June 2024
Upcoming Meetings
Sailing on Conneaut LakeThe Conneaut Lake Yacht Club (CLYC) Years
June 17th
Chad Waldschmidt will be guest speaker on June 17 about the Sailboat Races at the Yacht Club.
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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Boxing at Conneaut Lake Park
July 15th
"Boxing at Conneaut Lake Park", featuring history of world heavyweight champion Max Schmeling at CLP. Jean Shanley will be speaker and will present other historical stories about boxing at the park.
Cuisine was Success
We once again at a successful Conneaut Lake Cuisine.
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Hotel Conneaut served as the host site and we again had a sold-out crowd.
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Vendors who participated with providing food for the event were: Hotel Conneaut, Tavern 618, G.O.A.T. Bar and Grill, Sheetz, River Rising Brewing-Lakeside; Strudel Factory, Livingston's Quality Meat, Silver Shores, Pizza Joe's Pelican Landing III, Crawford County Dairy Princess, Casey's Ice Cream and Candies, Sherry's Distributor, Saegertown Beverage, the historical society and Memory of Ghosts of Mama Bear's.
We appreciate each vendor who participated as well as each guest. Without the support and cooperation of all, it would not be possible.
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We thank Hotel Conneaut for hosting us.
Building Upgrade
The museum is getting a new paint job on the front of the building. The front has been getting some deterioration from the weather over the past few years.
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We received a grant from the Dietrich Foundation to pay for the repairs.
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Salt Painting has been working at the museum to do the upgrades. We appreciate the support from the foundation and the quick response from Salt Painting.
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It has been a number of years since the building was painted so it has held up well.Stop and check it out!
Special 25th Anniversary Program
In observance of our 25th anniversary, we have a special program planned for Sunday, June 23, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the museum.
We will have a brief program at 2 p.m. followed by special displays, tours, refreshments an door prizes every half hour beginning at 2:30 p.m.
The many displays will trace the history of the society and will include numerous photographs of our activities.
All the events are open to the public, free of charge.
Mark your calendars and come and join us and have some light refreshments and a piece of cake as we celebrate.
Barber Cemetery
The historical society is the caretaker of the Barber Cemetery and we have erected a new sign and new gate at the entrance. A crew of historical society members did the work.
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The sign was made possible with a grant from Crawford Heritage Foundation.
As you may know, the cemetery contains the graves of many people who died during a malaria epidemic as well as graves of soldiers from the War of 1812. It is located at the end of Richmond Street. It is an old cemetery and there have been no new burials for more than 100 years.
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Sadsbury Township gives us $500 each year to help pay for the upkeep. The society sells Daffins candy bars to raise fund for the rest of the upkeep. Various locations throughout the area graciously sell the candy bars for us as well.
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As our members are no longer physically able to do the work, we hire the work and the candy bars help pay those costs. This spring we also had a crew of community service workers help clean up the cemetery in preparation for the summer season. We are so grateful for that support.
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If you get a chance, please stop and see the cemetery. We feel privileged to be able to maintain the cemetery and our history.
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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Museum Opens
The museum at 150 N. Third St. is now open for the summer season.
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Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
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For special appointments: Call Chuck Groger at 814-382-8722,
New Gift Item
Our new gift item in 2024 is a pair of shot glasses. One is inscribed with our historical society logo and the second is inscribed with an outline of Conneaut Lake in blue water with the name Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania.
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Cost is $7 for the two, that come in a gift box. You have to add 42 cents tax and $6 if you want them shipped.
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They will be available at the museum as well.
Our 25th Anniversary
As you remember, this is our 25th anniversary and Jean Shanley is chairman of the overall committee.
We will have one "special event" each month in addition to our regular program.
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June's event will be the annual golf tournament at Oakland Beach Golf Course with David White and John Leasure as co-chairmen. It will be June 21.
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In July, we will have a quilt show as a special event. It will be July 13 the quilt show from 10 to 2 p.m. at the museum. Of course, will will also have the car show on July 6.
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A "Quilts of Valor" service will begin at 9 a.m. and is open to the public as we honor four local veterans.
We are accepting quilts for display. Anyone wishing to enter a quilt may take them to the museum Monday through Wednesday the week before the show. We will be at the museum from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day.
A special "People's Choice" award will be given.
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A skeeball tournament will be the August event -- in addition to the annual Paddlefest on Aug. 3.
The skeeball tournament will be Aug. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the museum. Anyone wishing to participate may register that morning at 9 a.m. There is no registration fee.
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In September, we will introduce our first seven recipients of the Century Club plaques. Plaques are given to homes which are at least 100 years old. We will make the presentations at a date in September. Plans are to award plaques each year.
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In October, will return to Conneaut Lake Park to participate in the annual Pumpkin Fest.
Please mark your calendars and plan to come and enjoy the festivities.
Tiki Bar Night
Conneaut Lake Area Historical Society will be host for a special event on Aug. 13 at the Tiki Bar at Conneaut Lake Park.
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The program features guest bartenders at the bar and a portion of the proceeds goes to the historical society.
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We are making plans for a special event that night.
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It is, of course, open to the public free of charge. More details will be announced as we get closer to the date!