Awards

Arts and Culture Award

The Nonprofit Community Assistance Center

The Nonprofit Community Assistance Center (NCAC) awarded its Arts and Culture Award to the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority at the 2008 NCAC Annual Awards dinner in June for LHVA’s Summer Heritage Passport Program. The Summer Heritage Passport Program, a partnership between LHVA and the Lackawanna County Library System, is designed to familiarize children with their community, their heritage, and their environment.

Now it its fourth year, this award-winning educational program has been extraordinarily successful in helping the participants develop a sense of place through interactive, fun activities. The project brings the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority’s Traveling Trunks to eight public libraries in the Lackawanna County Library System (LCLS). The items in each trunk represent aspects of life one hundred years ago in the Lackawanna Valley.

Every week, a different artist performs at each of the eight county libraries, presenting story-telling, dance, poetry, artwork and music to interpret local heritage. Every child who enrolls in the Library’s Summer Reading Club receives a passport for free admission to local cultural and heritage sites. The program offers families an affordable opportunity to enjoy visits to Steamtown National Historic Site, Electric City Trolley Museum, Anthracite Heritage Museum, Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour, Scranton Cultural Center, Everhart Museum, and Lackawanna Historical Society.

For many, it is the first time the family has been able to visit the sites that LHVA Receives Regional Award reflect the industrial and cultural heritage of the region. The Summer Heritage Passport Program, free to members of the LCLS, is open to children from preschool
through grade six.

A nonprofit affiliate agency of the NEPA Alliance in Pittston, PA, NCAC provides assistance to nonprofit organizations and communities in Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill and Wayne Counties. The NCAC Community Awards were created 26 years ago to highlight programs and projects that are making a positive impact on Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Lackawanna River Stewardship Award

Lackawanna River Corridor Association

Natalie G. Solfanelli, John W. Cosgrove, and Robert F. Durkin, current and former Executive Directors of LHVA, were honored jointly by the LRCA in January 2006. The award commends them for their work to advance the development of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail and Greenway System, and for the conservation of the open space, natural and cultural resources throughout the Lackawanna Watershed.

Preserve America

Presidential Award

In May 2004, President and Mrs. Laura Bush presented the first Preserve America Presidential Awards at a White House ceremony. The Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority was honored for heritage tourism projects that exemplify efforts that demonstrate commitment to the protection and interpretation of America’s cultural or natural heritage assets. Preserve America is a White House initiative in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; the U.S. Departments of Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Education; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities; and the President's Council on Environmental Quality.

National Trust/ACHP Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP)

In September of 2004, The National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) presented the National Park Service and the Alliance of National Heritage Areas with its prestigious National Trust/ACHP Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation. The two awardees were among 22 national award winners honored by the National Trust at its week-long 2004 National Preservation Conference in Louisville, KY. One of the three projects featured in this prestigious national award was LHVA’s partnership with Steamtown National Historic Site for the innovative economic and community development project known as “The Heritage Valley Station Stops.”

Heritage Parks Program Awards

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

LHVA won two statewide awards in 2003 through the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Awards Program. Awards were received for the Education & Interpretation category for the “Stories from the Mines” project, and the Economic Impact category for the development of the Electric City Trolley Station and Museum.

Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority:

A State & National Heritage Area

538 Spruce Street, Suite 516, Scranton, PA 18503

Phone (570) 963-6730, Fax (570) 963-6732

www.LHVA.org

Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved.