June 2022
Upcoming Meetings
June 20th - "Plans to Expand Ernst Trail to Conneaut Lake"
Presented by Calvin Ernst and Richard Enterline
Our monthly meetings are held on the 3rd Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at the Sportsman's Club in Conneaut Lake. It is open to public free of charge. Hall is handicapped accessible and smoke free. Refreshments will follow the program.
July 18th - "The Story of Oakland Beach Golf Course"
Presented by Gar Prebor
Reopening a Success
We had a great turnout for the re-opening ceremonies for the museum on May 21, which opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated vestibule.
Among special guests were Mayor Jim Tigri, Diane Helbig, representing Sen. Michele Brooks; and John and Jody Sperry, representing the Frances Sperry family.
Cutting the ribbon were the crew who worked so hard on the renovations: Bernie Hanmore, Dale Pysher, Hale Jenkins, Cris Myers, Rich Roberts and Chuck Groger as well as Betty Arbagast and Judy Groger, who headed the painting and cleaning crew to prepare the museum for opening.
As guests entered the vestibule, they were greeted with a specially designed welcome mat featuring the historical society's logo. It was purchased with memorial funds donated by the Frances Sperry family in memory of Mrs. Sperry. It is very pretty and functional. The wall panels and chair rails which line the interior were donated by the French Creek Valley Railroad Society, which had it left over from their recently renovated railroad museum. The flooring was donated by Shipton Carpeting, with Lynn Thurber as the lead. She not only doanted the flooring, her company sent the crew to lay the carpeting as well! She also donated carpeting for the newly constructed ramp in the boat museum. That portion also includes the Blue Streak car donated by Conneaut Lake Park. Visitors can sit in the car and watch a video -- giving it the feeling of actually riding the Blue Streak.
The walls of the interior are liend with rows and rows of framed post cards == donated by Hale Jenkins from his lifelong collection. Cards are lined in chronological order and are so neat to capture the local history.
The ceiling panels were dropped and new lighting and electric installed as well.
Cost of the renovations was paid in part from a $5,000 grant from the Dietrich Foundation.
Please stop and see our new renovations. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. It really adds a lot to the interior!
Pilsner Glasses Coming
Another special gift coming soon is a pair of Pilsner glasses from Wendell August Forge. They will be designed with the medallions of the Blue Streak and Tumble Bug . If you go to the Wendell August Forge website, you can see a picture of what the glasses look like. (The web site includes military medallions.)
They will make great gifts. They come in a nice black box and two cards -- the history of each ride on them
Watch for announcements on our Facebook about the cost and when they will be available. We believe the cost will be $45.00 a pair, but that may be subject to change once we get the final cost from the company.
We have 50 pairs on order and are waiting to see how they sell before we proceed further.
Future options may include wine glasses.
Kayaks Awarded
Winners of the two kayak raffles were announced on Memorial Day after a drawing at the museum.
B.J. Murray of Conneaut Lake was the winner of one and Matt Fannin of Linesville was the winner of the second one.
Congratulations to both and thank you to everyone who bought tickets and supported us!
Quilt Raffle
Talking about raffles, Rusty Gordon has made a handmade quilt featuring a sailboat and donated it to the museum for a fund-raiser. We will be selling tickets for it until Labor Day when we will draw the winning ticket.
Tickets are $3 each for two for $5.
Thank you to Rusty. It is beautiful and we appreciate her generosity.
Upcoming Events
We have our annual car cruise-in on July 9 at 10 a.m. It will feature cars of all makes and models and is a fun time for all.
The museum will be open that day starting at 10 a.m. until about 2 p.m.
Both the car show and museum are open free of charge to everybody.
Hope you can join us!
This is our 4th annual golf fundraiser in support of the Conneaut Lake Area Historical Society. The theme this year is patriotic and all vets will golf for free! The registration is from 7-8am on Thursday, July 21, 2022 at the beautiful Oakland Beach golf course in Conneaut Lake. The cost is 75 dollars per golfer which includes green fees, carts, lunch, snacks and mulligans. First prize for men and women teams is 300 dollars. Basket raffles will also be available. The White family of Conneaut Lake is the Grand Sponsor of the event. Hole and tee sponsorships are also available. Golf Co-chairman is John Leasure who can be reached at 814-720-1954.
Golf Outing Registration
PADDLEFEST 2022
The 6th Annual Paddlefest will be held Saturday morning, August 6 at Fireman’s Beach. There’s something for everyone. Enjoy the Dice Run, leisurely visiting 10 docks around Ice House Bay and beyond to toss floating dice in a ring and compete for high and low score prizes. Docks are clearly marked with color coordinated flags, identified with sponsor signs and manned with volunteers. Participants can also choose to compete in a 3 mile race up the west side of the lake and back for prizes. Race course is marked by boats with flags and volunteers are ready with shouts of encouragement and help if needed. For one registration fee ($30 for preregistration or $35 after July 23) you can do either or both events.
