victoriavm Activities & Events, Community, Griffith High School, Griffith Historical Society, History Notes

Liberty Trees Planted to Honor America’s 250th 🌳

🇺🇸 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫!

As part of our celebration and dedication to preserve and honor historical events, the Griffith Historical Society was proud to partner with local schools to plant “Liberty Trees” in honor of America’s 250th Anniversary.

Student volunteers and our America 250 Committee got to work to plant a serviceberry tree at Beiriger, a maple tree at Wadsworth, an oak tree at Griffith High School, and another oak tree at St. Mary School.

Soon, we’ll have plaques to commemorate the trees’ significance. We hope the trees will be a continuing symbol and memorial for this historic year!

Special thanks to John Chance, principal of Griffith High School, Georgia Smith, the Director of Maintenance at the Griffith Public Schools, and Rebecca Maskovich, principal of St. Mary School, as well as our Griffith Historical Society volunteers, Valerie & John Wotkun and Marthann Gatlin, for coordinating and planting the trees, and Ken Karlstedt for taking photos.

Beiriger – Serviceberry Tree

Wadsworth – Maple Tree

High School – Oak Tree

St. Mary School – Oak Tree

victoriavm Activities & Events, Depot & Train Museums, Griffith Depot and Historical Park, Monarch Waystation, Sundays at the Depot, Support the History Museums, Parks, & Rail-Cam

Butterfly Day 2026

🦋Join us to celebrate the return of the monarchs, as they migrate up from the south!
🗓️Sunday May 24, 2026
🕰️ 1 – 4 pm

🏫 Visit the Griffith Depot & Train Museums (everything will be open to view!) and enjoy our Monarch Waystation garden!
🦋Learn about Monarchs, their amazing migration, & how they’ve become endangered. Jeanette Bobos, the retired Master Gardner who planted our garden, will be on on hand to share her knowledge.
🐝Learn about adding native plants to your garden.
🌻Buy plants that help butterflies, especially monarchs! We’ll have a small selection of milkweed plants & other native plants.

victoriavm Activities & Events, Griffith Historical Society, Volunteer

🇺🇸Flowers for 250 Years!

🇺🇸 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫!
……❈★❈★……(𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥?)
❤️🤍💙Griffith Historical Society’s America 250 Committee worked with Imagine Griffith and citizen volunteers to plant red, white and blue flowers throughout downtown Griffith. The flowers were provided courtesy of the Parks Department.
🇺🇸We hope you enjoy them this summer as we continue to celebrate America’s 250th birthday!

victoriavm Griffith Historical Society

Get to Know Us: Nancy Fortner Stout

Nancy is the current President of the Griffith Historical Society.

Tell us a bit about yourself!
I’ve been married to Mike Stout for 47 years. I’ve got 3 children: Mike Jr, Angela, and Adam, and 9 grandchildren! I worked at the License Bureau, Griffith Senior High School’s Attendance Secretary, Strack & Van Til, and at American Trans Air (ATA) airports in FL and Midway. I have served on the Police Commission, as a UFCU Board Member, on the Griffith Educational Foundation, and as a Precinct Committeeperson.

What is your favorite memory about living in Griffith?
My favorite memory of Griffith is ice skating at Central Park, summer recreation St Mary’s for grade school, and going to Griffith High School (I had a blast!)

What drew you to the GHS?
I have always loved Griffith, so when I saw they had a Historical Society, I knew it was for me.

What do you like most about being a GHS member and officer?
Finding out the history of Griffith. Barrel train at the Market with all the children. Elmer J Project with the 3rd graders. They get so excited when they’re learning about the history of Griffith. Santa in the Caboose – the children are so excited to see Santa.
I love working with the people of the Historical Society. Everyone supports each other.

Nancy Stout