So Long, May - Hello, June

Please check the June program listings for all of your event needs. So much to choose from.

Another month has come and gone. That long, cold spring gave way to whatever you call the season we're having now - "sort-of-but-not-really-summer"? School visits spiked. As always, there were programs and events on the Trails of History that engaged the public. Here are a few highlights that you might have missed.

Whitemarsh Art Center (WAC) fundraiser at Hope Lodge, May 19 (photo Friends of Hope Lodge)

Thanks to the Friends of Hope Lodge (FoHL) for the photo above and an update:

FoHL hosted the Whitemarsh Art Center (WAC) gala fundraiser “Hundred for Hundred” on May 19th. WAC’s leaders raffled over 50 original pieces of art. Over 300 people attended the event, which featured wine and cheese, music by guitarist Baird Standish, and tours of the 18th-century mansion and property. WAC executive director Corinne Dieterle expressed her gratitude to the FoHL for their support in making the event so successful.

Congratulations to all on a successful community collaboration! Hope Lodge was also recently featured in Zach Brown's "The Montco Explorer" blog (read Brown's write-up of Hope Lodge on the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board's website. And visit the June program listings for info on Hope Lodge events coming up this weekend.

Annual spring nature walk at Bushy Run Battlefield (photo BRBHS)

Bushy Run Battlefield opened its 2018 programming season with a wide range of activities organized by the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society, including the Spring Nature Walk on May 12 (pictured above and in the Spring Nature Walk photo album on Facebook). Also on the schedule were the kickoff of the site's new History Speaks Series on May 16 (next installment is June 20) and the annual Spring Tea on May 19, which sold out well in advance. This past weekend saw the premiere of the new Bushy Run Market featuring local vendors, entertainment, and concessions on the grounds (set to continue the 4th Saturday of the month through the fall. Visit Bushy Run's website to keep up with this summer's events.

Weathervane courtesy of the collection of @LandisValley. See "#AmericanFolkArt: An Enduring Legacy", on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal. https://t.co/fcyWpg2hGV pic.twitter.com/vhAjQ2ogBg

— SFO Museum (@SFOMuseum) May 24, 2018

A weathervane from the collections at Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum (see above) is featured in a folk art exhibit at San Francisco International Airport's SFO Museum; the exhibit continues through the middle of July. In other Lancaster County news, Ephrata Cloister's Student Historian program was featured in an article that focused on their work with site staff to document and transcribe gravestones of some of the community's earliest members.

Sean Connery on the set of The Molly Maguires, filmed in part at what is now Eckley Miners' Village in 1968 (via Facebook)

There's lots of activity going on at Eckley Miners' Village this summer, much of it focused on the 50th anniversary of filming of The Molly Maguires in and around Eckley in 1968. This year's Patch Town Days event (June 23-24) will be focused on the film, with reenacted scenes, a mustache contest (see photo above for inspiration), and much more (details on Eckley's website). Publicity around the filming of The Molly Maguires and interest generated by the movie's release were significant factors in the development and preservation of Eckley Miners' Village as a state historic site. Students Dan Kimbrough's class at Misericordia University produced a documentary about the history of the site, interviewing numerous volunteers (doc is available on YouTube). An article in the Scranton Times-Tribune provided background information on the May 25 Google Doodle featuring James Wong Howe, who was the cinematographer for The Molly Maguires. Howe was born Wong Tung Jim in China in 1899 and moved to the U.S. at the age of 5. He was denied citizenship under the Chinese Exclusion Act, finally winning an appeal in 1943. Laws prohibiting interracial marriage meant that he and poet Sanora Babb could not be legally married until 1949. Howe's work received ten Academy Award nominations; he won Oscars for The Rose Tattoo and Hud. According to a biography of Howe on the IMDb website, working on The Molly Maguires, his next-to-last film, was one of his favorite assignments.

Activity photos from PA Lumber Museum's 2017 Youth and Family Field Day (via Facebook)

One last note on something coming up next weekend. The Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, in conjunction with the Black Forest Sportsman's Club, has a Youth and Family Field Day scheduled for June 9. The event is free, but you must register by June 7. Pre-registrations have been a bit slow, so if you're planning to go, please contact the site ASAP. Program details and a registration form are on their website.