A Catalyst For Community Improvement
Driving the resources, conservation and development of projects for Northwestern Pennsylvania since 1964
Serving 8 counties of northwestern Pa: Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango and Warren.
Women's Outdoor Workshops Are Back!!
Join us Saturday, June 20th, '26 at 2 Mile Run County Park in Franklin, PA for the first WOW event under Penn Soil RC&D's leadership! We have 25 workshops for women and girls 12 years old and up to select from when they register for this event!
Download, complete and return the Word Doc below with your registration fee to be registered for our June 26 WOW event. Visit our Shop page for a quick and easy online option to pay your registration fee, plus any additional materials fees if you sign up for one of the 3 classes that have an extra materials fee. Add all applicable fees to your cart before you checkout. The waiver at the bottom of the registration form does require an actual signature, we can't accept just typing your name on the form. If you don't have a means to print, sign and scan the last page into your computer to email to us, please consider emailing your form with class selections and contact info, then print it off and mail a copy to our office with your signature.
If you are unable to print the registration form, you can pick one up at the following locations:
Warren Co.: 4000 Conewango Ave
Warren Visitor's Center, 22045 US -6
Nick Vandamia's Sate Farm office, 231 Liberty St.
or call or email and we can mail them to you!
We have two food trucks lined up for participants to purchase lunch from if you don't pack your own lunch or you can purchase food from the park's concession stand.
If you have questions, would like to volunteer for the event, would like a sponsor or donate something to the basket raffle, contact us by email at pennsoilrcd@wcconservation.net or call the office at 814-726-1141 and ask for Sue Nielsen.
Kids Container Workshop
The Allegheny Greenhouse senior citizen volunteers and Bee Courageous are hosting a Kids Container Workshop Sat., April 25 at the Allegheny Valley Veterans Center in Clarendon, PA from 8 am - noon for the first 60 children pre-registered.
Parents can pre-register their children, 3 years old and up, to plant starter flower, herb and/or vegetable plants in a cute planter for Mom for Mother's Day! Cost is $10 per child. Visit our Shop page to pay online. Select the icon for the Children's Container Workshop Pre-registration, go to your cart and add how many children you are pre-registering before you checkout. A parent or guardian must accompany the child/ren.
There will be additional activities that day, including DCNR staff attending and talking about nature, trees and answering the kiddos questions about their jobs with DCNR (Department of Conservation and Natural Resources), Penn Soil will have hands-on educational demonstrations of storm water runoff pollution and the Veterans Center invites the kids to decorate their sidewalk with chalk drawings, weather permitting! PLUS, children will have the opportunity to color a nature related coloring page that can be left on display at the veteran's center. The resident veterans will be asked to judge the artwork and pick a winner. Penn Soil will contact the winner the next week to come pick up their prize at our office in Warren.
The children's activities will conclude at noon so plan to arrive early enough for your child to participate in all the activities! This would probably take at least 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
There will also be 50' garden hoses for sale, priced at $20 each and hanging baskets (prices may vary) to purchase, prior to Mother's Day, available to participants and the general public, from 8 am - 1 pm. Cash, check or card accepted.
This is the first of several fundraisers to come for the Allegheny Greenhouse senior citizen volunteers and Bee Courageous volunteers, working with Penn Soil RC&D Council, to build new greenhouses for the groups to operate out of on property at the Rouse Estates in Youngsville, PA!
For more information about this project see Allegheny Greenhouse Project on our Blog page.
Water Safety Days are being planned in multiple counties for 2026!
Penn Soil will be at the annual Memorial Day weekend festivities in Russell, PA. sponsored by R.O.A.R. - Revitalization of Akeley/Russell. We will be located at the Larimer Park Boat Launch between 9 am and 2 pm on Sat. May 23 talking water safety, native & invasive species, and demonstrating some rescues!
On Sat., June 13th, we'll be at the Clarion River Water Fest at Toby Boat Launch covering water & kayaking safety. Visit the Clarion Co. Conservation District website for information on how to register for this event.
We will also be assisting with the planning and hosting of the Clarion River Cleanup and Conewango Creek Cleanup in the fall of 2026! Stay tuned for updates!
These events are made possible thanks to funding from the PA Environmental Council and the Foundation for PA Watersheds!!
2026 Annual Nature Art Showcase & Sale
Penn Soil RC&D once again partnered with the Council on Greenways & Trails to plan and co-host the tenth annual Nature Art Showcase and Sale held February 6-7, 2026 at the Barrow-Civic Theatre in Franklin, PA. This was a free event for the public which showcases local artist's artwork that must represent scenes from nature within the 8 northwest PA counties Penn Soil serves.
Submission categories include 2-D, 3-D, youth and this year's themed category was "On The Wing"! More than 110 original art items submitted by 62 artists were displayed in the main lobby of the Barrow-Civic Theatre in downtown Franklin. The variety of talent on display was amazing.
The “People’s Choice” awards were chosen from original artworks made using diverse techniques featuring outdoor recreation and natural resources of northwestern Pennsylvania. This year’s prizes were made and donated by fellow artists participating in the two-day event.
2026 Winners :
Two-Dimensional category - a spray painting prepared by Jesse Wolfgang of Warren, PA entitled “Transcendence.” He strives to use recycled and repurposed materials to create artwork capturing motion, experience, and links with nature.
He received a framed photograph of a Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly provided by Kirby Neubert of Seneca, PA.
Mary Rose Ragon of Franklin, PA assembled her “Whimsical Woodland Wonder” with miniature natural materials found near her home. This item received the highest number of ballots in the 3-D category. Her prize is a stained-glass original work called “Honeycomb Corner” made by Barb Makohus of Centerville.
In the “On The Wing” category attendees selected “The Hunter and The Taken,” a panel with overlaid painted images of a bald eagle and other predators and prey. Heidi Wirtner of Emlenton, PA conceptualized this panel. Lisa Hulihan of Franklin, PA furnished the prize, a wooden keepsake box with a photograph of a bald eagle inserted as the box lid.
Thirteen-year-old seventh grader Cooper Greenlee of Polk, PA entered a pencil drawing of “Childhood in Nature,” which earned the highest tally among the youth (ages 12-18) category. His prize, customized by Victorian City Art & Frame in Franklin, is a wide wood frame with a mat cut out in train shapes.
Stay up to date with Penn Soil RC&D projects and events. Sign up for our quarterly newsletter on the CONTACT page!
Home of the St. Louis Arch - Warren, Pa
