Annual Dryerson Festival celebrates Ryerson’s past, future
Garrett Neese
If all goes as planned, the “Dryerson” label may no longer be so apt.
At this year’s Dryerson Festival, people came out to celebrate Ryerson Station State Park, remember Duke Lake and look forward to improvements announced in the near future.
This was the 19th year for the festival, which the Center for Coalfield Justice launched after the loss of Duke Lake. The man-made lake was drained in 2005 because of structural concerns about the dam at North Fork, which had been damaged by nearby longwall mining.
The park is a “gem,” and a place where people can come together to enjoy nature, said CCJ Executive Director Sarah Martik.
“This is our right to have these outdoor spaces that are beautiful, that have clean air and pure water,” she said. “So we just want to celebrate that every year. And also this is a pretty rural part of southwestern Pennsylvania, so we want to bring some fun family engagement to this area too.”
The festival finds a balance between fun and education, Martik said. There were fun activities for kids, such as face-painting and tie-dye, in addition to snow cones, live music and, for the first time, a food truck.
People could also learn more about the park and its improvements. The Friends of the Ryerson Station State Park group was at the festival for the first time, signing up new members and talking about what’s coming.
Their booth also featured a map showing some long-awaited upgrades, for which park staff were also on hand to discuss.
Work is scheduled to begin in fall 2026 on a stream restoration project along the bed of the former Duke Lake, which will return the upper branch of Wheeling Creek to a wetlands area.
A map displayed at Saturday’s festival shows a planned kayak trail, along with multiple boat launches.
Accompanying that will be a 3-acre pond near the pool — not officially named yet, but already dubbed “Lil’ Duke” by multiple people on Saturday.
As the nearby pool was being constructed, soil issues forced the park to revise its original plans for the stream restoration, said State Park Pittsburgh Division Manager Kevin Blair.
“We were able to do some evaluations of that soil structure to make sure that we get things right the first time moving forward with this next phase of the project,” he said. “And those have been completed now, and we’re working on moving into design submission for permitting and then bidding out for construction.”
The drawing only shows the first phase, Blair said. Future phases will include a multi-purpose trail.
Scott Hackenburg sees a lot of potential in the park. The chairperson of the Friends of Ryerson group, he worked for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for 35 years.
The pond will provide much-needed fishing access, especially for children, he said.
He’s also happy about the plans for a revised entryway to the park closer to the park office, “so you’re not going to drive by a condenser to come into this beautiful park.”
The Friends of Ryerson group has projects of its own planned.
They’re looking at campground improvements, from a children’s playground to a Wi-Fi hotspot. Also in the works are umbrellas for the picnic tables at the pool, to provide some long-sought shade.
Martik is encouraged by the proposed improvements, as well as recent additions, such as the pool added in 2022, which she called a “game-changer.”
“I want to see even more investment from the state,” she said. “I want them to know that Ryerson is worth the investment that other state parks get — in the dollar amount that they’re willing to spend, in the social media that they’re willing to put out. This is a beautiful place for people to be.”
By a sign saying “Tell Your Ryerson Story,” Lindsey Aronson was recording interviews with people who have been coming to the park for decades. The American University student, who is pursuing a master of fine arts degree in film, is creating a short documentary on the park and the restoration efforts for her thesis.
She’d learned about the park from her fiance Alex Downing, a member of CCJ, and was compelled by the call to action she’d seen.
After scouting the location and meeting people, she landed on a focus on the balance between remembering the past and moving forward.
Some people who are excited about the park moving forward might not ever have known of Duke Lake, or why its loss can still be hurtful to people, Aronson said.
“At the same time, you have to come to terms with what the park can be and the hope for the future, and not only dwell on what there used to be,” she said.
Aronson plans to have the film done in August.
Ryerson will host the first screening. After that, Aronson hopes to take it to local and environmental film festivals, then release it widely and even license it to people for free home screenings.
Underneath the pavilion Saturday, with Aronson recording, Shelly Richardson read poems written from the perspective of Duke Lake — both 20 years ago and now. She added her own remembrances and thoughts on the park’s future.
She’d still rather see the return of the full lake. Barring that, she said, something needs to happen at last.
Before the stream delays due to geological issues, there had been a plan to restore the dam, which was later dropped when DCNR withdrew the permit due to ground movement.
If nothing happens by fall 2026, she said, people need to mobilize and call officials to get the project moving. Twenty years with no visible progress and no new shoreline memories is “insane and unacceptable,” she said.
“The pool is nice, the splash pad is nice, but it is not reaching the full potential that this park has,” she said. ” …People are still here trying, but the higher-ups need to get moving, because we have just waited for far too long.”