User:Gerry D/archive

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Ravensburg State Park

Thanks Dinch, Ravensburg State Park looks good, and is especially impressive for your very first page. I will add a locator map and infobox to it tonight and clean it up a bit over the next couple days (it is a busy time for me right now, so it may take until the weekend). I will also leave more detailed feedback here if you want, but wanted to say congrats now on a nice first page! Thanks and keep up the good work, Ruhrfisch 01:27, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

  • Always glad to collaborate and welcome to WikiProject PA too. I will see if I can get a photo or two next time I am in the area of Ravensburg - might take a while. I used www.topozone.com for the latitude and longitude and www.stateparks.com for the nearby parks. I still want to sit down and read through the article carefully and polish it a bit at some point. This is still a new article, so you could nominate if for Did You Know and see it on the Main Page. Just need an interesting fact - maybe "...that Ravensburg State Park in Pennsylvania, built by the CCC in the 1930s, is named for the ravens that still roost there?" Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:41, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
    • Thanks for the offer. Ask if you have any questions about photos and licenses on Wikipedia or Commons. Have fun at Penn State and if you can't get to Ravensburg SP, let me know and I will put it on my list of places to visit next time I am in that area. Good luck with Did You Know too. Ruhrfisch 01:24, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
      • No problem - hope you had a nice weekend. I will try to get a picture when I am in the area next. If you are looking for suggestions, I was planning to eventually get to the state parks along White Deer Creek and just north of it (R.B. Winter, McCall Dam, etc.). These would turn the red links in Ravensburg blue, but feel free to work on whatever. Take care, Ruhrfisch 01:55, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Codorus State Park looks good - I will add the infobox and map tomorrow. I am not sure about a picture - the other state park pictures I have added are ones I took and I am not sure when I will be there (I will add it to my list ;-) ). BTW, I finally did the last copyedit / cleanup on Ravensburg and will make a small article on Rauchtown Run / Antes Creek at some point (I really like creeks). One minor thing, headers usually do not include the name of the article (so "Recreation in Codorus State Park" would be just "Recreation"). Thanks and take care, Ruhrfisch 03:24, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Shikellamy State Park

  • Shikellamy State Park looks decent - I will add an infobox and clean it up some as I get the chance. By the way, the map is always the same with the PA parks infobox, the dot is what I change. I will also add it to my photo list ;-) Keep up the good work and take care, Ruhrfisch 02:48, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
    • Hey, I just went to add a map to the article and saw you beat me to it - looks good and thanks! Ruhrfisch 03:24, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
      • I just went through and did some cleanup on Shikellamy: copyedits, plus added latitude and longitude (of the overlook), townships, and two map refs (for each county). I see Ravensburg State Park is on the Main Page as a DYK - CONGRATS!! Ruhrfisch 16:02, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

You've been busy ;-) on Topozone, to get the latitude and longitude in degrees, minutes and seconds (Wikipedia's preferred format), pick "D/M/S" in the Coordinate Format pull down menu on the left side (second from bottom). Here is the link for Milton State Park with D/M/S selected: [1] The coordinates appear above the map. I have also been to Milton State Park and will add it to my growing list of places to photograph. I can add the coordinates to the articles - I also double check on the PennDot maps as very rarely Topozone gets it wrong (Upper Pine Bottom State Park is in the wrong place there). I have not been to Trough Creek State Park but it is another solid article. Thanks and take care, Ruhrfisch 01:46, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

  • I put latitude and longitude in Milton State Park and did some minor copyedits. The Manual of Style and Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers) recommend not linking years unless you have month and day and the year. If you want, I have a DYK user box on my User Page - just put this on yours if you want: {{User Did You Know2|1}} . I will also put lat and long in Trough Creek at some point. Take care and keep up the good work, Ruhrfisch 01:54, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
    • Hi Dinch, I just put three images onto Ravensburg State Park. I was there today but the sun kept going in and out of the clouds and I didn't get the world's best pictures (overcast) but they are OK (I think). I will look at Swatara SP next, but I am sure you did a good job with it. As far as the Wikiproject PA goes, I don't think anyone necessarily checks everything in the project. There are people on WP who look at all new articles (a fair number are not notable and get deleted). I am always glad to look at your articles if you want me to - usually another pair of eyes sees something different. I still add square kilometers to your new SP articles (you can type "127 acres in square km" in Google and it gives you the conversion answer) and townships if needed, but that is just me. I think Wikiprojects are more places to come up with answers to questions and to try and set standards for articles. Keep up the good work, Ruhrfisch 01:37, 22 October 2006 (UTC)


Swatara etc.

Hi Dinch, I did some copyedits and added townships and map refs to Swatara State Park just now. The link for all of the PennDOT county maps is here, if you are interested. I am glad to look articles over and hope you will return the favor when I get back to writing new articles (I am busy now and should be doing "real" work). It is always nice to have someone to collaborate with on Wikipedia. Did you know you can make your own Sandbox User:Dincher/Sandbox and work on articles there, then move them (cut and paste or the "move" tab) when you/they are ready? Other editors will generally leave work in your Sandbox or other subpages of your user page alone. I am glad you like the Ravensburg pix. It was not raining, but was fairly cold. The sun would peek out through the clouds, but every time it did I was nowhere near where I wanted pictures (or I was looking up at the rock formation and the sky behind it was too bright for a decent picture). Then I would hurry back to the dam and the sun went behind the clouds again. I couldn't stay too long, so I took what I could while there. I will look at Sizerville as I can, probably tomorrow. Take care and keep up the good work, Ruhrfisch 02:23, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

