[color=009900]Great article on the history of the proposed park, and of Barry! BTW, Barry has a SWEET Unimog, check out the link!
http://newsitem.com/news/ohv-park-mastermind-an-off-road-enthusiast-1.916012Below is the article text:[/color]
PAXINOS - It all started when Barry Yorwarth was 13-years-old and living on the family farm in Paxinos. That\'s when he drove his first Jeep. Ever since then, he has had the itch for off-road vehicle recreation.
\"It just snowballed,\" the 53-year-old man said Saturday from his home on Romanoski Road, where he still lives on the same property he grew up on.
\"I learned to drive four-wheel drive on the farm. I had my own course set up,\" he explained.
The 50-acre horse farm was perfect for such vehicles - one jeep led to two, and, of course, that led to three.
Yorwarth now has only 35 acres of land, where he lives with his wife, Sandy, and raised their 27- and 30-year-old sons. He sold 15 acres to the county for the Northumberland County Airport, but that hasn\'t stopped his passion.
He currently has seven full-sized off road vehicles, including a yellow 1979 Unimog.
\"It\'s like the Swiss Army Knife of trucks,\" he said.
The heavy-duty truck - one he affectionately calls \"his baby\" - was used to move train cars in railroad yards and has a 330-ton puling capacity.
\"There\'s a lot more to it than putting the pedal to the metal and hitting it harder,\" he said of off-road recreation. \"You\'re either looking to improve your vehicle or looking to improve your driving style, or both.\"
That\'s what it\'s all about: the outdoors and the mechanics of it all, he said.
\"I have almost as much fun fixing stuff as I do driving. Most people in this kind of recreation or hobby are in the same boat,\" he said.
His passion for off-highway vehicle recreation has not only dominated his free time, but has become somewhat of a second job to him as well. Yorwarth works in a federal position he would rather not disclose.
Yorwarth is one of 16 people on the county\'s Steering Committee for the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Park being developed for Northumberland County. The committee consists of local politicians, business owners, land owners and other various entities in the county.
Kathy Jeremiah of the county planning department, said Yorwarth, \"lives and breathes\" the park. Although she is the park project coordinator, Yorwarth\'s involvement in the project extends more than a decade.
Thirteen years ago, he and a co-worker approached the county about developing the park on 2,500 acres of available county land. Even though they had support from local entities and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), he said the commissioners at the time shot him down.
\"The wouldn\'t even hear what we had to say,\" said Yorwarth.
Although he is unsure of the reason, he said there are a lot of people who hear about the project and immediately shut it out, especially if it\'s described as an ATV park rather than an OHV park that would encompass all off-road vehicles, in addition to horseback and hiking.
The park would provide responsible recreational opportunities for motorized recreational vehicles, such as 4x4s, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcross and snowmobiles, and for non-motorized purposes, such as hiking, biking, horseback riding, hunting and camping.
It wasn\'t until the current commissioners - Kurt Masser, Vinny Clausi and Frank Sawicki - arrived on scene that the county got behind the project, he said.
\"It\'s a good project and they have personal knowledge of the hobby and sport. They see the potential this has for the whole area,\" said Yorwarth.
The process and planning officially started three years ago, and the Northumberland County Planning Department had their first public input meeting last week, which more than 300 people attended and voiced their opinions. The master plan is being funded with grants from DCNR and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The plan is being prepared by Pashek Associates, a landscape architecture and community planning firm located in Pittsburgh, in conjunction with Pennoni Associates, Mechanicsburg.
Yorwarth is confident the park will immediately become a destination point for off-road enthusiasts throughout the East Coast, and eventually attract users from all over the nation.
\"This is going to be big. It\'s huge,\" he said.
Once the park is in place, Yorwarth anticipates ancillary businesses will pop up, including lodging, restaurants and businesses associated with off-highway vehicles - and they\'ve already been approached by promoters and business owners, he added.
\"There\'s no reason for them to come without the park. If we put a multimillion dollar world-class facility here, these people will be beating down our doors to move here,\" he said.
Although there are already off-road users taking advantage of the county land, they are doing so illegally. This project will not only make this in accordance with the law, but will be for everyone.
\"It\'s going to be responsible, family-style recreation for everyone,\" he said.
