Moving On From Charter Day

It looks like we had around 10,000 people on the Trails of History for Charter Day this year. Were you one of them? If so, please leave a comment telling us where you visited. If you weren’t, there are still plenty of things to do this month.

With the focus on Charter Day the last couple of posts, other items have accumulated that I haven’t had a chance to share. So, in no particular order…

I recently had the chance to tour the upper floors
 of the Sisters' House at Ephrata Cloister

Folks at Ephrata Cloister have been busy with new workshops and the annual Winter History Class. I was able to attend the history class for a second time this year (I reported on my previous visit in an earlier post) and heard an excellent presentation by one of last summer’s interns. Brendan Kerr, currently a student at Temple University, talked about his research project on The Martyrs Mirror, an important Mennonite text that was first translated from Dutch to German at Ephrata (and printed there as well). Mike Wagner, Ephrata’s maintenance foreman, contributed to the “Chronicle Ephrata” blog with a post that will resonate with anyone who has ever seen their to-do list go down the tubes.

Pattern for chair decoration, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum

Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum just opened its 2014 exhibit, “Chairs, Chairs, Chairs,” which looks at high-style and vernacular chairs produced in Lancaster and Berks Counties from 1750 to 1875. With chairs and other objects drawn from Landis Valley’s collections or on loan from other institutions and private collections, the exhibit (on view through December) looks at a variety of techniques, styles, and patterns (I hope to write a more detailed post in the coming weeks). Don’t forget that the exhibit of chairs from the State Museum of PA collection continues through April 27.

Langley Winds, US Army Band

Speaking of the State Museum, at noon today, March 14, the Learn @ Lunchtime series presents the US Air Force Band chamber group, Langley Winds, performing in Memorial Hall. Museum admission is free from 11 am to 1:30 pm.

If you're looking for some intriguing weekend reading, Graeme Park recently posted some very interesting information on their blog, The Graeme Park Commonplace Book, about research into “lifting stones,” which reflect the Celtic heritage of Sir William Keith, the Pennsylvania governor who first settled the site.