  • You can make several subpages, if you want (more than just a sandbox). I have three. It's not a new article, but I just rewrote the lead section of Larrys Creek, trying to get it on the Main Page as the article of the day. I am trying to get it more interesting and compelling, but at this point it is, if anything, too familiar and I hope I am not just making it more verbose. If you want, how does the current three paragraph lead compare to the old two paragraph lead, here? Take care, Ruhrfisch 20:32, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
    • Thanks for looking at it. The problem is that while I am sure it was polluted in the 19th century, I don't have a source that says so and verifiability and No original research are especially important and looked at in a featured article. Unless I have a source that says that, I can't really say it (although I tried to write it so that was the conclusion the reader would make, so I am glad you got it). I think the founding date and size of Camp Kiwanis would be useful for Larrys Creek. Other data could go into a stub about the camp itself. Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:07, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
      • I have refs that the land was clear cut and had a disastrous fire, so I am looking for a good general ref that tanneries polluted, as Larrys Creek had a lot of tanneries (most modern tanneries use chromium, but they used tannin from hemlock bark then, so I need a ref on tannin pollution). Once I get that I thin I can write something that would say that, be verifiable and not be original research. Thanks! Ruhrfisch 15:06, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
  • Hi Dinch, I found a ref on pollution in the Middle ages I think I can use here - it refers to problems both with mining (iron and coal on Larrys Creek) and tanning. It is not perfect, but I will add a note about all of those and their pollution being little changed even in the 1800s. Sorry I missed your post on my talk page on Hills Creek State Park until tonight for some reason. I have driven by Camp Kiwanis and read up on it on the web, but don't know much more about it. If you want some advice on uploading photos, I would be glad to help (I put most of mine on Wikimedia Commons as they can be used by any Wiki project from there). Just so you know, I will be traveling the next several days and am not sure if I will have internet access. I should be back on WP by Monday. I will look at your newest park articles next. Take care and keep cranking them out, Ruhrfisch 03:13, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
    • I just found it via Google (I think I was searching on "tanning" "leather", and "pollution" maybe "tannin" too). One worry is that it is medieval, but I think I could use it if I can't find anything better. Most things I am finding online are from leather companies that oddly enough do not mention much on pollution. I keep forgetting to tell you, but I just play with the red dot and preview it over and over until I get it where I want it on the PA map. I see Choess has already copyedited Archbald Pothole State Park, but I will add a map ref and township. There are only 121 PA state parks, what will you do next ;-) Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:46, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
      • I want to do an article on Babb Creek which was dead for over 100 years from acid mine drainage but has been brought back to life. I found an EPA ref that will work, perhaps in combination with the medieval ref here. I think Archbald Pothole would be a possible Did you know, maybe "...that the large pothole in Archbald Pothole State Park in Pennsylvania formed about 13,000 years in the Wisconsin glaciation, but was not discovered until 1884?". Take care, Ruhrfisch 11:54, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
        • Do submit it to DYK - it has to be within 5 days of creation of the article. There are things all the time in a series of new articles (cars, Eurovision songs, European zoo animals, people named Toulmin lately). The worst they can do is not pick it, but I think they will. Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:56, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
  • My long term plan is to get Pine Creek up to Featured Article (along with all of the major creeks in Lycoming County). The panorama on the Pine Creek Gorge page is from me - there is an article on the rail trail, but it is at Pine Creek Trail. Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:03, 28 October 2006 (UTC)
    • Started to work on Black Moshannon State Park but did not get through it all. Will be traveling tomorrow so will not get to it till later. Ruhrfisch 03:59, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
      • I will look at the new articles later this week - have a backlog from travel and will likely only revert vandalism and answer talk tomorrow (but Wikipedia always gets me to do more than I plan, so who knows). Thanks as always for your hard work on all these and take care, Ruhrfisch 02:57, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

More State Parks

I copyedited Black Moshannon State Park and Lyman Run State Park tonight, and added map links to all the ones I have not looked at yet (I think - have to double check Trough Creek SP. Thanks for mentioning me on your User page - to get 'Ruhrfisch' to not be a red link, try this: [[User:Ruhrfisch|Ruhrfisch]]. Also if you want to line up your user boxes, you can try this: . {{Boxboxtop|DYK & Wikiprojects}} {{User Did You Know2|1}} {{User Wikiproject Pennsylvania}} {{Boxboxbottom}}. Take care, and I will try to get to the other articles soon, Ruhrfisch 04:18, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

  • Congratualtions on the DYK! I had thought that Lyman Run State Park was a possible DYK candidate - perhaps DYK... "that Lyman Run State Park in Pennsylvania was the site of lumbering operations, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, and a World War II Prisoner of War camp before bcoming a state park in 1951?". I have not yet read Ole Bull State Park that closely, but I will see if any DYK topics spring to mind for it. I have a lot of things to do for work tonight, so I may copyedit a bit as a break, but will not do too much else as far as I know. Take care, thanks for your kind words about me on your user page, and congrats again! Ruhrfisch 01:35, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
    • There is an article on Ole Bull and a picture there that could be put into the State Park article. There are certainly things in the article that could be in DYK, just have to pick the right one. ;-) Hope your work went better. I am still at it (got some sleep in between). Take care, Ruhrfisch 11:53, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
      • Sounds good - I would not repeat 'Pennsylvania' and not sure about two uses of 'Norwegian'. How about Did you know ...that Ole Bull State Park in Pennsylvania is named for the renowned Norwegian violinist who tried to establish a Norwegian colony in the wilderness there in the 1850s? Hope you can outlast them today - at least there are only 20 ;-) Take care, Ruhrfisch 13:06, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
        • Three in one night! Maybe it wasn't just the second graders who were fired up on Hallowe'en sugar! ;-) I added the PA (Pennsylvania) and PA (Protected Areas) wikiprojects to each of your park pages that didn't have them today and will add the new articles to my list to look at for copyedits. There are several "state parks" that are now just picnic areas. Usually in State Forest land - I wonder if they are placeholders for future larger parks? Upper Pine Bottom State Park is one - when I was there it was three picnic tables and a small parking area (and a lovely creek). I am pretty sure that DYK can't have more than one article about the same topic at a time and can't have more than one from the same area (IIRC), but I do not think there are any restrictions on back to back similar articles. Take care and keep plugging away, Ruhrfisch 01:48, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it is on PA 44 west of Waterville. Sand Bridge SP is another picnic area in Union County. The Pine Creek Gorge panorama I took is from the West Rim Trail (an article on my to do list), not the park, but it is from an overlook fairly close to the park, so I think it would be OK to use it. Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:18, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Mont Alto Rail Road created as requested. That one was easier. Choess 03:29, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
Mont Alto State Park looks good - I had heard of it with the "Mont Alto State Forest Park" name when I was working on all the PA State Forest articles. I am also working my way through the SP articles and adding the Topozone refs more consistently. Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:32, 4 November 2006 (UTC)



Congrats!

Congrats on TWO DYKs - that's great! A barnstar is a barn decoration and is sometimes used on buildings to reinforce them (essentially the nut on a long bolt). I will take a look at Beltzville State Park next (and sorry about PSU losing), take care, Ruhrfisch 02:03, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Watch out for WP:3RR

Hey Dinch, do not remove the cleanup tag on Lyman Run State Park again - it would be the third time in 24 hours you reverted a change and you would be in trouble with the three revert rule and could be blocked from editing for a day or so. I will leave a message on the article's talk page and with Circeus and we can work something out without anyone getting into hot water over this. More later, Ruhrfisch 19:04, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Actually do not change any more of Circeus' edits there until 24 hours since your last change of one of his edits has passed. Ruhrfisch 19:36, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

