JULY 10-13

Mini Camp: Sunday July 10- Wednesday July 13 at the Montrose Bible Conference Summer Camp. For kids who have completed 1st -4th grade. This is a great introduction to Camp Montrose for first-time campers. Staying from Sunday through lunch on Wednesday, you'll get a good taste of the excitement of life at Camp Montrose. For information go to www.montrosebible.org or call us at 570-278-1001.

JULY 13

Young At Heart: Wednesday, July 13 at Montrose Bible Conference. Seniors and their friends are invited to join us for a hymn sing followed by a delicious lunch. Reservations requested. For more information, visit our website at www.montrosebible.org or call us at 570-278-1001.

JULY 16

Good News Lunch: Sat July 16. noon at St Marks Church, New Milford. Free Meal.  All are Welcome

AUGUST 6

Autism Awareness 5K: Saturday August 6, Registration 8:00 – 8:4500am, Race start 9:00am, Event 9:00 – 1:00 at the Hallstead Ballfield off State Rte 11. Come enjoy music, food, activities and more! For copies of Registration form, call Youth Advocate Programs at 570-465-2171

MONDAY: Grilled chicken cobb salad, minestrone soup, whole wheat roll, strawberries and whipped topping

TUESDAY: Swiss steak, mashed potatoes, dilled carrots, whole wheat roll, rice krispie treat

WEDNESDAY: Pork w/ pineapple sauce, brown rice, asian vegetable mix, fruit cocktail crisp

THURSDAY: Baked Fish w/ parsley butter, macaroni & cheese, stewed tomatoes, broccoli, rocky road pudding

FRIDAY: Hamburger, potato salad, broccoli salad, whole wheat sandwich roll, apple slices

First Gelatt Reunion “ALL”. Taken at Gelatt, PA

The 126th Gelatt Family Reunion will be held on Saturday, July 30th, 12 Noon in the Gibson Grange Hall on Rt 92 in Gelatt, PA.

John Gelatt was born 1722 in Limoges, France the son of a French nobleman who fled from France at the age of 18 to escape the war, arrived in Massachusetts where he became a farmer and started the American branch of the Gelatt family tree.

This year's reunion will be held at the same site as the first reunion in 1890.

Setup and meal prep will begin at 11 am with opening prayer and pot luck meal starting at noon. 

For more information or to confirm attendance, please contact David Gelatt at hortusd@msn.com

620,000 American soldiers were killed in the American Civil War – roughly “half of all” who have died in all other conflicts.  Thousands more were wounded.  The horrific statistics compelled the government to act and establish a number of Soldiers Orphan Schools.

During the years of 1865 to 1902, the Soldiers Orphan School near Harford provided education, food, clothing and medical care for children under 16 years of age who were orphaned by the Civil War.  The original campus of the school consisted of 20 buildings (dormitories, chapel, hospital, bakery, etc.). Today only one building remains, known as Franklin Hall.  The downstairs of Franklin Hall was a dining room.  Some orphans who ate in this dining room were only 6 years old and they sat on stools to eat their meals.  A few original stools were rescued and can be seen in the hall, which is now a museum.  The upstairs of Franklin Hall was the boy’s dormitory.  The narrow beds were separated by a wood partition.  One original bed was rescued and it is also on display.

There were 8 grades in the school.  The students wore uniforms, most of which were made by students and staff of the school.  The academic training included:  Algebra, geometry, civil government, philosophy, Latin, vocal instruction and religious instruction.  The students received 6 hours of classroom instruction and worked for 2 hours each day.  The girls were taught cooking, laundry, sewing and calisthenics; the boys were taught maintenance, farming and military drills. Students graduated at 16 years old.  Many graduates went on to have successful careers and several became well known.

The Harford Historical Society is preserving this bit of local history, in honor of local families who suffered because of the Civil War and in appreciation for our Pennsylvania State Government, who helped children of soldiers who sacrificed their lives in war.  Their families had no Veteran Administration to turn to for help.

On July 9th, the Soldiers Orphan School building and museum will be open, from 9 AM to 2 PM.

In addition to the school building itself and the items from the school era, a newly donated antique loom will also be on display. The loom was donated by Conrad Owens and was purchased by his grandmother Daisy Conrad Forsythe.  An accompanying original ad identifies it as a Union Loom – No. 36 rug loom.

Dated to about the mid 1930’s, the machines were built in Boonville, New York in an abandoned high school that was converted into Union Specialty Works in 1911. 

