The Friends of Beltzville held its first Fall Festival at Beltzville at the Beltzville State Park Environmental Interpretive Center on Sunday.

This is their first fall festival, and they hope to continue it every year. All proceeds benefit Beltzville State Park.

Volunteer Deb de Beauclair explained, “We’re trying to promote the park, and all proceeds benefit the park. It’s to help with having things for kids and families to do here, and we want to promote the ‘Leave no Trace’ program, that people will come and use the park and leave it in better condition than when they come.”

The festival featured fun for the whole family: find a pumpkin and paint it, painting silhouettes on wood, scarecrow making, story time, bird and nature hikes, a bake sale, a food truck from Big Richard’s Daug Haus of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania State Police, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Godfrey Daniels provided entertainment during the day.

Trooper Justin Magluilo of the Pennsylvania State Police, Lehighton Barracks, was on hand to greet the festival visitors.

“We work hand-in-hand with the Park Service and the Beltzville staff to work on some of the issues that the park has, like drug use, other crimes, and traffic violations. A lot of things that we’re able to assist them with, and they’re able to assist us. With all the new rules and regulations applied this year, it’s been helping tremendously. We’re happy to be here to be with the citizens and helping out the Friends of Beltzville.”

The new regulations have been a tremendous help for the park this summer.

“I’ve been a trooper for 10 years,” Magluilo said, “and this year has been the absolute best when it comes to traffic control. There are no more parking issues; we’ve hardly towed any vehicles this year for illegal parking. The Game Commission had constructed some gates to close off to help eliminate some overflow parking. In the end, it’s for the community and the patrons that do come to visit the park, they can really enjoy it.”

Jarrod Quinn, Head Dam Operator of Beltzville; and Josh Dinko, Facility Operations Specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, manned the table for the Army Corps. which manages Beltzville and four other dams that they operate and maintain.

“We’re here to support the Fall Fest with the Beltzville Friends group,” Dinko explained. “The Friends of Beltzville has been a good organization for this land, and we really appreciate what they’re doing and we’re showing our support.”

The event drew local families and people from around the area, even from outside Pennsylvania.

You can follow the Friends of Beltzville on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/beltzvillestateparkfriends.