Upcoming Events

The Morning Call listed a few local events in its "In Your Town" section (read the article here):

JACOBSBURG HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 402 Henry Road, Bushkill Township, will hold the open hearth cooking class, ''College Kitchen,'' 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The cost is $20. To register, call 610-759-9029.

MORAVIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY is seeking crafters for its 31st annual Arts and Crafts Festival 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 13 at the Whitefield House, 214 E. Center St., Nazareth. To apply, call 610-759-5070 by Sunday.

And don't forget, the Great Nazareth Carnival is June 17th through June 20th at the Borough Park from 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. each night.

Acoustic Guitar Mag Features Martin History

Acoustic Guitar magazine has a great article on Martin History Revisited (read it here).

The author's of the article take a look at Mike Longworth's book Martin Guitars: A History and explore Martin archives to update each era.

There are photos of some of the instruments as well as one from 1912 showing workers at the plant on North Street.

Jacobsburg Historical Society

The Jacobsburg Historical Society has announced upcoming exhibits and extended hours according to the Express-Times (read the article here).

A Cadet's Tale to Open

The Morning Call announced that the Whitfield House will open "A Cadet's Tale" (read the article here):

A Cadet's Tale: The Story of Nazareth Hall: The story of the celebrated boys' school established by the Moravians in Nazareth in 1743. Opens Thursday. Whitefield House, 214 E. Center St., Nazareth. 610-759-5070. http://www.moravianhistoricalsociety.org .

NASD Purchases former Property

The Express-Times reports (read it here) that the NASD bought back the Kern House from the Moravian Historical Society.

In short, the NASD sold a building for $75,000, then bought it back for $125,000, and did so without a plan of how we would use it.

The long story, ten years ago, Nazareth owned both the Kern House and its neighbor, now the law office building of Gary Asteak on the Circle. The two buildings housed the administration offices. The Kern House had the business offices, and the other building the Superintendent and Asst. Superintendent.

The decision was made to convert the main floor of the HS Annex (former middle school) to central administration offices, which meant the district could sell the two properties in the Borough.

The Kern House was sold to the Moravian Historical Society for $75,000. The sale price was low in order to allow the Society to invest in the building to create a museum and educational center that would benefit the district's students.

Since that time, there have been some open houses at the Kern House, but the resources to open another museum didn't materialize. The Society had considered sub-leasing the site to a bank for a set number of years and use the lease money received to seed the museum, but the NASD indicated doing so was against the terms of the sale.

According to the article, a recent crisis at the museum led the Society to make a decision on the Kern House and they offered sale back to the school district for $125,000.

The article notes

"Lesky said the district isn't sure how the Kern House will be used. "We're looking at the options," he said.

Preserving History

Lower Nazareth resident, Rolf Schlake, CEO of Applied Separations, and his company won a contract with Clemson University to develop a process to restore ocean submerged metals according to an article in the Morning Call (read it here).

The goal is to 'clean' the original metal from the ocean build-up in as quick a time as possible.

The project is focused on the H.L. Hunley, a Civil War era submarine that sunk and was recovered in 2000.

Holy Family History

I knew the Holy Family church was large, but was unaware that it is the second largest church in the Diocese of Allentown.

I learned this reading an article on the church in the Morning Call, which included a bit of its history as well as its current state (read the article here).

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day. The name of this holiday makes it pretty obvious what we are recognizing, but I didn't know too much about the origins of the holiday so I took a quick spin around the internet and wanted to share a couple sites and some info I found.

• The US Army Center of Military History. Has a very easy to read, chronological history of the holiday. It opens by noting the date is based on the "Treaty of Versailles, was signed in 1919] between the Allies and Germany at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of November, 1918."
• The Department of Veterans Affairs. Has both a history page (read it here) and a current events page (visit it here). The current events page includes pictures from ceremonies as they take place today, a teacher's guide and much more information. The history page quotes the Congressional resolution from 1926 which read:

  "Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed,"

Nazareth has a rich tradition of supporting and recognizing its veterans. There are reminders throughout our community from the Memorial Garden at Shafer, to the Memorial Library, along Center to the Cannon at the Circle, and over to the Memorial Park (the specific renaming of which I couldn't place nor find in the posted Borough minutes). There are also events such as the Memorial Day Parade and the now twice held Quarters campaign to support military families by the Chamber.

Today, remember and recall the service of our Veterans and keep in your thoughts and prayers today's members of our armed forces.

Remembering James Wright

Last week James Wright, local historian, columnist, and teacher at Nazareth HS passed away at the age of 61.

The Express-Times, where he wrote a very popular column on local history, had two articles about him recognizing his deep appreciation and interest in the history of Northampton County (read them here and here).

Some of his articles focused on the Nazareth area were also posted here.

He will be greatly missed, but well-remembered.

Halloween Walking Tour

The Morning Call reports on the Halloween Walking Tour (read about it other area attractions):

Tunnels and Other Tales: Walking Tour of the Phantoms and Fables of Nazareth: Tours leave from the Whitefield House at 6 and 7:30 p.m. and includes guided tour, museum admission and refreshments. Reserve tickets by 5 p.m. the day of the tour. Oct. 21-26. $7; $5, students. Moravian HistoricalSociety, 214 East Center St., Nazareth, 610-759-5070.