A simple, foot powered pulley system allows for the change of sheds, and the beams and wheels allow control over the tension.  Besides operating efficiently, it was perfect for the housewife who wanted to make a little extra money.  Rags were saved and sewn into strips to make yards of warp.  When first manufactured, it could be bought for $39.95 and that included 10 yards of warp already wound up on the wheel!

So come and spend some time on Saturday, July 9th (9am to 2pm), supporting the Harford Historical Society.  Browse our used book sale, tour a unique museum, and learn about a piece of Americana.

Florence Shelly Wetlands Preserve, Thompson, PA, is known for the guided nature walks it offers throughout the summer. On the evening of Saturday, July 9, at 9:00 PM, you are invited to join entomologist Rob Anderson for a nature “sit” to discover insects.

Dr. Anderson will set up a net made of very fine mesh, and shine a light on it to attract a wide variety of insects. Seated around the net, participants will get a rare close-up view of some of the insects we normally see only when they are thumping against our window screens or feel fluttering against our faces after dark.

We are likely to see a wide variety of insects such as beetles, antlions, crane flies, and hopefully some of the impressive silk moths of the area. These include the impressive polyphemus, cecropia, io and luna moths.

Besides identifying the insects, Dr. Anderson will describe how to distinguish insects from “true bugs,” which have piercing, sucking mouth parts that they keep retracted behind their heads until they are ready to eat. He will also talk about the danger that many cultivated and native pollinators are currently facing because of pesticides, disease and habitat destruction. Attendees will gain a better appreciation for the remarkable (micro) biodiversity of our area that most people rarely encounter.

Rob Anderson received a BA in biology in 1995 and another BA in 1997 in secondary education for science from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. He earned his Masters Degree in Medical Entomology at the University of Delaware in 2007 and his Ph.D. from Penn State in 2011. Throughout his career he has taught science to middle school through college students and currently teaches Entomology and Human Anatomy and Physiology at Rowan University.

This insect “sit” is the fourth in the Florence Shelly Wetlands Preserve’s 2016 series of monthly guided visits with local naturalists. Upcoming walks will focus on butterflies (August 21 at 2:00 PM with Colleen Wolpert), and trees (September 11 at 2:00 PM with Hank Hartman).

The insect “sit” will begin at 9:00 PM at the preserve parking lot on Little Ireland Road, just off Route 171, a mile north of Thompson. The “sit” is free and you don’t have to make a reservation. Bring a blanket or camp chair to sit on and a flashlight. For further information, contact Andy Gardner, 570-727-3362.

The Northern Tier Championship Show, which will be held on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016, 9:30AM, at the Kiwanis Wyoming County Fairgrounds, Meshoppen, Pa., will again host a Pennsylvania Championship show (open to PA residents only), and an open and junior Red & White show.

The Red & White show is open to all exhibitors regardless of state and will be recognized by the Red & White Dairy Cattle Association (RWDCA) when selecting their All-American and Jr All-American nominations. In order to show, Red & White exhibitors must adhere to RWDCA show requirements, which can be found on their website under the show tab at redandwhitecattle.com. There are NO exceptions to these rules. For any rule clarification, contact RWDCA at (608) 676-4900.

This year’s judge will be Thomas ‘Moss’ McCauley, Dairy Program Evaluator, NorthStar Cooperative, Lowell, Mich. McCauley grew up on a dairy farm in Elizabethtown, Pa., and graduated from Penn State University. He started his career managing the donor dams at his family’s embryo transfer business and then was herdsmen on a 2,000-head Holstein dairy in New Mexico. Currently, McCauley, his wife, Renee, and son, Cash, help manage Nugentdale Farms in Michigan. On the show circuit, he was named the 2009 winner of the coveted McKenzie-Klussendorf Award at World Dairy Expo and has exhibited cattle at World Dairy Expo and the North American International Livestock Expo for over 25 years. He has developed many show-winning cattle under the New-Direction and Tumbleweed prefixes. In addition, McCauley has judged numerous district, state and national dairy cattle shows, including the 2015 All-American Dairy Show and Maryland State Fair.

Thomas 'Moss' McCauley will judge the Northern Tier Holstein show at the Kiwanis Wyoming County Fairgrounds, Meshoppen, Pa.

For more information go to PA Holstein Association’s Web site www.paholsteins.com or call (570) 278-3680.