Entomologist on board

Three weeks to go, and we are pleased to announce Dr. Denise Piechnik from Pitt-Bradford will be here as our resident festival entomologist this year to help us learn about insects and fireflies.  We have started to see some intermittent fireflies in the field.  These are not Synchronous, and we have not seen any sign of them in the forest.  We will let you know if and when we do.  We are tracking the   mGDDs*, and the trend seems to be tracking for a peak just in time for the festival.  YEAH!!!

We are getting calls daily for campsites.  If you are geared up for tent camping, you are welcome to stay here on-site for a nominal fee.  We just need to have an idea of how many, so please call to reserve your site.  If you have a large RV, the Kellettville Campground has limited sites available on a first-come basis.  If you don't mind a longer drive, (and Kellettville is full), I highly recommend Chapman Dam State Park campground.  It is located outside of Clarendon off of Route 6, between Warren and Sheffield and is about a 45 minute drive from Kellettville.  You can make reservations for their sites, and there are probably fireflies there too.

We have a lot planned for the day to keep kids of all ages entertained and informed.  When you register you will get a ticket for door prize drawings, and you can watch videos on fireflies this year in the home-theater in the basement of the B&B.  Please, register to be an official Firefly Watcher at the Museum of Science website to support the Firefly Watch Citizens Science Project.  We have plans for art projects for kids, story readings, haiku writing contests, geocaching, face-painting and games.  We have 2014 T-shirts in Youth and Adult sizes and blue flashlights on sale.  We've also added UVGlosticks and UVO Necklaces for sale.  These glow-in-the dark items are completely solar powered and infinitely rechargeable.  We also have a limited number of last year's inaugural T-shirt for all of you collectors.  All proceeds from sales go to the PAFF to offset costs and build for next year's festival.

There will be food and beverages available from 12-8pm this year.  We have the SWAT youth group hot dog sale, 12-4; St. Anthony's Women's Guild strawberry shortcake sale, 12-4; Wild Hogs lemonade/iced tea, 12-8, Heaven's Loving Hands Puppet Ministry soda pop, 12-8; Liberty Tax popcorn sale, 12-8, Deck the Halls Catering dinner special, 4-8, and Everything Turkey Farm turkey jerky, 12-8.

The Music starts at 12-noon with Grace Church from Medina, Ohio; at 1:00, Joyful Noise, at 2:00, Front Porch Folk from Oil City; at 3:00, Dominick DeCecco from Endeavor; at 4:00, Reunion; at 5:00 Stony & Co.; at 6:00, Broke, Stranded & Ugly, from Pittsburgh, and finally at 7:00, The Hills and The Rivers from Pittsburgh.  After the music, we will gather for a Campfire presentation on how to best observe the fireflies, and begin to disperse to the areas for viewing.

Please, come well prepared to walk in the forest at night.  Dress appropriately for the weather and walking on uneven ground.  If you have physical limitations and need help, let us know, and we will try to make some accommodations for you to access the areas as closely as possible. Local residents may want to bring a camp chair to provide seating during the music fest or in the forest for firefly viewing.

Prediction of Fireflies

Lots of people are calling now to see if I can tell them whether or not there will be fireflies during the festival.  Of course I can't guarantee that we will have fireflies, but can only rely on our past experience (which is limited to the last 2 years), and hope that the weather and nature cooperate.  Here are some prognostic indicators on which we are relying to help us determine the peak nights.  We can only pray that it will coincide with the festival on June 28.  The first scientific/technical indicator is the modified Growing Degree Days reported by the Climate Prediction Center and National Weather Service.  The mGDDs are reported weekly starting March 1.  The closest station to Kellettville/ANF is the Bradford station. The scientists with Lynn Faust in 2012 reported that the mGDD which correlated to the synchronous fireflies was 719 mGDD-1200 mGDD with the peak nights between 815-1100 mGDD. As of May 24, we are at 333 mGDD.  I will continue to update this information weekly until the festival.

