Throughout 2025, I’ve often referred to Friends of the Wissahickon’s (FOW) 101st year as “100 and one-derful,” as the natural wonder of Wissahickon Valley Park continues to be an inspiration for acts of service, conservation improvements, and celebration.

In March, we said goodbye to our Executive Director Ruffian Tittmann, who left FOW to pursue a new opportunity, after a long tenure in which she grew the organization’s capacity and led it through its 100th anniversary and biggest capital investment, the $3.5 million Valley Green Run Restoration and Lida Way Pedestrian Bridge.

After a competitive search for a successor, I am pleased to announce that as of Jan. 12, 2026, Sara Stevenson will be FOW’s new executive director. She joins us from the Awbury Arboretum, where she held the same role.

With more than 15 years of leadership in public gardens, conservation, and nonprofit management, Sara brings a track record of strategic growth, fundraising, partnership development, and community engagement that builds on FOW’s strengths and aligns with its vision for the next century of stewardship.

During this transition period, I have been serving as interim executive director, drawing on my 15 years with FOW to maintain the organization’s financial and organizational strength and advancing the ambitious goals laid out in our 2023-2026 Strategic Plan.

Thanks to our talented staff, supportive board, and dedicated community of stewards, here are some highlights of our successes in 2025:

FOW’s mighty corps of 2,000-plus volunteers, the lifeblood of our organization, put in more than 16,000 volunteer hours removing 27,880 pounds of litter; improving 42 miles of trails; planting 550 native trees and shrubs; clearing the equivalent of five football fields of invasive plants; and leading 50 public hikes on all things Wissahickon.

More than 500 runners joined the 16th Wissahickon Trail Classic, supporting projects that make Wissahickon Valley Park cleaner, greener, and more accessible.

We celebrated a decade of the All Trails Challenge with 177 participants, the most since the ATC’s inaugural year, and $22,500 raised -- the highest total since 2021.

Our four informative Valley Talks in the spring and fall, from the artist behind Fingerspan Bridge to the diverse trees of the Wissahickon, drew packed houses at the Valley Green Inn.

We introduced an updated Wissahickon Valley Park Map, to help plan for and enhance your park experience. The first major redesign in nearly 10 years, it has been reorganized with park entrances, updated trails, and newly defined points of interest.

We continue to invest in Philadelphia’s youth by fostering the next generation of nature lovers and park stewards through our Little Friends of the Wissahickon and Junior Stewards programs, while responding to intensifying weather events and erosion by improving trail sustainability and replacing invasive plants with native ones.

In the year ahead, we look forward to continuing work on critical investments, including:

Germantown Neighborhood Connection Project (aka Harvey Street Project)

In our ongoing trail and beautification enhancements to this area, our work moves to improving pedestrian access for neighbors by connecting pieces of parkland through construction of new sidewalks and a crosswalk. Construction is expected in 2026.

With partial funding secured, FOW will build the Wissahickon’s first “All Persons Trail” on parkland across Walnut Lane from the existing Germantown Trails. This investment will increase trail access for people of varying abilities and, through continued community engagement and input, upgrade and add park amenities and further restore the Wissahickon’s native habitat.

Wissahickon Valley Park Streambank Resiliency & Flood Study

FOW was awarded a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Coastal Zone Management Program to fund a study that will identify locations along Forbidden Drive and adjacent access trails most vulnerable to flooding, erosion, or susceptible to bank collapse. The results of the study will include restoration recommendations to mitigate flooding and sediment discharge. FOW expects this study will begin in early 2026, with consultant selection underway.

Learn more about last year’s initiatives and our upcoming plans and projects for 2026, including the Pachella Gully Restoration Project, Phase II of our Andorra Stormwater Management Project, and more at FOW’s annual Public Projects Meeting on Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. at The Waldorf School of Philadelphia. Visit fow.org/event/publicprojectsmeeting2026/ to register.

Thanks to everyone who contributes to FOW’s work to support a healthy, vibrant, and welcoming Wissahickon Valley Park.