  • When an article is on the front page (DYK) it attracts a lot of attention. I am sure Circeus wants what almost all editors want, to make Wikipedia as good an encyclopedia as possible. Remember this is an enyclopedia that anyone can edit (and will). We are to assume good faith by policy, and there are warnings against both 'owning' an article and calling other users names (at least repeatedly). Always try to talk things out on talk pages.
  • More soon on uploading pictures - the quickest way would be to upload it here for now (on Wikipedia) and if you want I could upload it to Commons. If you want I can also walk you through Commons. Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:03, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
  • P.S. Bucktail State Park is the 75 mile long park on the West Branch and Sinnemahoning (Stony Salt Lick) Creek, right? Ruhrfisch 02:05, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
    • Oh duh, you said expanding the article - sorry not to check Bucktail State Park first. Sorry, pressed save before I meant to. Would you rather upload to Wikipedia or try Commons? Let me know. Ruhrfisch 02:18, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
      • Don't feel too bad - I almost got into 3RR trouble over people putting in Census 2005 population estimates vs. the actual 2000 census (which is just silly on my part). I think the map is good, but the fuzziness is because it is not the same size as the original. If you don't mind, I can try to fix it. Ruhrfisch 02:43, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
        • If you have it unfuzzy and want me to upload it, then you can email it to me at my user name at gmail dot com (I don't check that account much, so leave me a note on my talk page if you do). Have a good night, Ruhrfisch 02:54, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
          • I went ahead and fixed it and did some copyedits on the article itself - I only found mention of Cameron and Clinton Counties. Also fixed the elk picture so it is just an elk, not the box. Ask if you have more questions about images. Take care, Ruhrfisch 12:37, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Glad it looks OK. I will tweak Lyman Run State Park and see if I can get a compromise (i.e. makes no one happy ;-) ). Have a good day, Ruhrfisch 15:46, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks - I am going to put inline citations into the article next. I should do that with all articles, but it is more work. Have not heard from Circeus yet. If this format is OK, he might want all the state park articles changed over to something similar. Take care, Ruhrfisch 16:56, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
Took a quick look at the three articles, a colonel who is not a colonel sounds like a possible DYK to me. Once again I have work to do so will copyedit as I can. Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:19, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
ToC is Table of Contents - the complaint was that the contents were too long (especially for a short article) with all the headers in it. Different people like to do different things on Wikipedia. I have made maps for counties I have never been in. Sometimes people see a series of articles and think if I can change one I will hopefully change them all (and there are 121 PA state parks in PA). Have a good night, Ruhrfisch 03:10, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

More Parks

I fixed the reference in Hyner Run State Park. The word "title" was spelled "tile", which messed it all up (as the URL and TITLE are the only two required fields and it had no title, just a tile). Do you know about Template:Cite web? You can copy the stuff from there and avoid typos like this. Although I should be doing more work, I took a break and added the past pollution stuff to Larrys Creek and did some edits on your new park articles (mostly adding wikiprojects to the Talk pages). If you get a chance and want to look at the change in Larrys Creek and make sure it sounds OK, I would appreciate it. Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:21, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

  • Thanks for catching the error in Larrys Creek - I fixed the same error in Fair Play Men. Take care, Ruhrfisch 12:41, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
    • I did some minor edits to Hyner View State Park and would also love to get a picture of the view there (I will add it to my list but it is not a park or area I have been to yet). Take care, Ruhrfisch 22:45, 9 November 2006 (UTC)
      • Did a quick fix on the bat image in Canoe Creek State Park - I added |right to move it right and |frame to put a frame around and make the caption appear. I also made it slightly smaller |240px makes it 240 pixels wide. Had hope to go to Hyner view this weekend but it is raining there on the radar. Have a good one, Ruhrfisch 18:45, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
        • Congrats on another DYK! Just saw it on the Main Page Ruhrfisch 16:14, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
          • Darwinek is right - since it is a subcategory of Pennsylvania, then we should not have both cats on the state park pages. I missed this until now (I think I started doing it with state forests, so I will change those too). My bad, sorry, but congrats all the same! Ruhrfisch 18:27, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Hi Dinch, I copyedited Reeds Gap State Park a little and added the wikiprojects to the talk page. It looks good - I assume Poe Paddy SP is next ;-) ? Have fun with the Mrs. - I have work to do tonight, but will take breaks on Wikipedia. As for Colonel Denning's source of rank, I did not see him listed on the Kentucky Colonel page - did I miss it or misunderstand? Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:25, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

  • Thanks for clearing that up - I see Maunsel White on DYK now is also a colonel (probably honorary). It is funny how things like that get started - do you know the Balls Mills Naval Academy in Lycoming County? Sorry your wife is not feeling well - hope she's better soon. Maybe repeated exposure makes you more immune. Take care, Ruhrfisch 04:31, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
    • Saw the two Poe state Parks and added wikiprojects to their talk pages. Will try to copyedit them sometme soon. I found a funny thing on Google with Ball Mills Naval Academy here [2]. Keep fighting the monster germs and give the Mrs. some of your extra antibodies. Ruhrfisch 01:19, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
      • Hi Dinch, Classmates.com has already pulled the Naval Academy page - the link is just the Google archive. It is still a hoot (as a proud graduate of Balls Mills Naval Academy, I announce our 10 year class reunion....). As for Kings Gap Environmental Education and Training Center vs. Kings Gap State Park, I usually follow the State's name for parks, so I would probably leave it as the long name (which is what the template at the bottom links to). This would be an OK thing to ask on the WikiProject Pennsylvania talk page. It is good to have both names linked to the article in any case. Do you want me to ask it? Have a good one, Ruhrfisch 04:24, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

PA state parks

Hello. You welcome. I am always glad to help. Do you plan to create remaining missing articles on PA state parks? - Darwinek 09:06, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

NC Weather

Have seen the awful weather in NC on the news - trust you and yours are weathering the storm OK? I voted with you on Kings Gap State Park, by the way. Take care, and stay dry, Ruhrfisch 21:19, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

  • Glad to hear you are well. Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:41, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
    • Glad you and yours are safe. There was a fair amount of rain and some flash flooding in northcentral and especially northeastern PA too. I started copyedits on Salt Springs State Park late last night and will try to finish them today. Looks good so far, but I was not sure that it is the only state park in PA not run by DCNR: Susquehanna State Park (Pennsylvania) is operated by the Williamsport-Lycoming County Chamber of Commerce. I was reading the official park web page but didn't see that there (but didn't finish reading all of it either). Thanks for being the first on my new talk page. Take care, Ruhrfisch 15:43, 18 November 2006 (UTC)
      • I was copyediting and got your message so I made the change. Feel free to change it. The damaging floods were mostly around the Scranton area from the news. Ruhrfisch 15:54, 18 November 2006 (UTC)


Native Americans

  • Unfortunately, most of what I know about Native Americans in the United States is related to Ohio or the Susquehanna River and the West Branch or what I looked up in books. I tried looking up Fort Ryerson in Donehoo's book (Indian Names in PA) and in Wallace's book (Indian Paths in PA) but neither has it in the index (and I checked Greene County for Paths). My guess is that it has something to do with the aftermath of the second Treaty of Fort Stanwix, as the Iroquois 'sold' rights to a lot of land they had no control over (I think as far away as Tennessee). I will see if I can dig anything up on it. That is way cool about your wife. Does she speak any Iroquoian languages? Ruhrfisch 04:14, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
    • Travel safely. I will look at the four new parks - you have been busy today! I can understand about your wife not knowing Tuscarora - I have German ancestry, but did not learn it until school. I got a new book today - the Audubon Guide to the Susquehanna River. Many of the state parks are in it and it has some extra info, especially on animals and birds. Happy Thanksgiving, Ruhrfisch 03:03, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

