By Rob Scott
SUNBURY -- Shikellamy State Park was once a gathering place for Native Americans in the Iroquois Nation.
Today, the park is the site of a gathering of different sorts.
For the past couple years, the Friends of Shikellamy State Park have been on a mission to stoke interest in what co-chair Julia Marano called a "wonderful treasure."
Sunday's second annual Fall Harvest Festival -- featuring live music, local crafters and artists, pumpkin painting for children and hayrides through the park -- is one of the ways the group is trying to get that message out.
"We want to encourage use of the park as an amazing community gathering place," said Marano, mentioning that the festival drew between 350 to 400 people, almost double last year's attendance.
The group has held several events over the past year, including Sunday brunches and a wine and cheese tasting at the state park overlook, and plans to have many more, closing out the year with a Christmas caroling event on Dec. 11.
And the pro-park campaign is working, according to Marano. "From our first Sunday brunch (in June) to the last one (in September), our attendance tripled."
Park manager Frank Nanna, with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said the park has always been a fairly popular destination. But since the Friends of Shikellamy State Park stepped up to the plate, interest has grown.
"You can come 12 months of the year and see people using this park, even with a foot of snow on the ground," he said. "The Friends of Shikellamy State Park have given us a push, making us more visible to more people."
Sensors at the entrance to the park let the state know how well-attended the park is, according to Nanna.
Interest in the park should be ratcheted up even higher after the state unveils its plans to convert the marina into a environmental research and education center.
Nanna said designs for the project are being prepared by a Williamsport engineering firm and should be unveiled in the next two months, if not sooner.
The building will be used by about a half dozen local colleges and universities as a research center, he said. "They'll study the aquatics of the river. It's right here along the confluence of both branches (of the Susquehanna)."
DCNR also hopes to open the building to the public for environmental education programs and may host guest speakers.
He said the plans call for the entire building to be renovated and the addition of some square footage.
Gov. Ed Rendell freed up $2.5 million in state funds earlier this year to develop the facility, which has been empty since a restaurant closed at the site in 2002.
n E-mail comments to rscott@dailyitem.com.
