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Posted 09-11-2003 NINE News-Bits of Reading-Berks historical interest….. ============ ============ =========== ============ ============ =========== 1- Silent auction--antiques, paintings, Fri., Sept 12---4 to 9--- at 730 Centre Ave 2- Sat., Sept 13th: Opening of Society's 3-D exhibit (Outstanding!) 3- Centre Park Arts & Antiques Fair - Sun., Sept. 21 - 10 to 5 4- Sat. Sept. 20 @ 10 & 11 - "Projected Stereo" show by gmmix 5- Rehrersburg celebration: Sat., Sept. 20th - bands all day 6- Society's needs some church records. Help us! 7- Mouns Jones annual Country Fair Sat/Sun - Sept 27, 28 - 10 to 4 8- Gingerbread House competition YOU can enter! Exhibit follows 9- Book Fair at RAAC -Sat., Oct. 11 -Slides on Rdg's riverfront at 1 =============== ============== ============ =============== ============== ============ 1- Silent auction of antiques, paintings, glassware, jewelry, etc. at Adrienne's Inn, 730 Centre Ave., Reading, 4 to 9 p.m. Benefit of Rdg. Volunteer Crime Watch, which keeps an eye on a large area, including the Historical Society's two buildings. Purchases are said to be tax deductible. Information: 610 - 655 - 6599 Adrienne's Inn (a fine bead-and-breakfast establishment) is the stately and elegant former Wilhelm Mansion. If you've never seen its Grand Parlor, with nearly full-relief cherubs and ornamental plaster-work suspended from the ceiling, this is your OPPORTUNITY. Maybe bring your camera…. ============ ============ ============== 2- THIS Saturday, Sept. 13th--- opening of a special 3-D exhibit in the Society's Exhibition Hall: "America in Three Dimension: Stereography and Old-Time Photography." Doors open at 10 a.m. This promises to be an extraordinary show which has an emphasis on local stereography. We have a large collection of views by Rdg. stereographers Wiedensaul and Fred Yeager (433 Penn St.)--- and fine cameras and viewers, some of which are huge. Note that this unique exhibition will be available for only 6 weeks. It will be removed Halloween Night. ============= ============== ============= 3- This SUNDAY--Sept. 14th -- is the Centre Park Historic District's Annual Arts and Antiques Fair---in Reading's Centre Park, across from our Hendel Mansion. Times are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Raindate is the following Slunday, Sept. 21st.) This is the 17th annual A&A Fair at Centre Park. There will be entertainment and lots of great food---from Dans, Sweet Bay Cafe, Taverna, J's Place, Cecile's, and Tommy's Café. Guided walking tours of the District will be held throughout the day for a very nominal charge. The Arts and Antiques Fair itself is free. ============= ============== ============= 4- Saturday, Sept. 20th at 10 and 11 a.m.: an unusual entertainment for YOU. Publicity has been largely kept within Society membership and News-Bits recipients so that you will have the chance to see this program in an uncrowded setting. It will be given one day only---with two sittings. In 1939 Wm. B. Gruber, a German who came to the U.S. to build pianos and organs, invented the ViewMaster process. He teamed with Harold Graves of Sawyer's photo processing lab. Their "educational" viewer was introduced at the World's Fairs at New York and San Francisco with enormous success. In time, a large and expensive projector was devised, which is what will be used for the programs on Sat., Sept. 20th. Your editor began taking Reading and Berks views of "sites in danger," using ViewMaster equipment, in the early 1960's. These and sensational and unusual general views will be featured in the programs on Sat., Sept. 20th. If you've never seen projected ViewMaster, you're in for a real treat as the effect is stunning. ============= ============== ============== 5- Saturday, September 20 has been set as Bicentennial Day by the Rehrersburg Bicentennial Committee. This will be an all-day affair with food and lots of band music. Locals are urged to watch for publicity in the Reading Eagle. Rehrersburg is located in northwestern Berks County, PA, in Tulpehocken Township. It was founded in 1803 by Jacob Rehrer. At that time, Rehrersburg was on the edge of the western frontier. John Wolfart was the first owner of the 162 acres on which Rehrersburg is built. Upon his death, the land was sold to Jacob Hoffman who opened an inn known as Tolheo. This structure survives on the west end of the main street of town (Gottfried St.), on the south side. You can't miss it as it's an unusually long building---almost like three homes joined together. Early records tell us that the inn was considered "the last outpost on the Indian Path to Shamokin." This was a reference to the Tulpehocken Path. Used by the Delaware Lenape people, this path was later traveled by Europeans moving into the western wilderness. Conrad Weiser, acting as interpreter and peace emissary between the Penn Family and the Native Americans, frequently traveled the Tulpehocken Path between his home in Womelsdorf and the Shamokin\Sunbury Council Fires of Chief Shikillamy. Gottfried Street, the main street in Rehrersburg, runs right on the Tulpehocken Path. Johan Gottfried and Maria Magdalena (Etschberger) Rehrer purchased the land, including the inn, from Hoffman in 1761. Now known as "Rehrer's", the inn continued to be an important stop over for travelers going into the western frontier. It served as a stage and mail coach stop for weary travelers. Drovers stopped overnight at Rehrer's Tavern as they brought their herds and flocks of cattle and sheep from western Pennsylvania to markets in Philadelphia. In 1789, when the first election in the newly formed United States of America was held, voters from the surrounding area came to Rehrer's to cast their ballot for the first US president. In 1799, Johan Gottfried Rehrer conveyed 