White Deer Hole Creek

  • If you are interested, I have an article at Wikipedia:Peer review/White Deer Hole Creek/archive1. Will look at the new parks next. I like the picture for Lyman Run. Ruhrfisch 21:38, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
    • Thanks so much - I made them a darker shade of grey (here Image:White Deer Hole Creek Watershed Map.PNG). Is this better (answer on the Peer Review page too please)? I am trying to follow the Wikiproject Maps guidelines, so I stayed with grey instead of orange. You can search the JVBrown Library catalog online [3] and they have two interesting things for the hamlet of Alvira. Thanks - I had looked under Elimsport, Allenwood, Uniontown, and of course, White Deer Hole Creek, but not Elvira (and I still have two other things to look up when I can get to JVB - environmental impact of the prison and article on game lands). WDHC is 42 kB already, so I can't add too much more to it, but a little more plus an article on Alvira or the Ordnance would be possible. Ruhrfisch 14:26, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
      • I added a picture to the article to break up the text at the end. What do you think of the map colors now and of the valley picture?Ruhrfisch 19:51, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
        • I still have Milton State Park on my picture to do list - probably wait for Spring. I have kayaked on the river there. On my monitor the new WDHC map is clearer - is it better? I could make the lines black, but that is supposed to be only for labels. Glad the valley picture adds something. Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:39, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
          • Penney's slow day is Wikipedia's gain! I put Wikiprojects on the talk pages of the four articles tonight. Not sure how many more parks need to be expanded / completed. I had not thought about a picture from the river - I do not own a kayak and with my luck I would drop the camera in the water or capsize, but I will see what I can do when the leaves are back on the trees ;-) . I had thought I could probably get a sense of the island with a picture from up on the bridge across the park, but I like the river view idea too. Take care, Ruhrfisch 01:46, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
  • My spouse would also kill me if I dropped our camera in the water. I was wondering if Frances Slocum could be a DYK ... that Frances Slocum State Park in Pennsylvania is named for a woman taken captive by the Lenape there at age 5, who lived with Native Americans until her death at age 74, marrying twice and refusing to return to her origfinal family when her brothers found her at age 64? Not quite right, but maybe you can tweak it. Take care, Ruhrfisch 13:22, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
    • PA 554 is a fun road to drive - sorry to hear about your accident but glad you are recovered now - should I put it in the article? ;-) I could mention that there are bad accidents on the road - someone went off the hairpin this summer and didn't get found for a day or two. I have made several highway articles to get rid of red links. When WDHC goes to WP:FAC I want it to have no red links in it (just need to do Sheshequin Path and will probably make an Alvira / Ordnance article or one for each). There was a 1912 tuberculosis hospital (Devitt camp) that became an old folks home near Allenwood just south of WDHC in the 1950s and closed around 1966 (it is on the USGS topo map). I do not think it is noteable enough to put in the WDHC article - what do you think? Thanks for the wikiprojects banners on Bald Eagle Mountain. I put one on Pine Grove Furnace State Park and will look at it. If you want more to add to state parks, the Audubon Susquehanna River Trail book is online here (of course I find this out after I buy it). Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:15, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your support and praise at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/White Deer Hole Creek. I believe I have now addressed all the issues raised. I removed 51 duplicate or non-essential wikilinks from the article and fixed a couple of disambiguation links that had snuck in there along the way. I also fixed the extra bracket in the second footnote, but left my beloved very long title (for now at least). Please let me know if you have any more concerns or suggestions for improvement. Yours, Ruhrfisch 03:17, 7 December 2006 (UTC)


Laurel Hill State Park

Hi Dinch, I am obsessively-compulsively fine tuning White Deer Hole Creek to get it ready for WP:FAC. I added another map and more refs. I found enough on Alvira and the Ordnance to make small articles on them eventually. I still have to make a Sheshequin Path article for the last red link. I will look at Laurel Hill State Park. Have fun with your projects this weekend. I have a lot of other things to do too, Ruhrfisch 02:50, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

  • I will add a bit more on Alvira and the Ordnance to WDHC. I plan to add a topo / relief map to Larrys Creek soon. Thanks as always for your feedback. Ruhrfisch 03:11, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
    • I expanded the article on the Sheshequin Path if you want to take a look at it and see if it sounds OK. I nominated it for DYK too. Have also made the Larrys Creek topo map but need to put labels on it (and decide which ones to put on). Also made it to the SGL 252 and saw seven of the bunkers left over from the Ordnance and got some pix for that eventual article. Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:42, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
      • Thanks for catching that - it is how Wallace's book spells it, but I changed it to Shikellamy (a red link either way) in the article. Take care, Ruhrfisch 04:26, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
        • Thanks Dinch, I will add the topo map to Larrys Creek tonight and then, if there is time, submit White Deer Hole Creek to WP:FAC. Shikellamy is one of those people I keep reading about in context with other topics - seems like someone to write an article about eventually. I will look at Linn Run State Park too. Take care
          • I added Wikiproject banners or assessed them if already there to several of your newer state park articles. Keeping an eye on a FAC is a lot of work. Take care, Ruhrfisch 04:44, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
            • Thanks - I was quite glad Sheshequin Path made DYK, but was hoping they would use the picture I took too. Still the Main Page is the Main Page! Thanks again, Ruhrfisch 16:54, 8 December 2006 (UTC)


Warriors Path

Hi Dinch, I will take a look at the new state park articles when I can, and, if needed, add a disambiguation on the Tennessee park. With Larrys Creek, the FA work almost all came at the start of the process, so when it had 10 supports at the start, I thought it was smooth sailing. Oh well. I think it will make FA at some point, I just hope it will be on this try (that I can get enough done before the decision is reached). I also think all this will make it a better article, and the goal is always to make Wikipedia as good as possible. Once this is done, I will go back and polish Larrys Creek based on what I have learned here. If I ever get a third article to FA, I will have a much longer checklist to run through before I submit it. Thanks again for your support in all this, Ruhrfisch 03:01, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks so much!

