Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society
of Pennsylvania, Inc.
Meeting of May 16, 2015
56th Anniversary Dinner
Dutch-Way Restaurant, Gap, PA
President Tom Walczak
called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. welcoming members and guests to our 56th
Anniversary Dinner. This is an event
each year where we can celebrate ourselves for our many accomplishments over
the past year, all of which are a testament to our membership. Congratulations to all for making the
Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society of PA what it is today!
New
Members and Guests:
Among the guests were Ginny Ehrich’s daughter Patty and her husband Kevin. Tina Chack introduced her fiancé’s
grandmother Ethel. New members Suzanna
and George Lovas from Maryland were also in attendance.
Tom reminded everyone
that copies of the April minutes were circulating for review. Approval would be sought later in the meeting.
Treasurer Bob Kuether
read the monthly treasurer’s report. There
were no additions/corrections to the minutes.
It was approved as read by the membership. As of April 30th we have 368
members renewed for 2014-15, 28 less than one year ago.
Tom thanked Bob and Judy
Kuether for their work in arranging today’s dinner and Judy, Ed Myers and Linda
Finkelstein for making the favors and centerpieces.
MEMBERS’
REPORTS
Pat Cook:
On May 5, 2015 she, Ken and Bob Kuether attended the Jackson’s Mill
(PA-05-25) Ribbon cutting for the new grasshoppers. There were 29 people there. Seven from our
society. It was nice and the bridge
looked nice. They also visited Claycomb
(PA-05-12) which looked nice and Felton’s Mill (PA-05-03) which we don’t know
how it is still standing. She noted
that Bedford County pushes their covered bridges but was surprised not to see
anything about the ribbon cutting in advance. Pat had red ribbons from the ribbon cutting on
the display table in case anyone wanted one.
Tom also mentioned the
lack of publicity for the event. He
received a call afterwards from Alice Malone, a member who lives in the area,
who saw the picture in the local paper after the fact but knew nothing of it
beforehand or she may have attended.
Promotion of the event was purely word-of-mouth and email invitations,
nothing in the local papers announcing the upcoming event.
Bonnie Shultz: She and her sister visited Jacks
Mountain (PA-01-08) which was nice and Martin’s Mill (PA-28-01) which is only a
skeleton. They also visited Zimmerman
(PA-54-01) and Rock (PA-54-02) which was nice and 4 stringers. In Carbon County they visited Harrity
(PA-13-01) which has some timber decay; Little Gap (PA–13-02) was nice but had
varying shades of red on the side. She
and Gary Bartoo visited Hillsgrove (PA-57-02), Cogan House (PA-41-02) and
Lairdsville (PA-41-03) all in good shape.
Barbara McCauley’s son took her out on Mother’s Day to
Schuykill County where she saw Rock and Zimmerman and to Columbia County to see
Snyder (PA-19-14). It was good to see
Snyder had been painted since she last saw it.
In total they saw 12 bridges. It
had been 20 years since seeing the 12 bridges and nice to see that they were
all in good condition – some excellent.
Tim McLaughlin saw 16 bridges in Chester County
while on our annual safari. He prompted
a round of applause to Michael Chorazy for his work in organizing and leading a
great safari!
Michael Chorazy thanked Bob Kuether for rescheduling
our Anniversary Dinner to accommodate the dates for the safari. An earlier safari gave us nice weather, less
traffic and fewer leaves on the trees around the bridges. He sent thank you notes to all who helped
with the safari and to Ian, the property manager at the Preserves (easy to work
with and enjoyed seeing our group at the bridges). Tim McLaughlin suggested sending a safari
patch to Ian as a thank you for accommodating our group.
Greg Williams mentioned an article about a 60’ X
18’ covered bridge being built on private property by the Gratons in Norwich,
CT.
Joyce Soroka was not able to attend today’s dinner
but sent the report below which Gloria Smedley read during the meeting.
I
set up a display at the I-81 Welcome Center for the week of May 3-9, which was
National Tourism Week, and May 9-17 for SPCBW.
On May 8 at the Welcome Center, I gave travelers chocolate covered
popcorn that I made. I had many visitors
stop and talk about covered bridges. I
think the popcorn was the draw for them to stop at the display and talk. J
On
May 5, along with other Society members and officers I attended the ribbon
cutting at Jackson’s Mill Covered Bridge in Bedford County. I was honored to be selected by the officers
in attendance to address the participants at the event. The following day I worked with former
members of the Bedford County Covered Bridge Society regarding the lettering to
be placed back on the bridge. This was
completed by May 8.
On
May 9, I presented a program titled Pennsylvania Covered Bridges, an
Overview at the State Library. The
State Library is open to the public the second Saturday of each month.
On
May14, I presented the program again as a “Lunch and Learn” session for
Commonwealth employees. These “Lunch and
Learn” sessions are offered monthly by the State Library with a variety of
topics.