We are also looking for some of the "soft" signs of the local flora and fauna.  Lynn noted in her 2012 report the following observances: blooming of purple flowering raspberry, crown vetch, milkweed and daylillies; the ripening of wild red raspberry and domestic blueberries, and the mating of Japanese beetles.  We are noting a little bit of a late "spring" in this area with regards to blooming and vegetation, but overall a gradual spring.  You may want to start watching for these signs in your areas.

While we are hopeful that all the "planets will align" and provide the optimal conditions for a peak of the synchronous firefly activity on June 28, we will be here to celebrate regardless, and hope you will join us.

May 31 Planning Meeting

With a little over 6 weeks to go before our 2nd Annual Festival, things are shaping up nicely. We have 7 confirmed music groups including: Front Porch Folk; The Hills and Rivers; Broke, Stranded & Ugly; Stoney and Friends; Joyful Noise and others.  We are thankful to report the St Anthony's Women's Guild will be selling strawberry shortcake during the early afternoon, and the Deck the Halls catering will be serving a beef sandwich in the later afternoon.  We have a new T-shirt design to vote on at the next meeting and will be ordering those the first week of June.  The Sponsor list is growing including: The Allegheny Valley Development, First United Bank of Fryburg, Dan and Jennifer Miller and Ken and Peggy Butler.  With these donations we hope to provide the sanitation facilities, glow sticks and T-shirts.

The latest stretch of warm weather has really helped to green-up the valley, but has concerned me that it may also bring about the emergence of fireflies.  I have noticed several of the dinural (daytime) varieties during the day this week, but have not seen any flashing yet.  I hope that this forecasted cool down for the next week will bring back more seasonal temperatures that will prevent any premature emergence of Fireflies.  We will keep you posted as soon as we start to notice activity.

I have been getting calls daily about accommodations.  We have 2 cabins still available and I am taking reservations for the tent and pop-up sites here on the grounds.  Other members of the PAFF and ADP are planning on camping in the Branch Creek area along the North Country Trail sites and the Kellettville Campgrounds.  

Our next planning meeting is scheduled for Saturday, May 31 at 4:00 PM, here at Black Caddis Ranch. Anyone interested in volunteering is welcome to attend.

April Planning Meeting Friday 4/25

This month's meeting is going to start at 10:00 am.  The early meeting time is to accommodate the busy schedules of our board members.  If you have items or information to share, but can't make the early daytime meeting, let me know, and we could attempt an internet connection.

We have a growing list of music groups and exhibitors.  Still looking for more arts and craft vendors, so contact us if you are interested.

We are now registered as an official Firefly Watch site for the Citizen Science Project sponsored by the Museum of Science in Boston https://legacy.mos.org/fireflywatch/sign_up.  You can register as well and become an official Firefly monitor.  Join the fun and learn more at the festival on how to observe and protect the firefly.

Don't forget we are on Facebook and we want to use the social media to spread the word.  I'm challenging Friends to get our "Likes" to over 500 by the Festival.  We would also like to know if you're planning on attending, so be sure to let us know.

The spring weather is getting me so excited for the upcoming season of fireflies. We only have 2 months to go.

March Planning Meeting

Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 28 at 1:00 pm at the Black Caddis Ranch B & B.

If anyone interested in becoming a Festival Sponsor or Firefly Friend please contact me at pafireflyfestival@gmail.com. We need funds to provide basic services to the visitors.  We want to keep this a FREE family-friendly event, so your support would be much appreciated.

Anyone interested in volunteering, exhibiting, performing or serving food should also contact us, so we can add you to our list.

The blog has a new refreshed look with more information about the fireflies and the festival.  Let us know what you think.

We have our blue flashlights ready for the festival thanks to Bill and John.  We will soon have this year's posters ready to distribute, and working on a brochure to put in the Visitors Center and Marienville Ranger Station.   We will soon have a new T-shirt design and will  keep you posted.

With just 4 months left, we are going to busy getting everything organized.  Did I mention we need sponsors and volunteers?  Let us know if you're interested.