2023 "Do 6" Award Winners - PA Route 6 Alliance

Meet Our 2023 “Do 6” Award Winners!

Each year at the Annual Meeting & Educational Workshop, the Alliance recognizes and celebrates just a handful of those outstanding individuals and groups through their annual “Do 6” Awards Ceremony. These individuals, organizations, businesses, and corporations exemplify the mission of the PA Route 6 Alliance to protect, preserve and enhance the scenic, cultural, historical, and recreational resources of Pennsylvania’s northern tier.

Winners were presented their awards at the Annual Meeting in Corry, PA, October 6, 2023.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Presented to a person or agency who exemplifies outstanding leadership and advances our mission through heritage development.

WINNER: Melinda Meyer, Preservation Erie. Melinda Meyer has worked with and served the heritage and arts communities of Northwestern Pennsylvania for more than 20 years. She is experienced as an historian, educator, project consultant, grant writer and nonprofit administrator. In 2011, she joined the all-volunteer team of Preservation Erie and has worked on several key initiatives, including development of the Erie County Cultural Heritage Plan and the Erie County Historic Resource Inventory update. She has also taught public history and historic preservation undergraduate courses at Mercyhurst University and is presently the Director of Programs, Grants, and Compliance for Impact Corry.

(Photo, left to right: PA Route 6 Alliance Executive Director Candace Hillyard, Honey Stempka from the Department of Community and Economic Development, Melinda Meyer, and PA Route 6 Board President Dan Glotz.)

HERITAGE PARTNERSHIP AWARD: Presented to a group, person or organization that has demonstrated excellence in historic preservation, cultural preservation, interpretation, and/or education through cross-corridor thinking and interagency cooperation.

WINNER: Hurry Hill Maple Farm and Museum Association in Edinboro. Hurry Hill Maple Farm welcomes as many as 3,000 people to tour the farm and museum during the Northwest PA Maple Association Taste and Tour event every year. Hurry Hill Maple Farm is also the home of a PA Historical Marker honoring the Newberry Award-winning book “Miracles on Maple Hill” by Virginia Sorenson, a children’s book about growing up in a maple syrup producing area. Hurry Hill Maple Farm’s dedication to historical and cultural preservation is also evidenced in entertaining exhibits such as their “Tree to Table” displays, various children’s activities that teach the importance of Pennsylvania’s agricultural heritage, and in the products they produce, which are preserved and extended through natural processes. A visit to Hurry Hill Maple Farm is a unique family experience and a prime destination for all visitors traveling through the PA Route 6 Corridor.

(Photo: Janet Woods, center, accepts the award on behalf of Hurry Hill Maple Farm and Museum Association from Candace Hillyard, left, and Dan Glotz, right.)

HERITAGE TOURISM AWARD: Presented to a business or project that furthers economic and tourism development while respecting the heritage and cultural resources of the PA Route 6 Corridor.

WINNER: Steve Green, Coudersport. Curator Steve Green has developed the Eliot Ness Museum in Coudersport into an outstanding attraction at the midpoint of the Pennsylvania Route 6 corridor. Green has pulled together business partners, tourist attractions and community leaders, operators of other museums and cultural attractions, along with Ness historians to development of an attraction that puts significant historical developments in the proper perspective – Ness vs. Capone, history of Prohibition, the evolution of criminal justice, connections of Ness to Potter County and other parts of Pennsylvania, and many others. He weaves regional history and many colorful, entertaining themes into the mosaic which have helped the Eliot Ness Museum become a top attraction along PA Route 6.

(Photo: Stephen Green, center, accepts the Heritage Tourism Award from Candace Hillyard, left, and Dan Glotz, right.)

ARTISAN OF THE YEAR AWARD: Presented to an artist or artisan group that exemplifies the goals of the PA Route 6 Artisan Trail program showing regional thinking and cooperation while promoting the arts along the corridor.

WINNER: The Gathering Place in Clarks Summit. The Gathering Place is a dynamic community center that celebrates creativity, education and the arts in a unique way that embraces the entire community. The Gathering Place facilitates inclusive partnerships, creativity, education, programming, and the arts within the community in an environment filled with creative energy, a passion for lifelong learning, and a strengthened sense of belonging. The Gathering Place truly epitomizes regional cooperation in promotion of various art forms as well as inclusivity of artists and artisans within the Route 6 corridor.

(Photo, left to right: Deborah Shurtleff of Wyoming County Heart and Soul, Candace Hillyard, Dori Waters and Paula Baillie, both of the The Gathering Place, and Dan Glotz.)

HERITAGE LEADERSHIP AWARD: Presented to a person(s), business or organization for meaningful contributions and/or through partnerships, by enriching our communities through landscape initiatives or historic preservation.

WINNER: Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau in McKean County. Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau is a leader in creating projects which successfully celebrate the heritage of the area while honoring the natural attributes of the land. Trail Central is a long-term leadership goal. The heart of their projects is to use Kinzua Bridge State Park as the trail hub to connect the communities in McKean County to Allegheny National Forest, Allegany and Kinzua Bridge State Park.

The bureau has adopted the principles of National Geographic’s Geo-tourism Program. The bureau created Forest Press, printing 3 award-winning books and the CD “Tracks Across the Sky.” The bureau was instrumental in obtaining funding to repair the Kinzua Viaduct, and after the tornado, in creating the vision of a major destination, the reinvention of the six towers as the Kinzua Sky Walk. The ANFVB funded the interpretive plan for the Visitors Center. Partners have included Headwaters Charitable Trust/Knox & Kane Rail Trail, ANF, DCNR, DCED, Tuna Valley Trail Association, TAMED, MJ2KB, Kinzua Valley Trail, and Willow Creek Snowmobile Association. They have also created non-traditional “trails” within the Trail Central branding, including the Smethport Mansion District Walking Trail and the Bradford National Historic District Walking Trail. Their outdoor kiosk project has placed attraction maps on outdoor kiosks in five communities.

(Photo, left to right: Tamara Bleggi from Senator Dush’s Office, Turina Martin (ANFVB), Linda Devlin (Executive Director of the ANFVB), Brenda Fitch (ANFVB Board Member), Dan Glotz, and Candace Hillyard.)

HERITAGE COMMUNITY OF THE YEAR – Presented to the designated Heritage Community, who are embracing their Heritage Tourism Work Plans and implementing worthwhile projects, and showing impacts and results.

WINNER: Heritage Community of Honesdale. Through the leadership of the Greater Honesdale Partnership, Honesdale lives their mission of working to promote, build, and invest in their community. The Downtown Honesdale Revitalization Plan is a comprehensive plan that focuses on enhancing the district’s walkability and attractiveness to both residents and visitors alike. Their efforts have created a more vibrant and attractive destination for shoppers, diners, and tourists, while also preserving its unique character and history. With numerous events such as Harvest & Heritage Days, Ghost Tours, and Winter Wonderland Parade, it’s easy to see why Honesdale was the inspiration for Dick Smith’s famous 1934 Christmas song “Winter Wonderland.”

(Photo, left to right: Candace Hillyard, Kim Fisch and Sandi Levens of the Greater Honesdale Partnership, PA Route 6 Board Member Randy Heller, and Dan Glotz.)

Click Here to Download the 2023 “Do 6” Awards PDF

Past “Do 6” Award Recipients:

Any questions or for more information about future events, please contact us at info@paroute6.com or 814-435-7706. Also subscribe to our newsletter for updates and news about PA Route 6.