Hi Dinch, White Deer Hole Creek has two images in it you might not have seen the last time you read it - one is a bunker photo and the other is a small star in the top right corner as it was featured tonight! Thanks for everything. It will take me a while, but my next goal is Lycoming Creek. Have a good night, Ruhrfisch 02:55, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

  • Thanks for the congrats. In theory any featured article can be on the Main Page once (I do not think they ever repeat). There is a page to request this here and Larrys Creek has been there since Sept. 23. If you read the parent page of that one, you see that there is a small list of featured articles that will never be on the front page, I assume this is one of them. I want to wait a little bit before putting White Deer Hole Creek there as I may have finally found a possible source for the amount of water discharged by the creek. I also want to go through Larrys Creek and clean it up with some of the things I learned with WDHC. Right now I just want to sleep. Take care, Ruhrfisch 04:24, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Good News!


<font=3> Thanks again for your contributions, support, and comments - White Deer Hole Creek made featured article!
Take care, Ruhrfisch 16:53, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Warrior(')s Path State Parks

Hi Dinch, I made a stub for the Tennessee Warrior's Path State Park and put a dab on it pointing back to the Pennsylvania Warriors Path State Park. Ruhrfisch 15:34, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

  • IUCN numbers are kind of a best guess. There is a listing of what the different IUCN categories are and mean at IUCN. When I started making Steamtown and the PA State Forest articles, User:Mongo pointed me in the right direction here and here. I think I reread the criteria and guessed for state parks - probably looked for other state park articles too. I imagine some of the PA state parks that are more protected would qualify for different IUCN numbers, but have been putting the same category on all of them for now. At this point I think it is better to have an infobox with a possibly wrong IUCN than no infobox. Hope this helps. Take care, Ruhrfisch 16:57, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
    • Yeah, my joke is IUCN means "I'm Uncertain of Category Number". Big national parks are listed, but little state parks are hard to figure out. I have some pictures of Worlds End State Park from this summer when the article is expanded. I am cleaning up Larrys Creek based on the White Deer Hole Creek FAC comments. Have a good night, hasta la vista Ruhrfisch 00:21, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
      • First off the Worlds End State Park article looks good - will do some copyedits and put in a picture or two of the Loyalsock when I get a chance. I checked and you are in luck - it was less than 1000 characters of text (not counting infobox or photo caption, but OK with them too I think) before your expansion, so it qualifies for DYK. For wording, how about Did you know.... that Worlds End State Park in Pennsylvania was officially known as "Whirls End State Park" for seven years and is still sometimes mistakenly called "Whirls Glen State Park"? Say in your nomination that you expanded it from less than 1000 characters - I think the original editor gets credit too.

        Did you know (pun intended) I took the Loyalsock Trail blazes picture you used (and started the LT article)? I was also thrilled to see that there are no red links left for PA State Parks - congrats! Ruhrfisch 03:18, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

        • I put a picture of the Loyalsock in Worlds End SP into the article and added it to the DYK - take it out if you don't like it or think it inappropriate in either place. I also went through Larrys Creek tonight and cut out 80 plus duplicate wikilinks - maybe it will be on the front page someday. Insert clever closing phrase here, Ruhrfisch 04:28, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
          • I copyedited Worlds End SP - changed the What's the Name? section title to just name as I figured someone else would if (when) it makes DYK. Just saw you caught two of my typos - thanks. Have a good day with the wee ones, Ruhrfisch 13:16, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
  • I will take a look at Pisgah and Susquehannock when I get a chance - have a good and hopefully productive weekend. Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:05, 15 December 2006 (UTC)


Your work on the PA State Parks

Keep the PA flag flying on DYK! Well done Dincher, you earnt yourself the top pictured slot! Blnguyen (bananabucket) 08:16, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

  • Congrats Dincher! Thanks very much for this DYK, as it led to my first picture on the Main Page to illustrate it! Ruhrfisch 13:09, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
    • Thanks - enjoy your time off - I have a lot of real life projects to keep me busy the next several weeks, but I'll be working here too. Take care, Ruhrfisch 14:17, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
      • Glad to hear your projects are going well. If you want I will ask MONGO again about the IUCN for PA state parks. I reread the Talk pages again and think you are right: "with III status being more likely to be nature oriented and those with V status being more history oriented". My first protected area article was Steamtown, which is a V as it is more historical. I also did the PA state forests, which are VI (since they harvest lumber). When I went back to parks I looked at Steamtown and used V, but I think they are III. I will change them as I can. Take care, Ruhrfisch 02:07, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
        • Buchanan's birthplace is probably a V (historical). I have a bunch of real life projects (getting ready for a certain holiday, work, and personal life busy too). Here I am thinking a lot about Lycoming Creek (need to start expanding it) and also about a project to make more detailed start articles for a bunch of creeks using data from a book I have, a spreadsheet, and mail merge, then pasting them in individually (it sounds goofy, but I think it will work). Will take some work to get it started and time (which I am short of at the moment). I also got a book on the history of White Deer township which will let me expand the White Deer Creek article a lot, eventually. Take care, Ruhrfisch 05:10, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Bobs and Mosquito Creeks

Hi Dinch, I did not know Bobs Creek but the Mosquito Creek (Pennsylvania) is in Clearfield County and empties into the West Branch where it is the border between Clearfield and Centre Counties. I linked Karthaus in the article (it is a township - I am also oddly knowledgable about townships after making all the PA county article maps from Census map ;-) ). Thanks for the link to the article on Target in Union County. I think the land in question was part of the Ordnance, then was going to be part of the burner project (which got banned), and then became the development park - it is between 15 and the river and there is a Keystone Opportunity Zone park in Brady Twp in Lycoming County that borders this land, if it is where I think it is. I should update the Gregg Twp article with this and other info. Have a good one, Ruhrfisch 18:18, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

  • Hi Dinch, sounds good - I'll look at them. How about: 1) (slight tweak) DYK...that actress Jean Stapleton, famous for her role as Edith Bunker on All in the Family performed regularly in summer stock theater at Pennsylvania's Caledonia State Park? OR 2) (putting the park earlier in the DYK) DYK...that the summer stock theater at Caledonia State Park in Pennsylvania regularly featured well-known actress Jean Stapleton, famous for her role as Edith Bunker on the 70's TV classic All in the Family? As for my projects, today I've been helping a bit on Paulins Kill, a New Jersey river, which is up for FAC. Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:32, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
    • Good luck with the DYK. I noticed they tweak the wording frequently anyway, but they seem to updating less often, so it can't hurt to have it worded well to begin with. Glad you like the PK article - not sure if it will pass FAC this go round - I got involved in Peer Review with it. Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:48, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
      • I am not done looking at Caledonia yet - tried my new Peer Review script "toy" on it as a test. Just so you know, there are editors who are very strict about "fair use" and they may remove the Jean Stapleton picture from the article if it makes DYK (I am not a copyright expert, but the fewer fair use claims you make, apparently the better). If you are working state parks A-Z, look at Allegheny Islands (mostly mine), especially the history. It was a real mess and took a lot of work (including emails to DCNR) to clean up. DCNR even updated the park webpage after my email which I thought was cool.