New Nazareth Museum?

A meeting was held on Thursday to discuss the feasibility of a Nazareth Community Museum according to the Express-Times (read the article here).

Borough Council hired former Moravian Historical Society Director Susan Dreydoppel to review the feasibility of such a museum and she and residents discussed the matter during the meeting.

Back to Basics

I came across an article in the Reading Eagle about a summer course taught in a one-room school house to teach about PA German life of the 1700/1800s (read it here).

It was brought to my attention because the article noted students came from as far away as Nazareth, but it didn't indicate who the student was, nor was there a quote.

The students were exposed to PA Dutch, cooking, dipping candles, and came to understand how vastly different life was like.

It was an interesting camp to say the least and would be neat to have something similar locally.

Another great way to gain a better understanding of local life from years ago is through the Memorial Library's archiving of the Nazareth Item (available here). It is fully indexed so you can search by name. I've searched my great-grandparents and other relatives to gain a better understanding of the time, where they lived and who they socialized with. It was also a great way to supplement genealogical records I had.

WWII Vet Recalls Service

The Morning Call featured Nazareth's Ray Christman's recollections from his service in World War II, including saving a fellow-resident who'd been injured and his experience as a POW (read the article here).

Additionally, if you haven't reviewed the Library's new online material, there is a wonderful World War II scrapbook (view it here). The scrapbook was donated to the library and placed online. The entire album is searchable by name and includes clippings from local papers during that time.

The History of Nazareth Hall

I love the articles that James Wright produces in the Express-Times on local history, particularly when it is in Nazareth. Today he has an article on the Nazareth Hall. Located off the Circle on Center Street, he tells a brief history of the building from its original design as a home for Count Zinzendorf to its current use of apartments (read the article here) and rightly points out its being one of the most historic of buildings in this area.

Holy Family Parish 100th Anniversary

The Holy Family Parish is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and they have a web site specific to the occasion: http://www.holyfamilyonline.org/100anniversary/

The site includes history, events, and commemorative items.

History of Groundhog Lodges

Saw this earlier in the week and thought it only appropriate to mention today.

The article is from the Express-Times and provides some background on the Groundhog Lodges (read it here).

Holiday Recap (ie Catching Up)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We start part two with more family today, then new year, and finally back to the grind. Below are some articles I found/had piling up from in and around the Nazareth area.

• Last chance to see the train display in Stockertown (read the article by JD Malone of the Express-Times here). The Nazareth Area Society of Model Engineers has a massive display in Stockertown. Trains are a holiday tradition for many and the Society has several gauges and many models including mills and a replica of the borough of Nazareth.
  
• Nazareth Downtown Association's interim main street manager is featured in an article in the Express-Times (read it here).
  
• Martin Guitar produces two guitars for Led Zepellin that were sold to support the ABC Trust (a children's fund in Brazil). Read the Morning Call article here.
• The Morning Call's music editor Len Righi gives Randall of Nazareth's solo debut album an honorable mention in his best music for 2007 list (read the article here).
• Weston reunion show in Philadelphia. Many members of this band were from Nazareth or had Nazareth area connections. They played mostly in the mid 1990s and have gotten together for a few holiday shows according to an article in the Morning Call (read it here).
  
• Holy Family Ruckus. Police were called to the CYO tournament before Christmas when parents/fans from one team came onto the court to verbally accost the opposing coach. Tournament officials ended the game on the spot and no arrests were made. Read the Express-Times article here.
• Nazareth Towne Open House - did you go? What did you think? The Express-Times had a list of participating stores/businesses (available here). I was on the road Thursday and after four hours of driving had nothing left in the tank.
• There is more on the open house here, including information about the Whitefield House organ. This is one of many amazing instruments on display. Having heard it played myself it is really neat to listen too, particularly the hand pump.
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100th Anniversary of St. John's Reformed Church

The Express-Times Almanac for December 16 (yes still catching up from the week) reported the following (read the article here):

100 years ago today:
1907: A large crowd attended the opening of a Nazareth church.

St. John's Reformed Church of Nazareth was dedicated.

The congregation was organized in 1859 with 37 members and worshiped with St. John's Lutheran Church. Two years ago the church decided to build its own house of worship.

History Bits

Two articles today, one from the Morning Call and one from the Express-Times address significant historical events - the Battle of the Bulge and the Civil War.

The article regarding the Battle of the Bulge was written by Upper Nazareth veteran Robert Faro, who is encouraging people to attend the December 19 presentation by the Lehigh Valley Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge at the Easton Public Library (read the article here).

The other article is by James Wright who tells what is known of a civil war photographer from Nazareth - William Kuntsman (read the article here).

Holiday Home Tour

The Morning Call has an article on homes to tour during the holidays (read it here), which includes:

John Joseph Henry House, Nazareth: This house was built by the third of five generations of Henry sons, who headed the family gunmaking business. The home was built in 1832, modeled after elegant Federal-style Philadelphia homes. All furnishings are original family pieces.