Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – Almost every town, and most neighborhoods has at least one. That one person who has lived in that area their entire life and loves to talk about the history, things to do and “the way it was.”
Visitors to Kinzua Point will be welcomed by not just one, but two such people. And most would be happy to sit for another spell with them.
Affectionately known as the “Dam Guys,” Denny Nosel and Jim Holding certainly bring the fun, along with the information, to Kinzua Point every Friday.
“It’s a great job for a couple of retirees,” Holding said. “We both grew up here in the county. I was a boy scout when they finished building the dam. Everybody likes to brag, and I love to brag about how nice my home county is. And people like to hear it. If people are up here and they don’t know what to do, it’s fun to tell them.”
Kinzua Point is an information center that is staffed three days per week – Friday, Saturday and Sunday – by the Warren County Visitors Bureau, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
“For at least the last seven years, we’ve employed people to work at Kinzua Point,” said Warren County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Dave Sherman. “It started on Saturdays and Sundays and we’ve expanded to Fridays. We have enthusiastic, part-time employees that work at the Information Center. Over the course of those summer months, we have tracked roughly 5,000 people.”
It’s a job Nosel and Holding love every second of.
“We enjoy doing it,” Nosel said. “I believe this is our fifth season.
“It’s amazing, I don’t think people realize how many people come through,” Holding said.
Added Nosel: “Just last week, we had people from Texas, Alaska, Missouri and Michigan, besides Ohio, New York and New Jersey. We get people from all over the country.”
See the Dam Guys’ Full Interview Here:
And they get a lot of questions. They’ll have the answers, along with a story or two to go along with them.
“People want to know about the reservoir,” Nosel said. “People come for the camping, fishing and the bike/hike trail.”
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And what would they tell someone coming here for the first time?
“If you love the outdoors, and want to get away from the city, you came to the right place,” Nosel said. “When we talk about Pennsylvania, we talk about this.”
And Sherman, along with Executive assistant Christine Keller, are happy to have the help.
“Christine and I take our turns up there, too, but we can’t thank the forest service and the Allegheny National Forest enough for allowing us to put our employees in their building. Those people that work up there look forward to it every summer.
“We generally go from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. We want friendly, positive, people from Warren County promoting Warren County. We consider these folks extremely valuable and they never let us down.”
Touring Warren County series: The Wilder Museum
NOTE: This is the second in a summer series of touring Warren County, highlighting some of the unique places to visit in our area. Places you think we should feature? Email us at [email protected]
