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August 2024

Upcoming Meetings

History of Exposition Park
August 19th

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"History of Exposition Park" with Gore Range and Marcy Laderer Thomas, who will explore the history of Exposition Park, founded din 1892 and renamed Conneaut Lake Park in the early 1920s.

Our monthly meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. (note time change) at the Sportsman's Club in Conneaut Lake.  It is open to the public free of charge. Hall is handicapped-accessible and smoke-free. Refreshments will follow the program. 

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Conneaut Lake Community Development Committee
September 15th

Bill Eldridge, president of the Conneaut Lake Community Development Committee, will talk about the history of the CLCDC.

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Quilt Show Winner

We had 52 quilts displayed at our quilt show last month as part of the 25th anniversary.
Elaine Harrison of Conneaut Lake was winner of the People's Choice award. She was given a special ribbon and a cash prize.
Thanks to all who brought quilts and the more than 100 people who toured the museum during the show.
It was wonderful to see all the different types of quilts and the intricate sewing on all of them.
Prior to the show, the Quilts of Valor program awarded quilts to four veterans: Bob Eiler, Bob Moss, Jim Herchenroether and Joal Wolf in recognition and appreciation of their service.
Colleen Munn, head of the local chapter of the Quilts of Valor, served as mistress of ceremony and gave a history of the program prior to the quilts being awarded.
Thanks to the Quilts of Honor for all you do to recognize our veterans and for making the special trip to award them to our veterans.

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Elaine Harrison hold ribbon she received a long with a cash prize for the People's Choice award at the recent quilt show at the Conneaut Lake Area Historical Society's Museum as part of the society's 25th anniversary. Harrison and Chuck Groger, president of the historical society, who presented the award, stand in front of the quilt made in 1937.Collene Munn was runner-up for the People's Choice Award for one of her quilts -- the first Quilt of Valor she made.

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Skee Ball Tournament

We will host a Skee ball tournament Aug. 10 starting at 10 a.m. at the museum.

The first 75 people to show up to participate will be given the opportunity to roll one game.

Then the top five scorers will "roll off" to determine the grand champion.

There is no fee to enter. The winner will receive a prize and bragging rights.

Please join us for this fun event that is part of our 25th anniversary celebration.

There is advance registration required.

New Book Available

A new book, "Summer Solstice," by Jeanette Curry is now available at the museum and on-line in our gift shop.

Jeanette is a 1968 graduate of Conneaut Lake Area High School.

The book is a fiction romance novel with a bit of intrigue, history and pickle ball hints all wrapped into this delightful story.

The book starts with a woman receiving notice she has been left a gray cottage at Conneaut Lake, Pa., by her father, who she never knew. She leaves her southern home to travel to Conneaut Lake to check out this cottage (which is located a block from the Iroquois Club on the east side) and meet a half-brother she never knew she had. She had lots of questions to have answered. Why did a father who never acknowledged in his life leave her this cottage? Would her half-brother accept her? If she moved  to Conneaut Lake, would the town accept her? And more. Upon arriving in Conneaut Lake, she discovers her father was a wealthy man who owned lots of property and was well known in the community. Included in the property he owns is the former Conneaut Lake Park.

The novel -- all fiction -- includes many references to local places and is an easy read.

It is available in our gift shop.

Digitizing Program

We are now engaged in a program that will digitize all 46,000 of our artifacts.  It involves scanning each item onto a computer, which will preserve the item.  Currently, our system only tells what the item is.

Example: Picture of Hotel Conneaut.  By digitizing it, the actual picture of the hotel is captured.

We are excited about this program as it will preserve our history should some catastrophe occur.

To date, 19 books out of about 100 books have been scanned.

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In addition to those books from the research center, we also have obituaries and other published books to scan as well as the items in the museum. So you can see we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

If you are interested in helping, we would love to have you. This winter, we had three "pairs" of scanners, but summertime has meant many of those aren't available. Scanners work in teams of two -- at their own schedule.

 

If you would like to help, please contact Bob Hilton  814-382-4328 or Julia Catalano at 814-724-9841.

Crawford Gives

For those unable to do physical work for the society, there is another way to serve.

If you are able, you can make a monetary donation through Crawford Gives.

The program, operated by Crawford Heritage Foundation, receives donates during a four-day period.

