E-mail your "Community Events" to us: susqtran@epix.net; no phone-ins, please. We will publish events in the two issues prior to the event, free of charge for nonprofit or community events.

We regret that we cannot be responsible for keeping track of regular monthly events. Each must be submitted separately and are listed as space permits.

JUNE 8

TIM ZIMMERMAN AND THE KING’S BRASS: A performance will be held at the Conference Gym, located just off Lake Avenue, 116 Conference Rd, Montrose PA 18801. Formed three decades ago, the King’s Brass are professional musicians, who lead others in praise and worship. No tickets necessary, an offering will be received to support the ministry of the King’s Brass. Concert begins at 7PM. For more information call 570-278-1001 or visit www.MontroseBible.org

JUNE 9

FULL MOON HIKE: Salt Springs Park in Franklin Forks, will be having a Full Moon Hike Friday, June 9 at 8:30PM. The hike will end around a campfire sharing snacks and stories. Fee is a non-perishable food item for the local food pantry.

JUNE 10

GELATT CEMETERY ASSIOCATION: Annual meeting will be held on June 10, at 1:30PM at the home of Bill and Elaine Wood, RT 92, North of Gelatt. Lot owners and relatives are welcomed to attend.

KAYAK AND CANOE TRIP: UMCC Great Bend will be taking a group of kayaks and canoes from Hallstead to Kirkwood beginning at 9am and ending around 12pm. Contact Pastor Jackie at 570.879.4506 to make reservations.

TICK SEMINAR: The Lyme Disease Coalition, Inc. will be hosting an educational Tick Training Seminar. It will be held on June 10, 2PM, located at Apolacon Township Building, 390 Bowbridge Road, Little Meadows PA. Amanda B. Roome with BU, will be training attendees on how to perform tick drags for useable data.

JUNE 17

SUMMER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION PART I and II: The celebration will be at Salt Springs Park in Franklin Forks on Saturday, June 17. Part I is from 1PM to 4PM. There will be ongoing demos and activities that will include solar viewing and lessons. Guests are welcome to bring picnics and blankets to sit on. Part II begins at 7PM. There will be a drummers circle and campfire. Story telling will begin at 8PM. Guests are encouraged to bring snacks to share.

CHICKEN BBQ: The East Ararat Church will be holding a Father’s Day Chicken BBQ. All orders will be pre-order only. We will be having half chicken, macaroni salad, pickes, bake beans, roll and snack. Please call January Roney 570-727-2051 or Jackie Burrows 570-766-5322 to place an order. Can also contact any member of the women’s club or on the East Ararat Church Facebook page.

MONDAY: Pepper steak with gravy, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, whole wheat dinner roll, baked cinnamon apples.

TUESDAY: Pepper steak with gravy, glazed carrots, steamed brown rice, pineapple dream.

WEDNESDAY: BBQ chicken sandwich, broccoli cheese soup, seasoned potato wedges, whole wheat sandwich roll, tropical fruit.

THURSDAY: Roast turkey, sweet potatoes, peas and pearl onions, biscuit, strawberries and whipped topping.

FRIDAY: Pork chop, roasted red potatoes, cauliflower and peas, whole wheat dinner roll, orange.

Every June, the Harford Historical Society sponsors an interesting and informative day of local history at the Soldiers Orphan School in Harford. This year, History Day will be held on Saturday, June 10th at the Soldiers Orphan School on Orphan School Road from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

The museum for the school is open on this day and members of the Society are available to help you get a sense of the history of the unique Harford community which was founded in 1790.  The school itself began as the Franklin Academy in 1817 and became a school for orphaned children of the Civil War in 1865. Many of the artifacts shown in the museum are original to the school and every year, the Society adds and displays new items.

The Soldiers Orphan School circa 1880s

One of the Harford Historical Society’s recent projects was to clean out some of the old foundations of the original foundations of the school. There were over 12 original buildings of this school including boy’s dormitories, girl’s dormitories, classrooms, chapel, hospital, kitchen, bakery, food storage, girl’s privy, boy’s privy, and maintenance and more. Today only one building remains, known as Franklin Hall. The downstairs of Franklin Hall was a dining room (food was prepared and carried to the dining room). The upstairs of Franklin Hall was a boy’s dormitory.

The foundations of three of the larger buildings were cleaned out from years of bushes and weeds by Mark Cross. Some of the walls are intact with stacked foundation stone and some of the walls have fallen years ago. These buildings were built in the 1820’s and 1830’s, so with that perspective, it is amazing that portions of the wall remain intact.

The three larger buildings were called Susquehanna Hall, Newark Hall and Columbia Hall. Susquehanna Hall was originally built to be a chapel and it had a belfry and steeple. The Susquehanna Hall was a chapel downstairs and classrooms upstairs. Later, a new chapel was built right next to the original chapel. At that point, Susquehanna Hall became a girl’s dormitory. The Newark Hall was probably classrooms. Columbia Hall was originally a girl’s dormitory but it became too small for the attendance. When the new girl’s dormitory was built, Columbia Hall became classrooms.

A Handmade Model of the School Complex

Inside the museum is a reconstructed model of the complete orphan school built by Margery and Alan Rhodes.  The Rhodes family had been involved with the orphan school since its inception. Chauncey Rhodes, Alan’s grandfather, brought fire wood to the school in the 1880s and 1890s. The property was bought by his son, Glenn Rhodes, and Leda Adams Rhodes in 1916.  Margery Rhodes decided to build the model to show the importance of preserving Harford’s history. Thanks to her efforts, visitors can see how the newly unearthed foundations fit in with the original plan of the school down to the covered walkway that joined the newly converted Susquehanna Hall to the new chapel.

For a fun day, tour the museum and view the model. Then walk the grounds around the old foundations to get a deep appreciation of the efforts made by Pennsylvania to support its orphans of the Civil War. Have lunch and visit with friends and neighbors. Talk with Brian Swartz , a Civil War historian, and view his collection of Civil War artifacts. Shop and take home a unique find from a craft vendor or a good read from the used book sale.

Are you a farmer who signed a gas lease with a landowner group? If so, please join me for a focus group!

Grace Wildermuth, a graduate student at Penn State University is currently conducting research on natural gas leasing and agriculture in Pennsylvania for her thesis. She is interested in the experiences of farmers who signed natural gas leases as part of a landowner group. Would you be willing to participate in this study?

To participate, you must meet the following criteria:

1. Be a farmer or live on a farm. 2. Have signed a natural gas lease with a landowner group. 3. Live in Bradford, Susquehanna, Wyoming or Lackawanna County

Refreshments will be provided!

Contact Grace for questions or to sign up. Call/text: 570-647-5996. Email: gvw5117@psu.edu, be sure to include contact information and which focus group slot(s) work for your schedule.

A Focus group will be hosted in Susquehanna County on Thursday June 8th, with three time slots: 10 AM, 2 PM, and 8 PM, at the Susquehanna County Penn State Extension Office, 88 Chenango St., Montrose, PA.