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Old Home Week: It takes a village


Greencastle has always been known for its hometown pride, evident in abundance throughout Old Home Week.

Several institutions embody this spirit and will be open to welcome visitors during the once-every-three-years event August 6-13, among them the Lillian Besore Memorial Library, the Allison-Antrim Museum, the Tayamentasachta Center and the High Line Train Station.

Besore Library

The Besore Library on East Baltimore Street has more than 50,000 items in its holdings and plenty of reasons to come through its doors. There are not only books, but also movies and CDs and lots of activities, especially for the young. On Thursday, August 11, the library will host an open house with local photos along with glass plate negatives and a DVD titled "A Gallery of History" on the history of Greencastle, narrated by Mike Conrad. "Visitors can also see our collection of old high school yearbooks dating from the 1930s to the 1970s and a collection of almost every Old Home Week badge," said Dawna Menton, passport coordinator.

That same day is a Family Chalk Art Contest for parents and children; register is required for this event. Also on display is a collection of Frank Feather canes and several original paintings by Mark Twain Noe of Fulton County.

Throughout the week the Besore Library will be showing the works of local artist Nicole Troup, courtesy of the Greencastle Area Arts Council. A wall of her original paintings shows the breadth of her talent with portraits, landscapes, and more in a variety of media.

Allison-Antrim Museum

Open House at Allison-Antrim Museum will feature self-guided tours and a special exhibit, "Guns and Roses," a collection of rare 1800s guns made by Greencastle gunsmith Joshua Yous, a John Brown Beecher Bible Rifle, and a Native American trade rifle. The "Roses" refers to a collection of wedding gowns, the earliest dating from 1786.

Two other special collections will also be on display - Kathleen "Katty" White Grosh's collection of Old Home Week souvenirs and autographed baseball Hall of Fame Gold Plaque Postcards from the collection of Bruce .Z. McLanahan II.

Visitors can also take a look at the museum's many other collections, as well as its Steinway touring piano and tuxedo of Philip Baer, whose suggestion for a community reunion sparked the triennial Old Home Week celebration.

Tayamentasachta

Tayamentasachta, the Center for Environmental Studies established in 1966, will open on Tuesday, August 9, for self-guided tours of the farmhouse, barn and gardens, and for wagon rides. It operates the premier environmental education program for students in the Greencastle-Antrim School District.

High Line Train Station

With its prominent railroad bridge, transportation has always been a key element in Greencastle life. This year the High Line Train Station on Jefferson Street is celebrating that past with an open house on Thursday, August 11. The station opened in 1909 and operated continuously for some 50 years until the automobile brought its mission to a halt. For railroad buffs, there will also be a Railroad Clubhouse open house with two floors of model railroads in "Waynecastle" at the Old Mill on the north side of Route 16.on Tuesday, August 9.

Remembering when

A special feature of this year's Old Home Week is a series of dialogue meetings known as "Reminiscing." This is a wonderful way to explore not only the history of Greencastle, but also the experiences of its people. All are presented with a speaker and an interviewer and will be held at the Evangelical Lutheran Church at 130 N. Washington Street. Topics range from Ray Stull on when he guarded Rudolf Hess, to the challenge of serving on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Theater during World War II, to attending a one-room schoolhouse such as Brown's Mill, to working at local businesses such as Grove, Fairchild, and Mack Truck.

The most prominent of this series, on Tuesday, August 9, will be the appearance of Peggy Ann Bradnick, who will tell the tale of her abduction and captivity 50 years ago near Shade Gap when she was 17. She will tell the audience that she is not a victim, explain how she learned to forgive, and remind everyone that she is a survivor. Her book on this experience, "The Voice," will soon be published. The event will be chaired by John Gamble, whose portrait of Peggy Ann can be seen at Anna's Paperworks at 27 Center Square throughout the week.

And that's not all ...

Many other organizations will also be featuring special displays or programs, for example:

- the flower show at the First United Methodist Church, "Come Home and Smell the Flowers," on Monday, August 8.

- Greencastle-Antrim Loyal Daughters, founded in 1920 for women of all ages in Greencastle, and especially the wives of the "Old Boys," will feature Sherry Moon's hat collection from the 1800s through the 1970s.

- Greencastle-Antrim Women's Fellowship, in its 38th year, will hold its third Old Home Week "Morning of Music," at the First United Methodist Church on North Washington Street on Friday, August 12.

Several tours of the Greencastle-Antrim area will be conducted by bus on Monday, August 8, and by foot on Wednesday, August 10. There will be a special drive-through of Martin's Mill Bridge, one of only of two covered bridges remaining out of an original five in Franklin County.

For dog lovers, there will be a "Fun" Dog Show on Thursday, August 11, and for aficionados of early machinery and a reminder of the roots of this community, an assortment of antique tractors, farm machinery, and steam engines on display on the square.

Every evening there will be music on the Square with different groups performing.

For more information,call 717-660-8651 or visit www.oldhomeweek.org.