This year it begins at 12 a.m. on Aug. 24 and ends at midnight Aug. 27.

During that time, you can go to the website: www.crawfordgives.com and donate, using a credit card.

Or you can send a check to Crawford Gives, P.O. Box 933, Meadville, Pa., 16335. Please mail it early enough that it is received by midnight Aug. 27.

Or you can take a donation to the foundation at 415 Chestnut St., Meadville.

Please note your donation is for the Conneaut Lake Area Historical Society.

Once all the receipts are totaled, the foundation adds a percentage of the donation to the total and we receive that "match" as well.

It's one way to help the society gain a little more money and the "match" is an "extra" for us.

Last year we received more than $7,000 from Crawford Gives with about 20 donors.

We would love to beat that total.

Please spread the word. You need not be a member to donate! 

And, we are a 501-C-3 so all your donations are tax-deductible! 

Thanks in advance.

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Century Buildings Program

One portion of the society's mission is to recognize homes and buildings that are more than 100 years old.
We have our inaugural program recognizing seven in the Conneaut Lake area.
We will honor the seven recipients and present bronze plaques which we will erect on their buildings.
The program is at 10 a.m. on Sept. 7 at the museum, 150 N. Third St., Conneaut Lake.
To be honored this year are: Ralston's Hardware, the Berry Basket Building, John and Pam Leasure's home on Fourth Street (former owned by Gail Fales), the home of Jim and Darlene Ross on Second Street, Conneaut Lake Town Hall on High Street, Lakeside Beauty Salon (the former Foust School) on the east side and Hotel Conneaut at Conneaut Lake Park on the west side.
During the ceremony posters featuring each facility will be displayed.
Please join us for this special event.
Plans are to honor a different group each year.
If you have a century-old home or building or know somebody who does and would like to be considered in 2025 please email Julia Catalano at: juliabeth1848@gmail.com.
Thanks in advance and hope to see you at the program!

Tiki Bar Night

The historical society will join the Tiki Bar at Conneaut Lake Park on Tuesday, Aug. 13, from 4 to 9 p.m. for its Charity Night, where a portion of the sales go to the historical society. We will have lots of pictures of the Beach Club as well as the original table and chairs from the Beach Club.


About 7 p.m. Jean Shanley will share a brief history of the Beach Club and then people will be given a chance to share their memories.


We will have food to buy as well as special raffles.


Oh, yes, and we will have special bar tenders: Joyce Minnis, Todd Miles, Sup Russ, Shelia Carmen, Michelle Miles and Amanda Coulter.


Please come and join the fun!


Invite our friends too.

Other gift items

Check our gift shop for other items we have added that we failed to add to the shop when we first got them.

They include Wendell August Forge ornaments of Hotel Conneaut, Dreamland Ballroom and the miniature train at Conneaut Lake Park.

They all are designed to bring back fond memories of events at those sites.

 

Also, we have wine glasses with the Blue Streak engraved on them. a set of two in a nice black cardboard box. 

 

All of the above items make wonderful gifts -- for you or someone else who has a favorite memory of Conneaut Lake.

Annual Picnic

We will have our annual society picnic Monday, Sept. 9, at 6 p.m. at Msgr. Toland Park on Alter Road, Conneaut Lake.
It is open to all members and guests.
More information will be announced, but the tradition is to pay about $3 for the meat and other expenses for each person. Those attending are to take tureens to share. Table ware and beverage will be provided.
You can sign up at the August meeting.
Please join us for an evening of fellowship!

Car Show

The weather was gorgeous for our annual car show and Greg Hindle was winner of the Best of Show award.
We had a nice crowd who came to hear the roar of the Liberty the Second engine as it was started during the show.
Thanks to everyone who came and displayed their vehicles and to those who came and supported us.
We had a lot of competition for cars this year with a number of other shows, but our vehicles were all very nice to view!
Mark your calendar for next year!

Quilts of Valor

Quilts of Valor were awarded to four Conneaut Lake area veterans during a special ceremony Saturday at the Conneaut Lake Area Historical Society Museum in conjunction with a quilt show. Veterans who received the quilts in recognition and appreciation of their service were (from let) Jim Herchenroether, Bob Eiler, Bob Moss and Joal Wolf. Collene Munn, chairman of the local chapter of Pennsylvania Stitches of Valor, conducted the program.

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