Halfway Through September?

Please be sure to check the PHMC Events Calendar for information on upcoming programs (in-person and virtual). I've included highlights for the coming week below. The Trailheads Rec Room pages to the right of your screen offer an array of online content generated by Trails of History sites. Also, if you're looking for a Covid vaccine provider, check out Vaccines.gov and enter your zip code.

Please note that staff and volunteers at Commonwealth of PA worksites, including the PA Trails of History, are wearing masks while indoors. Visitors are encouraged, though not required, to do so as well.

This Great Blue Heron was hanging out at Conrad Weiser Homestead last weekend (photo via CWH Facebook)

Last week was pretty somber, with our focus on the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, not to mention the anniversaries of the Battle of Lake Erie and the Battle of Brandywine. So this week, I'm just going to share some posts that I hope will brighten your day a bit. I hope you have a great weekend, whenever yours happens to fall, and a restful week ahead.

The milkweed at Daniel Boone Homestead supports native honey bees, wasps, and monarch butterflies.



Pennsbury Manor's kitchen garden is graced with a hyacinth bean arbor that is blooming vibrantly as summer winds down.



Somerset Historical Center had a very successful Mountain Craft Days event last weekend and shared a quick video of their limekiln burning during the night.



And at the Erie Maritime Museum, the cover came off the U.S. Brig Niagara this week, on purpose, so that it can sail to Cleveland for maintenance.

Upcoming Events (in-person and virtual)

Today, September 17

• Learn at Lunchtime (in-person and virtual): program director Bradley Smith will talk with senior curator of zoology and botany Walter Meshaka about extinct birds of PA, The State Museum of PA, 12:15-12:45 pm, included in regular admission or join via Zoom (SMOP link for info and Zoom registration)

Saturday, September 18

• Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day (in-person): Ephrata Cloister and the Railroad Museum of PA are participating sites this year. Select a site and download your free tickets by visiting the Museum Day website.
• StoryTime (in-person): learn about PA's crayon history and read "The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt, The State Museum of PA, 10:30-11:30 am, included in regular admission (StoryTime info)
• Paws in the Park (in-person): celebrate dogs and their walkers, Bushy Run Battlefield, 11 am-3 pm (BRB Facebook for info)

Sunday, September 19

• Open-Hearth Cooking (in-person): chat with the cooks while they prepare recipes from William Penn's time, Pennsbury Manor, 1-4 pm, included in regular admission (PM link for info)

Wednesday, September 22

• Explore! (in-person): learn about the seasonal change from Summer to Fall, The State Museum of PA, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, for kids in grades 3-5 and included in regular admission (Explore! info)
• History Speaks lecture series (virtual): George Bray will present a talk on John Bradstreet, Bushy Run Battlefield, 7 pm, cost is $10 (Eventbrite link for tickets)

Thursday, September 23

• Curiosity Kids (in-person): learn about the shapes and colors of the falling leaves, The State Museum of PA, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, for kids in grades K-2 and included in regular admission (Curiosity Kids info)