PHGS 4th Annual Reunion

PHGS 4th Annual Reunion
July 20, 2002

Note: Click Photo's to Enlarge

The first speaker was Ron Ebbert from The E.O Austin Home/Historical Society. He begin by showing us the Video of the Austin Dam that broke in Sept. of 1911. It also included scenes of many other catastrophes Austin suffered over the years. Had many interviews of people who were survivers, or knew someone who was. The E.O Austin Home/Historical Society is very new and are operating on a shoe string, so to speak. They need a lot of help as they try to preserve the memories of what was and all those who were lost. They all are doing a good thing for Austin Borough, and at only $5 a year for membership, I urge anyone with any ties to Austin Borough to get in touch with Ron Ebbert and show your support of this newly formed Society. Ron is a hard worker and puts his whole heart into Austin Historical Society. He is only a volunteer and he welcomes all the help he can get.

The address is Austin Home/Historical Society PO Box 412 Austin, PA 16720. Tell him your from PHGS . If anyone wants to buy the Austin Dam Film, Ron Ebbert can tell you where to get it.

Our 2 nd speaker was Kurt M. Pfaff Director of the Eldred WW II Museum. The Museum was started to preserve personal memories of the WW II Veterans who are dying at an alarming rate. He brought with him some of the Munitions Produced in the Eldred Munitions plant which included Trench mortar shells, Incendiary hand Grenades, Thermite aerial bombs and bomb fuses. He even had some Milk weed pods with him. He gave us a vivid description of his younger days of gathering this for the war cause. It was used in the life jackets before they had Kapok.

Kurt told us some of the personal stories he has heard from the Veterans he has met over his years as Director. You can not help but teary eyes listening to the accounts of these War Veterans. Kurt travels around the US meeting & interviewing War veterans. He is just the kind of person you would want to take care of your War memorabilia. He is a very warm & compassionate person. I recommend you go to Eldred WW II Museum if you can. They also are always in need of money, as they have a huge collections of all sorts of memorabilia and they rely on donations to keep going.

If you can not visit it in person I am including the web site address for you.

The Eldred War Museum has a website and it is www.eldredwwiimuseum.org the e-mail address is info@eldredwwiimuseum.org the address is Eldred War Museum 201 Main Street Box 273 Eldred, PA 16731

After Lunch the speaker was speaker Robert Currin, Curator of Potter County Historical Society. He spoke on many different points of interest in Potter Co. The Lumbering business, the Railroads, Farming, the underground railroad, ETC. He told us some of his "younger day" memories of different places and things around Potter County. He had a lot of questions to answer after this talk. Bob Currin to me is like E.F. Hutton, only better. When Bob speaks, everyone listens. He is a terrific person and if you want to know anything at all about Potter County he's your man. At last year's reunion a guy told me that Bob Currin was his History teacher in high school and he came to the reunion just to hear Bob speak. I know just what he means.

After a break Bob invited all of us on a tour of the new Potter County Historical Building. Anyone with ties to Potter County can join Potter County Historical Society by writing to them. They also have a CD out with all the Potter County cemeteries on it. The CD includes a map showing the Town where the cemeteries are located. They are selling these to help pay for the new climate controlled building they just opened.

The Potter County Historical Society President is Leon B. Reed Sr. and he can be reached at gazelle@pennswoods.net or pottercohist@adelphia.net. You can reach the Potter Co.Genealogist Kay Brownell Reed at the same address. Here is the address for Potter County genweb http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~hyde/potter/lookups.html


Charles & Kathleen Heffner	Susan J. Thomson, Gayle Thomson & Barbara J. Heimel

Charlie & Kathleen Heffner didn't make it to the Reunion this year, but we are adding their picture here with Gayle Thomson. When you look at the cemetery and census records on the PHGS site you are going to see these names a lot.
These three people have transcribed so many records for PHGS (and still are). We owe them a mountain of gratitude.
When they are done with one thing they writing and asking for more work.
They just never stop.Charlie, Kathleen and Gayle have earned all the thanks & pats on the back we can give them.

ADDITIONAL REUNION PHOTO's


Charlie Connors-Kurt M. Pfaff- Paul Giometti- & Pat Palme	Gayle Thomson- Mike Henderson- Norman & Sandra McIntyre	Front: Norm McIntyre & Kay Brownell Reed Back: Mike Henderson & Sandra McIntyre

Barbara J. Heimel, Alice Henneberry, Kay Brownell Reed (hidden), L to R Ron Ebbert, Leon B. Reed Sr. on the porch	Charlie Connors, Norm & Sandra McIntyre & Mike Henderson	Reunion Attendants

Back Row: L to R: Susan J. Thomson, Gayle Thomson, Pat Palmer, Kurt M. Pfaff
Middle Row: Barbara J. Heimel, Leon B. Reed Sr., Robert Currin
Front Row: Kay Brownell Reed, Alice Henneberry, & Paul Giometti

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If you have anything of genealogical or historical interest to add to this site, or if you are interested in becoming a member of the Painted Hills Genealogy Society, please contact me at:
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Last Update August 23, 2002