Roots of Steel

Last Friday, we kicked off a new phase of our ReClaim Clairton Ambassador program, project implementation. Just as in past Ambassador programs, each participant receives access to a $3,000 micro-fund to assist in the implementation of a greenspace project they have spent the last 8 months creating with support from their neighbors, friends, and communities. Leading the pack was Sue Viglioti, who was motivated to participate in the ReClaim Clairton program by the love of her home town and the people that live there. Sue’s project wasn’t the easiest to begin with. Her site along the Montour Trail was nearly 1/8th of a mile long and had more than 100 native perennials, shrubs, and trees winding along the site in the projects new design. Sue’s goal was to create Memorial Lane, a stretch of the trail that would be lined with trees and planting beds dedicated to some of Clairton’s most beloved residents.

To accomplish this goal, we needed some help. A lot of help actually and Clairton just happens to be home to one of U. S. Steel’s largest facilities, the Clairton Coke Works (also conveniently located across the street from Memorial Lane). With a strong tie to the community and a desire to give back, 30 U. S. Steel employees from both the corporate office in Downtown Pittsburgh and the local U. S. Steel facility in Clairton joined forces to make Memorial Lane come to life. Last Friday, April 28th was also Arbor Day and our volunteers from U. S. Steel wanted to celebrate it appropriately. Employees spent the day planting 40 new Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) trees along the trail and several other varieties of native trees and shrubs in adjacent wooded areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We owe a huge thank you to the volunteers at U. S. Steel and all of their hard work in supporting the Clairton community. Thanks to them, the Montour Trailhead in Clairton will soon have a pop of pink every spring from the dozens of new Redbuds that symbolize some of the best assets Clairton has to offer, it’s residents.