162 acres of land to his son John Jacob Rehrer, reserving one acre for the nearby Lutheran Church. John Jacob laid out and recorded the town plan of Rehrersburg on April 4, 1803. The original plan consisted of 94 lots. An additional 53 lots on the north side of town were added in 1819. The lots were divided into 3 classes and disposed of by lottery. In the first class, the tickets were twenty dollars and a half-dollar ground rent each year. In the second class: fifteen dollars and one dollar ground rent each year. In the third class: ten dollars and one and one-half dollars ground rent each year. The streets of the town were named after members of his family. He named the main east-west street Gottfried Street in honor of his father. The first lot was sold to George and Mary Krichbaum of Bethel Township on August 23, 1803. As the town grew and prospered, enterprising residents established businesses to make it self sustaining. Because of its location on a heavily traveled road, 4 tavern/inns and 3 blacksmith shops sprung up. They provided food, rest and supplies for the drovers and teamsters and their horses and wagons. In 1818, the sixth post office in Berks County opened in Rehrersburg. Other enterprises throughout the years included general stores, tinsmithery, cabinet making, brick making, a carriage works, watch making, basket making, carpentry--and even a millinery shop! When you come to Rehrersburg for its Bicentennial celebration, take the following photo along, taken in July 1895. It was L. Haag's stove and tinsmith establishment. See whether you can find the site. ============ ============= ================ 6- YOUR help is needed! We need records from the following Berks churches: Faith Lutheran, Mt. Penn Friedens UCC, Oley Friedens Lutheran, Oley Good Shepherd Lutheran, Muhlenberg Twp. Grace Lutheran, Shillington Hope Lutheran, Bowers Incarnation Lutheran Rosedale UCC St. John's Lutheran, Sinking Spring Trinity Lutheran, Leesport Zion (Spies) Lutheran, Alsace Twp. We will make copies and return the originals and provide to the church congregation an every-name index. If you can help us gain access to the records listed above, please call the Society at 610 - 375 - 4375 and ask for Mrs. Brophy. It's very helpful for congregations to have a second set of records available, especially an indexed set. Three or more times the Society came to the rescue, providing congregations with their records which in two fairly recent cases simply disappeared from the church. In another instance, records were destroyed by a church fire. (When the "fireproof safe" was opened, what remained was so badly scorched that pages fell apart when touched.) =========== =============== =============== 7- The Mouns Jones annual Country Fair will be Sat. and Sun., Sept. 17 and 28---from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is a modest entrance fee of $2. Musical entertainments will take place throughout the day, on both days. On site will be the 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment. Experience 18th Century life with living historians. On display and for sale will be traditional crafts, folk art, fall flowers, baked goods, pre-owned books, etc. A gourmet luncheon will be available in the historic White Horse Inn. Locals, watch for further details in the Reading Eagle. The event is sponsored by the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County, P. O. Box 245, Douglassville, PA 19518. Below are two views of the Mouns Jones house, the oldest standing structure in Berks, as it appeared 55 years ago. Restoration efforts began around 1965. =========== ============= ============= 8- Our Historical Society is sponsoring a GINGERBREAD COMPETITION, one that seeks the creation of "scratch-built" original houses or structures. There will be 18 prizes given, which carry cash awards totaling some $ 1,800. The categories are as follows: I - Reproduction of significant historic buildings…Reading and Berks structures---or famous buildings worldwide 2 - Traditional Gingerbread houses 3 - Young People's Gingerbread Creations. There will be two sub-catagories: ages 12 and under---and ages 13 to 18. We have prepared a three-page brochure detailing all that is relevant to the competition. YOU are invited to enter. To receive your brochure, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Historical Society of Berks County, 940 Centre Ave., Reading, PA 19601. On the bottom of the envelope, on the left side, put "JANIS." DEADLINE to register: Saturday, November 8th. ============ ============ ============== 9- Reading Area Community College, located along Reading's Schuylkill River waterfront---just south of the Penn Street Viaduct---will be sponsoring a Book Fair on Saturday, October 11th, in the YOCUM Library building. The Book Fair is one of many events planned for the weekend of October 10-13 in honor of Reading Area Community College's new president, Dr. Richard Kratz. The Book Fair will celebrate Dr. Kratz's love of reading. The Book Fair itself will run from 10 am to 2 pm and will feature book sales and giveaways, a visit from the Book-A-Saurus bookmobile, and informational booths promoting reading and related services, as well as the special events below. Special features: 10:00 am -11:00 am --- Presentation by local children's author Teresa Levandowski and illustrator Tammy Updegrove Braunsberg 11:00 am -1:00 pm --- Storytime by the river featuring Dr. Kratz and local guest readers 1:00 am -2:00 pm --- Slide presentation by Geo. M. Meiser, IX focusing on the Schuylkill River and its canal and old-time buildings in the area of RAAC. This will be the first showing of this specially prepared slide program. ============= ============== =============== ============= gmmix ======= end

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