Many thanks to all our past participants, sponsors and volunteers. We appreciate your support and hope to see you back again this year. And if you’ve not yet experienced Paddlefest, you’re in for a treat! Join us for a fun morning of paddling on our beautiful Conneaut Lake.
For more info, call 814-724-9841
New Gift Ideas
Our tumble bug ornaments are now in and available to purchase. We ordered more tumble bug and Blue Streak ornaments and have them in stock at the museum and in our gift shop. Cost is $12, plus 72 cents tax and $1.00 postage.
These have both been very popular and despite the fact we ordered more, we are now down to about 85 left of each type. They are from Wendeall August Forge and make beautiful gifts and well as memorable pieces for the rides that now are history.
If you con't want to order on website, please send a note to Jane Smith at grandmagjane@zoominternet.net and she will reserve them for you.
This is our last order, so please don't wait if you are interested.
Cost is $12 for each ornament, plus 72 cents tax. If you want them mailed, there will be an additional $1 fee for each.
We also have a stainless steel wine and bottle opener set, which is inscribed with the word "Conneaut Lake" on them. It also includes a wine stopper. Cost is only $12 and comes in a nice gift box.
If you need a unique gift for somebody -- or just for yourself -- this is a nice gift.
And, we have two absolutely beautiful flags for sale this year. One is a garden flag, which has pictures on both sides and is very durable and nice. It sells for only $16.
The second is a regular size flag that is identical to the garden flag and sells for only $20.
Both are blue and are centered with the outline of the lake and includes the Liberty the Second Boat, complete with a small frog on the boat. These are nice for people to show their pride in being from Conneaut Lake and we think are different and unique.
We also have re-ordered 10 sets each of the three different sets of coasters featuring Conneaut Lake Park scenes. The coasters are four for $8 and are available only at the museum because they are too heavy to mail.
They feature various rides and scenes from the Conneaut Lake Park from its history. We have had three different orders of these and they always sell out, so if you want a set, please email Jane Smith at grandmagjane@zoominternet and reserve them!
AND, our big news is we have WOOD from the Blue Streak. After several suggestions, we contacted the park and were given permission to go and get all the wood we wanted. Two of our members did that we are now deciding what to make from the wood.
So, stay tune and watch for announcements about items available and cost.
And, also planned as a new gift this year will be a set of two Pilsner glasses from Wendell August Forge with the medallions from the Blue Streak and the Tumble Bug ornaments on them. (Check out Wendell August Forge's website and you will see what similar ones look like.)
We don't have the final cost yet -- pending final figures from the company -- but we believe the cost will be between $40 and $45.
We again (we are a little biased) think they are not only unique but make great gift ideas for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas or any other special event -- or just to give for no reason -- or to keep for yourself. They too come in gift boxes.
For an extra $15, you can get them in a wooden crate-type box with specially engraved covers.
So, as you can see, our gift shop has all types of gifts in addition to the ones we already have in stock. You can view them on the gift page of our website or stop at the museum and see what all we have! Lots of items that can only be purchased at the museum -- be it books, puzzles, t-shirts, sweat shirts and hoodies, or a special Conneaut Lake or Pymatuning clock or large picture!
We hope you can stop and visit this summer and see our new renovations and new artifacts -- including a car from the Blue Streak that you can sit in and have your picture taken. Plans are to have the video on beside so that you can feel you are "taking one last ride" on the Blue Streak.
If you can't make it during regular opening hours, contact Chuck Groger at 814-382-8722 or Julie Catalano at 814-724-9841 for special appointments.
Crawford Gives Date Set
We will once again participate in the annual Crawford Gives sponsored by the Crawford Heritage Foundation. It will be held Aug. 29 and 30.
As you may remember, this is a time for people to make special donations to various 501-c organizations. A portion of the money designated for each organization is matched so we all win.
You can send a check during that time, or call a phone number and charge the donation or take cash to the Foundation office on Chestnut Street.
Last year, we received more than $5,000 in donations. It helped to make up for the loss of our proceeds generally raised by our Conneaut Lake Cuisine. As you know, we have not been able to hold it for the past two years. We again have chosen not to ask our restaurant and food vendors to do that again this year because of the economic conditions.
Please consider marking your calendars and donating to us in this special program.
For more information, www.crawfordgives.org.
Thanks in advance for your help! Please spread the word to others!
All donations are tax deductible!
Blue Streak Car Donated
One of the exhibits in 2022 will be one of the original cars from the historic Blue Streak at Conneaut Lake Park.
Todd Joseph, the owner of the park, donated it to the society after the Blue Streak was dismantled.
We hope to have it so people can sit in the car and take a picture -- or just reminisce about the memory of the wonderful ride!