The
day prior to this presentation I was informed that Pennsylvania Cable Network
(PCN) would be filming my program to air on PCN in the future. I was very excited with this news.
The
State Library staff forwarded two inquiries to me from two other state agencies
inquiring if I will do the program for their staff. I am in the process of working with these
agencies to schedule the program.
OFFICERS’
REPORTS
President Tom Walczak enjoyed the safari and thanked
Michael Chorazy for his work on it. We
saw 16 bridges including a surprise visit to Jackson’s Mill (PA-36-33#2) that
wasn’t on the itinerary. I was able to
get many great reflection shots. He
thanked Bob and Judy for taking care of the safari registrations and bringing
the country store to the safari. He also
thanked Greg William and Tim Cohen for their work as safety coordinators. Tom attended the May 5th ribbon cutting
ceremony at Jackson’s Mill and noted that the bridge looks beautiful. Seven members of our society attended. He was somewhat disappointed at the time that
the saying over the portal ($5 fine for
anyone riding or driving over this bridge faster than a walk) was not
repainted but has since been done. He
stopped on the way here this morning to get updated pictures with the saying in
place. After the ribbon cutting he and
his father stopped at New Baltimore (PA- 56-09#2) in Somerset County and found
it in good shape. He also saw Kidd’s
Mill (PA-43-01) in Mercer Country which seems to have a dip in the roof
line. Rafters seem to have slipped off
chords in places causing the dip. He
intends to let the appropriate officials know about this. Tom prepared and manned a display for See
Pennsylvania’s Covered Bridges Week at the I-80E Welcome Center in Mercer’s
County.
He thanked all who had
participated and had displays at various locations. We were well represented throughout the
state.
Ray Finkelstein held two
(2) presentations; Lower Macungie Library and his Community Center. Joyce Soroka gave a talk to 2 groups both
available to the public and State Employees along with a display at the State
Library. Bob and Judy Kuether put up
displays at the Susquehanna Bank in Harrisburg, Hershey Public Library and at
the Lancaster Visitor Bureau for the day.
Pennsylvania has 14
Welcome Centers and our Members set up displays at 10 of the 14 Welcome Centers
throughout Pennsylvania. Below is the
list of participating members and centers.
I-83 N (York
Co) Jim & Gloria
Smedley
I-81 N (Franklin Co. Joyce Soroka
I-70 W (Fulton
Co) Bob & Judy
Kuether
I-79 N (Greene
Co) Bob & Judy
Kuether
I-70 E (Washington
Co) Judy Talmonti
I-80 E (Mercer Co) Tom Walczak
I-95 N (Delaware Co) Heather Watkins
I-78 W (Northampton) Ray Finkelstein
I-276 W (Montgomery) Steve Wolfhope
15 South (Tioga) Bob
& Judy Kuether
First Vice President,
Jim Smedley: The rehabilitation of Jericho Bridge
(MD-03-02 & MD-12-01) is well underway.
It is stripped down to the trusses.
The plan is to remove the bridge from Little Gunpowder Falls to Jericho
Road, replace rotted wood which is expected to be about 15% of the truss, then place
it back over the Falls. The project
should be completed by the end of the year.
Also, the 3 Frederick
County MD bridges are currently being rehabilitated as we meet today. When completed all three bridges will have
fire retardant paint, and a fire alarm system. Roddy Road Bridge (MD-10-02)
also will get 190 feet of new guard railing along Roddy Creek Road and toe wall
for scour protection. Utica Mills
(MD-10-01) will get scour protection at the center support, replace siding as
necessary, clean and paint siding and install a new roof. New portals boards have already been
installed. Loys Station (MD-10-03#2)
will just include fire retardant paint.
They already have an alarm system.
Thanks to everyone for
sending in photos for the 2016 calendar.
We received about 115 photo entries this year along with about 15 that
we reentered from last year because they were really nice photos. Although we had a good supply of photos and
some new photographers, most of the photos that rated high and were used for
the calendar are from the same photographers as last year with the exception of
Tim Cohen who has two photos in the calendar.
There are 5 photos of bridges that have never been in any of our
previous 7 calendars.
We are taking a look at
the current process for calendar photo entries and decisions in an effort to
get some photos in from members who had not had a photo in a calendar. I am also looking at adding more judges to
rate the photos.
The deadline for PA
Crossings Newsletter is June 7th, the day of our June meeting.
Second Vice President,
Ray Finkelstein
visited Rock Covered Bridge to take a few pictures of the completed rehab –
looks great. He received information
from Penn Dot representative Kris Thompson that Manassas Guth (PA-39-03) in
Lehigh County will be starting its rehab in about a month. It will have all its siding replaced, floor
replaced, and painted Barn Red. Truss
and roof will not get any work. He had a
report with him if anyone wanted to see it that goes over the complete
rehab. He started work on a Shutterfly
book of the safari and thanked all that contributed pictures. He promoted See PA’s Covered Bridges Week
with the following: on May 5th
at their annual Community Night he gave out many rack cards and talked with
residents in the area promoting covered bridges; was at the Route 78 Welcome
Center on May 11th and will hopefully set up a permanent display in
the near future there; gave a presentation at his local library on May 13th
with about 30 people in attendance – strong interest, and has had a display at
the local library since mid-April.
