Neighbor Spotlight: Hampton man finds new life focus with group promoting, preserving North Park

Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would like to nominate someone as a Neighbor Spotlight, visit thehamptonjournal.com, select the “Post Story” button in the upper right corner, click the “New Article” button and complete the form to publish your nomination. Questions? Email Neighborhood News Network editor Katie Green at kgreen@triblive.com.

Even before Steve Johnstonbaugh began learning more about about the outdoors as a Boy Scout, the Hampton man was enthralled by nature.

So when he retired from his career as an industrial designer, it felt only natural for him to get involved in an organization working to to enhance the natural beauty on North Park.

“When I was very young, one of my father’s coworkers had a tree nursery in Plum with a greenhouse,” said Johnstonbaugh, 68. “I was fascinated by the whole thing, I thought it was the greatest. And when I got into Scouting, camp was the highlight of my summer.”

Over the years Johnstonbaugh’s appreciation and knowledge of the environment grew as a volunteer with the nonprofit groups Tree Pittsburgh and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

So when he retired in 2019, he decided to devote his free time and the experience he gained by becoming a member of the North Park Community of Friends.

“Parks can be economic engines for communities,” Johnstonbaugh said. “I think recreational opportunities are important to many people, so making sure that North Park offers the things people are interested in is important to me.”

He said he was aware of the group but learned that its membership had dwindled dramatically since it was sanctioned in 2002 by Allegheny County Council.

“The group still existed and they held meetings once or twice a year, but there were only a handful of people who were involved,” he said. “I was curious why they hadn’t been doing more, so I decided to join and see what I could do to help.”

Using social media to promote the group helped swell the ranks to about 250 members with an interest in serving as stakeholders for the 3,075-acre park located in portions of Hampton, McCandless and Pine.

“One of our missions is to ask questions and interact with the (county) administration so the voices of the people who live in the community and use the park can be heard,” Johnstonbaugh said. “We tried to create an opportunity for people to provide input on the priorities and future direction of the park.”

The group’s charter also calls for bringing various “special interest” groups together to promote their activities and advocate for their needs, he said.

“There are groups involved in trail running, a group for the annual cherry blossom festival, a bald eagle group and groups for all sorts of other activities,” he said. “But a lot of people may not be aware that they even exist.

“Our mission is to ensure that what they are involved in is as widely advertised as possible with the objective making the community at large aware of all the recreational activities available in North Park,” he said.

Brian Crooks, the community forester for the nonprofit Western Pennsylvania Conservancy said volunteers like Johnstonbaugh are vital to nonprofit organizations like his that can’t afford large paid staffs.

“While our main goal is to increase the tree canopy, it’s important that we do it by engaging the community and volunteers,” he said. “We could hire contractors to plant the trees, but when you do that you loose a connection with the community.”

Crooks said Johnstonbaugh proved to be among the most reliable and skilled volunteers with whom he has worked.

“Most volunteers will come out once or twice for a planting project, but we have a core group of people that includes Steve who are always there to help when we need them, which means a lot to us,” he said.

Johnstonbaugh, who serves as the communication director for North Park Community of Friends, said the loosely knit organization is focused on augmenting what the county already does to promote activities in its parks.

“I think we‘re in a position to do a better job of promoting activities and events than the county is because it has to be concerned with what’s going on in all the parks in its system while we only have to focus on North Park,” he said, noting that the group uses it’s Facebook page to post photos from the park, list upcoming events and activities, and update readers about maintenance issues as well as improvements that are being made.

“We want to make sure that as many people as possible know that whatever recreational activity they’re interested in, we have a place for them at North Park.”