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Home The Progress Fund Stories Borrower Stories A Newsworthy week for our borrowers serving the Great Allegheny Passage

A Newsworthy week for our borrowers serving the Great Allegheny Passage

June 13, 2013

These four borrowers were featured in separate articles in the Tribune-Review and Post-Gazette.

River’s Edge Canoe & Kayak

Evelyn Andritz, owner of River’s Edge Canoe & Kayak, canoes the Kiski River near Leechburg

The National Park Service has designated the Kiski-Conemaugh Water Trail as a National Recreational Trail. The nod from the Park Service is expected to attract more paddlers and tourists to the region, according to Neill Andritz, owner of the River’s Edge Canoe and Kayak in Gilpin and Laura Hawkins, Kiski-Conemaugh Greenway coordinator.

Andritz, who rented kayaks and canoes to 3,500 customers last year, served as a consultant on the river trail-mapping process. A board member of the StrongLand Chamber of Commerce, Andritz included a number of area businesses, such as restaurants. “My customers are always asking where they can go eat,” Andritz said. Andritz said some customers are choosing to rent kayaks and stay overnight in the region. The River’s Edge Canoe and Kayak offer canoes and kayaks for sale, and for rental for great trips on the scenic rolling hillsides of Western Pennsylvania. Read the full article. Visit their website for more information.

Bright Morning Bed & Breakfast expansion in West Newton

Bright Morning Bed & Breakfast is situated along the GAP in West Newton and has expanded to an adjacent house, an indication of the growing need for lodging by travelers along the trail that connects Pittsburgh with Washington, D.C.

“I think if we added on eight more times, it wouldn’t be enough,” said Mary Lou Rendulic, who along with her husband, Robert J. Rendulic, own the two beautifully remodeled late Victorian homes. Visit their website.

Driscoll & Sons Café serves on-the-go meals near Sutersville

Ray and Cynthia Driscoll started planning for their recently opened Driscoll and Sons Café after their ice cream business, The Yough Twister, saw a 20 percent increase in sales after a portion of the nearby Great Allegheny Passage was completed in 1995. Cynthia Driscoll said feedback from the community has been positive and the family café is drawing from all demographics. “We’re pulling from all different communities,” she said. “We’re seeing people we’ve never seen at the ice cream store.” Visit their website.

The Tandem Connection opens on the Montour Trail in Cecil Township

The Tandem Connection offers bike rentals, sales, storage and repairs as well as snacks and drinks for riders.

“People seem excited that we are here,” David Poe said. “They agree this section of the trail always needed something like this.” The new business is seeing both local and long-distance riders. “Riding from Pittsburgh to Washington is on the ‘bucket list’ for a lot of people.”

Visit their website.

Borrower Stories Our Trail Towns

Previous Story Grand Opening of West Newton’s Simeral Square
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