Every photo tells a story, and the fifteen winners of the 2024 Susquehanna Greenway Photo Contest tell a collection of stories tied together by the shared landscape of the Susquehanna River.

Each year, the photo contest draws hundreds of images from across the Susquehanna Greenway, which runs along the Susquehanna River throughout Pennsylvania, and overlaps with NEPA. Entries were presented to a select group of judges where they based their decisions on adherence to the category themes, composition, and quality.

One image, which placed 3^rd in the Adventures category of the contest, portrays an especially fascinating story from NEPA’s very own Pittston, PA!

Julie Manwarren, the photographer, was able to capture “A Modern-Day Huck Finn Adventure on the Susquehanna,” which depicts a homemade raft and good friends making memories on the river.

She explains, “My son, Nathaniel Manwarren, was invited by his cousins and friends to go on a rafting trip in 2019. They built the raft themselves. That first year, it was basically a floating platform made of pallets secured to barrels. They floated down the Susquehanna River and had a wonderful time, fishing, swimming, and just having a good time together. They slept on the raft and went as far as the river would take them in three days.”

This truly amazing Susquehanna River adventure has even become a tradition.

“Each year the group gets bigger, and so does the raft. The raft usually takes a day to build, but they plan it out for months. In July 2023, they built their biggest raft to date—a triple-deck raft, still made using pallets and barrels as the main material. They launched from Falls, PA. As always, they made sure that it was legal and had life vests and fishing licenses with them. They have no motor, but kayaks tied to the boat help to steer and guide it along.”

A River Adventure

Julie captured her winning photograph as the boys floated their raft beneath the Water Street Bridge in Pittston last summer (2023). The Fort Jenkins Bridge can be seen in the background.

She shares, “The boys reported that all along the river, people were waving at them, cheering them on. Trucks that drove by honked their horns.”

Perhaps we’ll see them embark on their 2025 adventure next year!

The 2024 Susquehanna Greenway Photo Contest captures amazing stories like this one every year.

This year’s categories included Susquehanna Landmarks, Treasured River Towns, Susquehanna Adventures, and Wildlife. With some of the contest’s most competitive images to date, it was no easy task to select the winners.

“Helping to judge this year’s SGP Photo Contest was a bittersweet experience for me,” explains graphic designer and long-time river enthusiast, Brian Swisher—a judge on this year’s panel. “Our long, deliberative, collaborative selection process resulted in winners that are beautiful, inspiring images of life in the Susquehanna Greenway. I am very pleased with our choices. But there were so many other exceptional entries deserving of recognition. It was really hard to reward only a few, but what a privilege it was to be able to see and enjoy the entire gallery. Congratulations and ‘Thank You’ to all the photographers! Your work honors the Susquehanna.”

The contest winners will have their photos printed, framed, and displayed as part of a traveling gallery that will exhibit across the Susquehanna Greenway throughout the year. Images of all the winners and a schedule for the traveling exhibit are available at susquehannagreenway.org.

Featured image (top) A collage of the 2024 contest winners. Photo courtesy of Susquehanna Greenway Partnership.