Reservoir section of Westmoreland Heritage Trail dedicated to longtime MAWC employee
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Before the Westmoreland Heritage Trail even ran through the Beaver Run Reservoir property, Joe Mance was already enjoying the benefits it would one day offer and promoting its future creation.
“We walked it numerous times,” said his wife Lynn Mance, a Delmont resident. “He had to ‘show off the water.’”
Joe Mance worked more than three decades with the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County, all of them on the same piece of property surrounding the reservoir in Bell Township. On Friday, the section of the trail that runs through that property, roughly a mile or so, was dedicated in his memory.
Mance died in 2012. He was 62, and his career followed in the footsteps of his father Paul, who worked as a supervisor there. Mance had been the authority’s production supervisor since 2006.
“He not only cared about the water we produced, but about the men and women who worked with him,” said MAWC Assistant Manager Jack Ashton. “Joe appreciated this land, this environment so much, and the trail dedication is a wonderful tribute to that.”
Two permanent placards with information about Mance, the Heritage Trail, the reservoir and the watershed that feeds it were on display at a short ceremony held Friday at the George Sweeney Water Treatment Plant, on a hill overlooking the reservoir.
They were installed afterward at a kiosk built by trail volunteer Stan Rudge.
Joe’s son, Michael Mance of Delmont, is another trail volunteer, and approached trail officials this year with the dedication idea.
“He surprised me with it,” Lynn Mance said. “He called up one day and said, ‘Mom, you’re never going to believe it, but that section of the trail is going to be Dad’s section.’”
To honor Mance’s desire to respect and protect the natural area surrounding the reservoir, attendees also heard from the Penn State Extension’s Justin Mansberger, who runs the master watershed steward program training volunteers to perform water quality testing, identify and report invasive species and do educational outreach in the region.
“Right now, we’re working with 22 volunteers,” Mansberger said. “We usually do our training sessions in the spring and volunteers help with plantings, testing and general education at places like county fairs and local schools.”
Lynn Mance said her husband would be happy to see efforts to preserve and share the beauty of the area around the reservoir.
“He always loved the water, and I was really touched by it,” she said.