        I know there is a WikiProject on PA state highways - not sure of the name. I have sources for highway articles (have made several) but they are not my favorites to write. I owe about 10 highway stubs or starts in Lancaster County already. I also thought about starting articles on the PA Game Commission and the PA Fish Dept (name slips my mind) as they are red links in most of the parks articles. I also have to write a bunch of Christmas letters in real life and some other stuff for work, plus travel over the holidays, so I will be doing WIkipedia instead ;-) Take care, Ruhrfisch 05:42, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

        • Wikipedia:WikiProject Pennsylvania State Highways If they won't do it soon, I can make a start article. Merry Christmas! Ruhrfisch 18:05, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
          • Hi Dinch, Sorry to be unclear on Allegheny Islands. What I meant was if you look at the History of the article here, you can see the old version was pretty confused - had the park in the wrong place, other errors. I emailed the park office and they sent me info on it, then they updated the web page with the info I asked for. I had started to look at each PA state park article in alphabetic order and that was as far as I got ;-) . I am thankful for friends like you - I will also not be around here as much between now and New Year, so once again Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Ruhrfisch 18:30, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
  • Congrats on the DYK (and thanks for the mention on your user page)! Ruhrfisch 18:27, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
    • I like the picture and T-shirt and looked briefly at the park articles. Cowans Gap State Park has to be good for a DYK somehow. Maybe Did you know that Cowans Gap State Park in Pennsylvania was the site of an important road in the French and Indian War, a pioneer farm, a charcoal operation, and a CCC Camp? Have to hurry as it was expanded on the 24th. I am traveling and not around much. Happy New Year! Ruhrfisch 04:50, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Merry Christmas

Hi! I just want to say Merry Christmas to you! Have a nice holiday time. - Darwinek 10:50, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Cowans Gap

I moved the DYK nom to the 24th as the noms are supposed to be on the day the article was made or expanded. I did some quick copyedits - probably put more errors in than I cleaned up. Take care and good luck, Ruhrfisch 13:52, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

  • Happy Birthday! Two top spots in DYK in a row! Ruhrfisch 15:01, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

Steamtown

Hi Dinch, I looked into it and Steamtown runs excursions to Tobyhanna in Monroe County, Pennsylvania (more info here). The rail line is not owned by Steamtown, but by the Lackawanna County Railroad Authority and operated by the Delaware-Lackawanna RR Co. Inc. (see map here). The railroad line is actually the dividing line between Gouldsboro State Park and Tobyhanna State Park in Monroe County (see map here). The rail line is also on the eastern border of Gouldsboro Lake and just east of the SP in Wayne County (but the map is not as clear - marked DL). Note that all of these are PDF files and so are big files to download. Hope this helps and Happy New Year too! Ruhrfisch 02:42, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

  • Fixed them both, although Tobyhanna is very quirky as currently written. Ruhrfisch 03:52, 31 December 2006 (UTC)
    • Thanks for all your work on these - have a good 2007! Ruhrfisch 13:38, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

This rail line was formerly owned by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, which was not owned by Gould — his principal railroad was the Erie. The two merged during the 20th Century to form the Erie-Lackawanna, but that was some time after Gould's death. Happy New Year. Choess 18:20, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Delaware Canal State Park

Hi Dinch, I think it has DYK potential. How about Did you know... that Delaware Canal State Park in Pennsylvania contains the 60 mile (100 km) Delaware Canal, the only major towpath canal in the United States from the nineteenth century remaining continuously intact? I will try and do some copyedits on it tomorrow - am pretty busy in real life lately. Hope you have a great New Year, Ruhrfisch 04:34, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Featured List

Yes there are Wikipedia:Featured lists. I don't think the parks have to be complete since there is at least a stub for each. Would need to decide what went into the list for each - size (acres), location (counties), what else? Ruhrfisch 13:00, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

  • I would use the sortable table, would include a reference for each park (the official website), and think it might be useful to briefly list recreation at each park (one word per activity - hiking, swimming, hunting, camping, fishing, etc.). As for the map, we could have one like the National Parks (just red dots) or maybe one like the towns in Canada. I worry if we tried to label each dot it would be too hard to read - maybe we could have a number by each dot, and a key on the image page for the numbers? I have not gotten to Delaware Canal yet. Ruhrfisch 19:36, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
    • I love open source code - looked at the National Parks map and figured out how to do it. I made the dots smaller so Little Pine and Upper Pine Bottom don't overlap. Anyway, here it is for now (still working on it lots of parks to add). What do you think? The template is here: {{State parks of Pennsylvania map}}. Thanks for helping me learn a cool new trick, Ruhrfisch 03:23, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
      • I just put a dot on the border of Cameron and Clinton counties for Bucktail State Park, as it is about the middle of the park and shows it is both counties. I think there are only three other long ones - Delaware Canal, Lehigh Gorge, and the Laurel park in SW PA. For those four, it may eventually be possible to use the red lines you drew (in place of the dot) with everything else edited away, but I am going for dots now (as I am not sure how to make the background transpaprent). I put an infobox and map in Yellow Creek State Park so I would be consistent on the dot in both maps, but it still needs a lot of work. I have done 22 or so dots, take care Ruhrfisch 14:12, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
        • Thanks - I got bogged down as I had to add an infobox to Erie Bluffs State Park but it is not on Topozone or the PennDot Erie County map so I can't get the latitude and longitude. I have also had to adjust some locator dots as I add more to the big map, and then I go and make sure the dot in the park article has the same coordinates as the one in big map. It is still fairly brainless work and I will work on the rest of the park dots. I will look at Greenwood and Hillman. Have a good one, Ruhrfisch 04:58, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

For a single dot on a map, eyeballing it is fine and what I do. When there are (eventually) 117 dots on one template map, some of them need to be moved, and I then make sure that the park map single dot has the same coordinates as the template dot. I keep trying to get the pattern of dots like they are on the "Find A State Park" maps, and places that have a lot of parks close together are hard to get right. So the four Laurels plus Linn and Kooser were a pain!

The single map dots are 7 pixels wide, but I made the template dots smaller (only 5 pixels wide) so they can be closer together. I still just eyeball it for new dots, but for Kinzua Bridge State Park (new today) I made sure it was good compared to other dots (so on the template map, it is slightly north of Chapman and slightly east of Elk). Also some dots that are fine if they are very close on separate maps (which is how they really are), need to be moved a bit further apart on the template map so they are two separate dots (i.e. Colton Point and Leonard Harrson, or the two Hyners). I will keep working on them - I add the map and infobox if needed (at least four more need these in the row I am working on - ugh). Take care, Ruhrfisch 01:43, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

  • Thanks - I am over halfway done with the template map. If all it is is pasting in the park name and dot coordinates from the article it goes pretty fast (thank you again for all your work on the park articles). What slows me down is having to adjust dot locations and making infoboxes for articles that don't have them. Congrats to your wife and good luck on her app. If you get the Steelers' job you'd have less time for the Wiki. I think you should hold out for an even better coaching job - JoePa can't go forever (or can he?). :o) Take care, Ruhrfisch 03:47, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
    • Thanks for adding maps and infoboxes to those parks. I have been busy with real life stuff, but should get time to add a few parks to the template map today / this weekend. Maybe JoePa will coach both PSU and the Steelers? Ruhrfisch 17:50, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
      • I think I finally have Potter County dots all about as good as they can be - UGH! I even skipped way ahead and put Prouty in to be sure. I did not know that about JoePa - always learn something new on Wikipedia. Have a good night - I am off to sleep. Ruhrfisch 05:28, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for your kind words! It is bittersweet realizing that my days as a Blue Bander (and, even more so, a member of any marching band) are over. If you don't mind, I can go ahead and add you to the participant list for the WikiProject. Also, you can signify your participation on your user page by using the userbox {{User WikiProject CFB}}. -- PSUMark2006 talk | contribs 17:18, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Pymatuning State Park, more Featured List

First off thanks for adding the infoboxes to several parks and the latitude and longitude to the one I couldn't find it for. As for Pymatuning State Park, I would make that a disambiguation page, and split the article into Pymatuning State Park (Pennsylvania) (now a redirect, move the existing article here and make it on just the PA park) and a new Pymatuning State Park (Ohio). I would also put a dab at the top of each PA and OH article.

As for the PA State Parks list, I was thinking of having the wikilinked Name with a reference first, then the County or Counties, then the Area in acres and square kilometers, then Stream(s) and/or Lake(s) the park is on or contains, and finally Comments. What do you think? Ruhrfisch 01:39, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

  • I went ahead and am making the Pymatuning changes. Lots of links to change. Ruhrfisch 02:01, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
    • I am done - moved Pymatuning, left a redirect and made a stub for the Ohio park. If you ever want to do Ohio parks, they are more systematic web pages in terms of info given and lots of red links! I also added 6 more parks to the template map - starting to look like it has measles with all the red dots. Ruhrfisch 03:57, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
      • I made a sortable table and put the first three parks in at User:Ruhrfisch/Frog. Sorry to be unclear on the reference - I meant a link to the official website. I have had luck emailing DCNR and asking them for info like the area - I suppose we could also ask year of establishment and add that to the table if we are going to ask them a lot of questions anyway. What do you think of the table and adding year (before we do much else)? Ruhrfisch 16:58, 8 January 2007 (UTC)
        • Congrats again on the DYK. Do you know why groundhog hunting is always prohibited in PA state parks?

          I added a date column and the dates for the first three parks (have to add it to Bald Eagle next). I was waitng to finish the template map (at least) before pasting Frog in place of the current article. Or should we wait until as much info as is currently known from the official websites is in the table before making the move? I was going to wait until as much info was known before contacting DCNR - that way it could be just a few emails to the district offices, each with several acre and date questions. What do you think? Ruhrfisch 00:39, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Finally done

I believe I have now added all 120 PA state parks to the {{State parks of Pennsylvania map}}. I will check it tomorrow against the maps on the DCNR pages, but I think it is done. I will work on the list entries next.

The last park I added to the map was Warriors Path, which I thought was ironic, because it got me started on making the state locator map in the first place (there used to be the copyvio DCNR locator map on the page and I WP:PUIed it, then I felt bad and eventually made the PA map from a census map). PUI on maps makes me feel guilty and gets me into more work / trouble - I once PUIed a PA County school district map and wound up eventually making the 63 PA county school district maps. ;-)

I added the infobox and disambiguated Shawnee SP, so I saw the thing about Shawn too, but did not try to fix it either. You could always leave a note on the talk page asking for a reference and saying it will be removed unless one is provided - if you want you could also look through the article's history and see who added it and leave a message for them if it is a reguistered user. That's a lot of work though. Anyway have a good one, Ruhrfisch 04:42, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

  • Thanks - I just helped Paulins Kill in Peer Review and did a rewrite of a section in FAC to answer an objection (I spread some listy stuff around). If anything I was like a midwife, but ExplorerCDT was the one in labor ;-) . I worked a bit on Allgheny Islands today - how do you want to decide if a park is listed in "Nearby State Parks"? I looked at the dots map and tried to put in parks in the same and neigboring counties as Allegheny Islands (so I added some, but am not sure now I got them all). I also need to "proofread" the map (compare it to the DCNR Park locator map sections). As for Shawn the Lake Monster (I bet he gets to eat woodchucks/groundhogs), I would either add a notice to the talk page OR move te Shawn story to the Talk Page and say if someone can provide a reference for it, it will be moved back into the article. What do you think? I am suddenly very tired and am going to call it a night - take care, Ruhrfisch 04:05, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
    • I like the 30 mile radius for nearby state parks. It is a good distance (and as it is about 50 km, it makes sense metrically too) and means if someone were at park A, they could get to "nearby" park B in under an hour. I will see if I have an AAA or PennDOT state map handy and start measuring. Since the parks have latitude and longitude, could also use this website [4] for distance calcs. Moving Shawn seems fine - maybe we can ask DCNR about him ;-) ? Once I get my mail merge creek project going I can try to add info to Slippery Rock Creek (as it is certainly in the book I will use and has an interesting history). I am focusing on West Branch Susquehanna Creeks for now though.
      • I did Allegheny Islands State Park nearby parks as a test (used the latitude and longitude distance calculator [5]). I looked at the template map and put in all parks that seemed close then ran them all, and if they were too far, I left it in as a comment <!-- Comment -->. I still have to go in and reciprocate (so we only check Allegheny Islands distance to other parks once). Thanks, Ruhrfisch 16:39, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
        • I put Allegheny Islands in comments on the parks it was too far away for. We should probably put a "done" or "all checked" comment in "Nearby state parks" when they are all checked (as now if you went to Moraine SP and looked, it lists Allgheny Islands in a comment at over 30 miles, but that is the only one that has been checked). I am not sure that what I just wrote is clear. My other worry is what to do with parks with no neighbors within 30 miles. Just list the nearest one or two? Also what about parks in other states? Ruhrfisch 04:39, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
          • I agree all parks within 30 miles seems good. If you have a piece of clear plastic (like overhead transparency plastic) you could make a circle of 60 miles in diameter with a dot at the center and lay that over the map. We should probably come up with a standard text for parks with no neighbors within 30 miles "XYZ State Park has no neighboring parks within 30 miles (50 km). The nearest parks are: ... Also what about listing National Forests (Allegheny) and National Parks / Historic sites?

