers scramble to fill Easter egg orders

By Chris Rosenblum

They're a sweet tooth's dream — and the Easter Bunny's nightmare. For their annual spring fundraiser this year, Milesburg Museum and Historical Society volunteers made 1,166 dozen confectionery holiday eggs.

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Do the math, and that's almost 14,000 eggs, enough to drive the world's most famous rabbit to subcontract deliveries.

It’s a sticky situation, all these peanut butter, coconut cream, maple walnut, cherry cream and cherry nut eggs on hand. But at $8 a dozen, they won’t be around for long. Orders have been coming in for weeks.

Proceeds from the “Easter Egg project” support the museum at 205 Market St. in Milesburg and its various community events, such as a yard/ bake/soup sale in May and a fall festival and car show.

In that light, all the eggs are golden to the society. But the community covets some more than others. To meet demand, egg-makers had to crank out extra dozens — 40 for maple walnut, and 20 each for cherry cream and cherry nut.

Those with orders placed can pick up their treats from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday and April 11 at the museum.

Procrastinators, take heart: A few peanut butter or coconut cream dozens might be left. If that sounds like a tasty proposition, call society member Sandy Hoy at 355-5670.

Park to increase camping options

Not this spring but the next, Bald Eagle State Park will offer overnight visitors a unique alternative to camping.

Construction continues on the park’s Nature Inn, a 16-room lodge slated for April 2010 that will be a first for the state park system. The building along Skyline Drive will feature geothermal and solar heating, energy-efficient lighting, water-saving appliances, and other conservation measures.

That’s not all. Limited edition prints of John James Audubon’s paintings of Pennsylvanian fowl will hang in rooms — certain to appeal to birdwatchers who flock to the park. Accommodations will also include the park’s standard birding “backpack,” complete with binoculars, field guides and maps.

“Each room will have its own entrance, so you can literally walk out into the park,” Park Manager John Ferrara said.

The Nature Inn will be the showpiece of a roughly $9 million renovation project. Also in the works are upgrades to park entrances and trail-heads, and an improved Skyline Drive overlook and picnic area.

In the meantime, old-school camping will have to suffice. The Sycamore Loop modern sites open April 10, with pets now permitted. Rustic campgrounds open May 1, and the Oak Loop modern sites start May 15.

For more information, call the park office at 625-2775 or visit www.dcnr.state.pa.us and click on the state parks link.

Chris Rosenblum can be reached at 231-4620.

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