Third Vice President, Steve Wolfhope created and manned a display during National Tourism Week and SPCBW at the King of Prussia Visitors Center. It was a small room but they gave him two tables for his display which was well received by staff and visitors. There was a lot of interest in the covered bridges and many requests for brochures. He visited many bridges while making a trip to a train meet in NY near Newburgh. During his travels he saw the following bridges in Connecticut: Bulls (CT-03-01), West Cornwall (CT-03-02), Comstock (CT-04-01#2), Johnsonville (CT-04-07), and Kent Falls State Park (non-authentic) (CT-03-D) and in Massachusetts he visited Upper Sheffield (MA-02-01#2), Arthur Smith (MA-06-03#2), Bissell (MA-06-04#3), Burkeville/Conway (MA-06-01), Creamery Brook (MA-06-11) where they were selling maple syrup on the bridge, Pumping Station (MA-06-02#2) which was unbelievable, Gilbertville (MA-08-04/MA-14-01), Grays Sugarhouse (non-authentic) (MA-06-g) and Goodrich (non-authentic) (MA-07-a). Most bridges were in good shape.
Fourth Vice
President, Ed Myers spent
much time communicating with the Governor’s Office about the SPCBW
Proclamation. It was finally received on
Monday May 11, 2015. He reminded us of
several upcoming events.
Recording Secretary,
Gloria Smedley enjoyed
the safari and thanked Michael for his efforts.
She and Jim shared time manning the I-83N Welcome Center Display for SPCBW.
Corresponding
Secretary / Program Chair Pamela A. Heisey – no report.
Treasurer
Bob Kuether attended
the ribbon cutting ceremony for Jackson Mill.
He thanked everyone for their work and efforts making and manning
displays for SPCBW. We had 18 displays
in total at Welcome Centers and various locations throughout the state. He reported on an ABC program that just aired
about the burning of Dellville (PA-50-16) bridge. His interpretation was that once the insurance
funds begin to flow it will be rebuilt.
Jim
Smedley saw the article about the ABC program and commented that it seems the
insurance company is delaying getting the funds out – waiting for the arsonist
to be caught lest he/she burn it down again after it is rebuilt. Good news was that they should be able to power
blast the charred wood and use insurance funds to replace siding, keeping the
original structure intact.
Historian
Fred J. Moll – no
report.
REPORTS OF ILLNESSES OR
DEATHS
Yvonne
Geib, former member, passed away on April 26, 2015.
OLD BUSINESS
Ed
Myers read the Governor’s Proclamation for SPCBW. Our Society was responsible for having this
put into law beginning in 1969. PA is
the only state to annually honor its bridges.
The
membership previously approved the amount of $5,000 for painting a bridge. Our estimate for painting Esther Furnace
(PA-19-20) in Columbia County has come in at $5,500. This includes all the paint for the painter
to complete the outside and inside of the bridge with society members painting
the portals as we have done in the past.
Tom solicited questions – there were none. Tim McLaughlin made a motion to approve the
additional $500 and Ben Evans seconded it.
The membership unanimously approved the motion.
Bob
Kuether will move forward Monday to give 30 day notice to the commissioner’s
office for the bridge to be painted on June 20, 2015. We will start at 9am, restroom facilities are
available, and lunch will be provided by the commissioner. Tom encouraged members to participate and
said to let Bob know if you plan to attend as he will need a head count for
lunch.
NEW BUSINESS
Clyde
and Alda Sheib will celebrate their 67th wedding anniversary on May
30, 2015.
Tom
solicited suggestions for 2016 safari.
Connie Francis suggested VT/New England.
Many were in agreement. Bob
Kuether offered to lead it. He will look
into it and will provide more info at the next meeting.
Judy
Kuether suggested Washington County.
Bob
mentioned new items for sale in the country store - 2016 Calendars, CDs of
society publications, National Society mugs and postcard sets of Chester County
bridges.
COVERED BRIDGE ITEMS
Bonnie
Shultz showed an ‘Amish Treats’ Cookbook that has a sketch of a covered bridge
inside.
Connie
Francis saw a painting of Mercer’s bridge for sale for $100 at a local café,
and noted that the East Lampeter Police patch has a covered bridge on it.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Minutes were approved as presented.
NEXT MEETING
Our Next Meeting will be
held on Sunday June 7 at 2:00 p.m. at the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in
Manheim.
The Program will be ‘Covered
Bridges of Lehigh Valley: Past and Present’ given by Ray Finkelstein.
ADJOURNMENT - The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted by
Recording Secretary, Gloria Smedley
Revised
June 1, 2015