As promised, a canal hike in the Malvern/Oneida area has been planned to follow up on the October 18 presentation hosted by the Malvern Historical Society.
The hike is free and open to all.
When: Saturday, December 1, 2018
Rain/snow date will be Saturday, December 8, 2018
Time: 1 p.m. meet.
Where: Meet at Bethlehem Cemetery, Malvern.
Who: Hosted by the Malvern Historical Society and led by canal authoritarian Mr. Doug Bacso.
The December date was chosen in effort to remain close in time frame to the presentation held in October along with decreased vegetation/pests which may be found near the traveled areas.
We will be breaking up the day in to two parts for those who may not be interested for a longer hike. The first part, beginning at 1 p.m. will focus on the area near Bethlehem Cemetery and will not involve much intense walking. The second part for that day is still in the process of being refined and will be announced that day, however, will include longer walk times in possibly overgrown areas heading nearer to Oneida. The entire day is expected to take upwards of two and one-half hours in total and possibly longer.
Those interested in attending, please be ready to walk through possibly muddy areas with potential for briers and uneven terrain. Boots are recommended. Dress warm depending on the weather.
On September 8, 2018, we brought to the attention of the Malvern community our desire to preserve the mammoth name stone from the old 1891 school house which once stood on West Main Street. Our community has always come to attention in the past when we have requested assistance, and as always, our friends and families rallied together to lend us a hand for this project.
Within hours of sharing our project via the Facebook world, Malvern Cub Scout Pack 155 Assistant Cub Master, Mr. Ben Thompson, contacted our society. He shared that he and his wife, Cub Master Brandy Thompson, were so thankful for the walking history tour the Malvern Historical Society provided for their pack this past summer, they wanted to be able to give back in some way and help us raise the money for this name stone project.
The Cub Scouts reached out to the Malvern Rotary in attempts to pair up with another community association to assist with raising the needed funds. Mr. Gary Pearce of the Malvern Rotary reached out to the Malvern Historical Society and requested a representative from our organization attend their evening meeting and share the project with the group. Mr. Tyler Moody, chairman of the name stone project along with Jason Lombardi (president of the historical society) met with Rotarians one Monday evening, sharing specifics of the name stone project. Ben and Brandy Thompson were also present at this meeting representing the Cub Scouts along with Cameron Eckard. Following the presentation, Malvern Rotarians shared their organization’s desire to match funds collected by the Cub Scouts to see our project through to fruition.
Several weekends ago, Malvern Cub Scouts could be seen at two Malvern locations (Woods’ Grocery and Rocky’s Too) collecting donations for our project. The Scouts and affiliates spent hours diligently manning their stations in spite of a not so warm day that day!
The Scouts presented their gatherings at our October meeting ($750 + $750 as matched by the Malvern Rotary). Shown in the photo accepting the donation check from Cub Master Brandy Thompson is Mr. Doug Angeloni, Malvern Historical Society member and also member of the name stone project committee. Malvern Historical Society President Jason Lombardi is pictured at the far right. Proudly gathered for the photo representing the Scouts are also (front row, left to right): Jacob Lemley, Andersen Myers, and Cameron Eckard; (second row, left to right): Adelynn Myers, A’Auna Eckard, and Russell McCune; (third row, left to right): Melissa Lemley and Emily McCune.
Brandy Thompson reports to us the Scouts reached out to others to fulfill the donations needed, receiving contributions from Malvern American Legion Valley Post 375, Reed Street Cafe, and Mr. Scott Bowling.
Our society directly received other generous donations for the project including (in alphabetical order): Steve Barnett, Shirley Foster, Loretta Harsh, Dave LePore, and Brett Sarbach.
We thankfully report the donations requested have been provided and then some with contributions exceeding $2,200.
Due to weather changing as we approach the termination of 2018, the project is slated to begin first thing in the Spring of 2019.
With sincere gratitude, we humbly thank all donors who contributed to our project. Your generosity speaks volumes. Updates to follow as weather permits.