            If you gave your cat a groundhog to play with, maybe it would leave you alone. Ruhrfisch 16:51, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I checked Ryerson Station State Park and it has no PA State Parks within 30 miles, although the W Va park is. See what you think of what I wrote there. Ruhrfisch 17:22, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

  • I think Nearby State Parks are not a necessity for the list (although it is something that needs to be done for each article). I can do the distance checks if you'd rather. I agree the list is looking good and seems to meet the featured list criteria, although we may want to add some more images (have to look at other lists). Will also need to expand the lead paragraphs, but I have some ideas on that. I thought we could submit it to Peer Review when it is done except for checking missing dates and acres with DCNR. Both processes will take some time (PR and DCNR), but I think they can be done simultaneously. If you want a park to expand, Lehigh Gorge is a micro stub now. I have a lot on my plate but will try to look at French Creek soon. Take care, Ruhrfisch 04:58, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks (still laughing)

Thanks so much for the Groundhog award - I am honored and still laughing. I just redid my milestones and awards on my user page, now I will have to add this (later though).

I did the reciprocal nearby parks for Allegheny Islands (Hillman, Keysone and Point). I think I will also put the close but not quite 30 miles ones in too (as comments).

Thanks again, you made my day! Ruhrfisch 16:47, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Distances

Thanks for checking the distances - I was busy much of the day but added several more parks and tried to tighten up the remarks already there. Do you think Lehigh Gorge State Park could be DYK material? Did you know ...that although Lehigh Gorge State Park in Pennsylvania is now known for whitewater rafting on the Lehigh River, in the 19th century it was the site of a canal built to bypass those same rapids? Maybe... not sure if this works - I am a bit out of it tonight. Take care, Ruhrfisch 04:19, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

  • I did some copyedits / cleanup on Lehigh Gorge. I am fine with rounding to the nearest mile and a tad over 30 is fine to keep in the nearby sp list. Thanks for doing that. I have a lot of other things to do tonight, so for now that is all I will do today (plus some vandalism cleanup). Take care, Ruhrfisch 01:48, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
    • Hi Dinch, Thanks for the tip and your distance work. I will see about cleanup on the Keystone State Park (PA vs OK) issue, probably tomorrow. Move PA to Keystone State Park (Pennsylvania), make the original page a disambiguation, try to make a stub for the OK park too, at Keystone State Park (Oklahoma). I will add a park or two to the frog and call it a night.

      If you want other things to look at (saw this on your user page), there are the 20 PA State Forest articles, many of which are still fairly stubby (I got them all the same style, and started many, but have not expanded all of them). Could also add protected areas to each county (listing state parks, state forest lands, maybe state game lands and federal stuff too - see Lancaster County, Pennsylvania). I also thought about making a navbox and articles for all the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission musueums / sites (but if we do that, Preistley House is mine! Dibs!). Take care, Ruhrfisch 04:45, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

      • Went to move the Keystone parks articles and saw you already did it - thanks! I fixed {{Protected Areas of Pennsylvania}} for Keystone. Two tips - confluence of a river is confluence (geography) (just confluence is a dab). Also, do you know the "pipe trick"? If you type something with a parenthesis or comma as a wikilink, add a pipe "|" at the end before the close brackets "]" and then nothing after the pipe but the brackets, then the software fills in whatever is before the parenthesis or comma in "Show Preview" or after you "Save Page". So typing [[confluence (geography)|]] is the same as [[confluence (geography)|confluence]] and [[South Williamsport, Pennsylvania|]] (which I picked at random ;-) ) gives [[South Williamsport, Pennsylvania|South Williamsport]]. Saves me some time and I like to share the trick (hope it helps). I may make a stub for the OK park later. Take care, Ruhrfisch 18:39, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
        • Glad you like the pipe trick - I only learned it in the last few months, but it beats retyping or copying and pasting. Thanks for the history link for the parks - it should be very useful. I had also thought to summarize them (x named State Park, y named Conservation Area (3 I think), total area, etc.) in the intro. I see the link also has longer articles which give info on the parks that are now defunct (as they became federal areas), so Valley Forge and what is now Delaware Water Gap are there. This will be good as they are in the shorter defunct park list and that needs need info too. Do you want me to put an infobox on Maurice K. Goddard? I can try to - not sure what you mean by "tagging" it ortherwise, sorry. Take care and let me know how the circle on plastic idea works, if worse comes to worse, Nittany can use it as a mouse shield on its food dish. Ruhrfisch 02:49, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
          • Thanks for the clarification - I will also see if I can add some categories. My dog is in a picture I have on Wikipedia somewhere - pretty sure you have seen it (it was accidental - the dog wandered into the frame as I took the picture and it was th).e best picture I had so I used it). Take care, Ruhrfisch 04:18, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

PA 233

Hey, sorry for the delay; just got back from holiday break. The article is up and running. Pennsylvania Route 233. Geoboe84 14:03, 15 January 2007 (UTC)Geoboe84

Goddard

Hi Dinch, I smell a DYK with Maurice K. Goddard (which I cleaned up a fair amount - let me know what you think). Did you know... that Maurice K. Goddard was the driving force behind the creation of 45 Pennsylvania state parks during his 24 years as a cabinet officer for six governors of Pennsylvania? Take care and keep up the good work, Ruhrfisch 19:49, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

  • Thanks for listing me as a coauthor on Maurice K. Giddard on DYK. Thanks for the heads up on the map template too - I checked and Locust Lake and Tuscarora had the exact same locator dot coordinates, so only Tuscarora showed up. I then also checked them all against the list of state parks and they are all in the map. I still need to check the map against the PA DCNR locator maps (Find a park). Take care with the snow - I lived a while in the south and no one there knew how to drive in it or had forgotten if they were a Yankee transplant. There is ice on the West Branch. Ruhrfisch 03:21, 18 January 2007 (UTC)
    • Congrats on the Lehigh Gorge DYK! I will add making an Ohio locator map to my list of things to do (same style and width as the PA locator map). If you aren't careful, you'll become a one man WikiProject State Parks! Glad the snow was not bad. We got to watch space launches on TV when I was in grade school, but nothing else (revealing my age here). I am fairly busy in real life, but will work as able on the list. Take care, Ruhrfisch 20:41, 19 January 2007 (UTC)
      • I am glad the plastic sheet trick works. You have been busy - I am trying to get our home computer running better (very s-l-o-w now) but hope to add some parks to the Frog in a little bit. There is a Wikipedia:WikiProject Lakes, I will leave a message about Pymatuning with User:Daniel Case who is a member and helped some with White Deer Hole Creek. There are some Ohio state parks I have been to and love that are red links now, so maybe I can work on them in my copious free time ;-). I will look at Point and Pymatuning - also think at some point we should come up with a checklist for the PA state parks and work through it (maybe keep a list in a sandbox). Check duplicate or similar names elsewhere, add the PA county map link or links, townships, all have right banners on their talk pages, whatever else. I know you are doing a lot of work with nearby parks and alphabetizing etc. and appreciate it very much. This would just be a check on everything. Keep up the good work, Ruhrfisch 02:58, 21 January 2007 (UTC)
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