April 2021 eNewsletter

Spring Leaf Pick-Up

The Township Road & Maintenance Department will be picking up leaves from residents on Township roads beginning on Friday, April 19th and concluding on Monday, May 17th.

Guidelines 

Residents may only place leaf piles on township roads only. Leaf piles should not include apples, sticks, or walnuts. For a list and map of Township roads, click here to download the Township Road Map.

There are no fees associated with the leaf pick-up.

To be placed on one of the daily routes, please call the Roads & Maintenance Department at (570) 223-5082 opt. 8. Priority will be assigned based on the calls received. Dates are subject to change in accordance with weather conditions.

River Road Closure for Safe Amphibian Breeding

The National Park Service has declared that on select evenings throughout April, River Road in Delaware Water Gap will be closed for the safe breeding of amphibians. The press release with further information can be found HERE. Local updates as to when these events will occur can be found on the Facebook page of The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

Smithfield Garden Plots

The Community Garden is a free and excellent opportunity to exercise your “green thumb” while meeting members of the Smithfield community. Plots are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Find the application form HERE.

Smithfield’s Parks and Recreation »

1% for Nature Grant

One of our top priorities is bettering our local parks. Working with 1% for Nature, we look forward to adding educational signs about the watershed at Minisink Park. This addition will broaden the visitors’ experience with our local outdoors!

Learn about Minisink »

ESU’s Free Tick Testing

Tick season is back! After every outdoor experience, we recommend checking yourself, children, and pets for ticks. If you encounter a tick, there is an easy, 3-step process where in 3 days you’ll have it identified.

Get your tick tested »

COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Information

As of April 5th, we are now experiencing Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout. In the coming weeks, upcoming phases will be extending eligibility of the vaccine. Information about when you are eligible, where you can get the vaccine, and more is available at the link below:

The Federal and State filing deadlines have been extended until May 17th, 2021.

Berkheimer Tax Innovations stated that they are awaiting guidance from the Governor’s office on the extension of the Local filing date. Once they are made aware of that decision, further information will be posted on the Berkheimer website. Therefore, late fees will not be charged until after May 17, 2021. Updates from the IRS can be found HERE.

Two Lips? No, Tulips!

by Robert Lovenheim

Driving my daughter to school brought up the subject of spring flowers. “In a week you’ll see the forsythia turning yellow and the daffodils starting to bloom,” I told her. “Too bad there are no tulips.”
“Two lips?” she answered.
“I’ve got two lips” – smack smack- “No, I mean tulips, the flower. When I was little they were everywhere, in all colors.” I started to sing, “come tip toe through the tulips with me.” I got a frown from the back seat. Adults are not supposed to sing.
There are no tulips in the Poconos. The deer ate them. I dropped her at school, determined to find tulips. The supermarket came up empty, so I followed a flower delivery truck to a log cabin half hidden in a grove of evergreens. I parked and walked in the front door. Sitting behind a broad desk was an 8-point buck in a swivel chair. I had never seen a deer sit in a chair. He turned toward me, smoking a corn cob pipe. “What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to know if I could buy some tulips for my daughter, she’s never seen tulips.”
“Of course she hasn’t, we’ve controlled the tulip market here in the Poconos for at least five hundred years. Had to outbid the squirrels. Let me show you something.”
I followed him into an immense back room where lines of does and younger bucks were sorting tulips into bunches, wrapping them in cellophane, and applying price tag stickers. “We buy directly from Aalsmeer in Holland, the largest tulip auction in the word.” He pointed at a TV monitor. “There’s today’s auction.” Sure enough, in the back row of the bidders, I could see two well-dressed does holding up their auction number as they bid on lots.
I picked my daughter up at school with a small bouquet of plastic tulips I found at Odd-lot. “Here you are my love, I’ll kiss you in the garden.”
She made a face, “Daddy, these are fake.”
I smiled at her in the rearview mirror, “Use your imagination—like I just did.”
Friends, it has been over a year now that the pandemic has overturned our lives. As spring unfurls and the flowers begin to bloom, take some time this week to bring a smile to someone’s face or share a fantastic story with a loved one. Perhaps slow down and smell the roses – or the tulips, if you can find some.