Had a great time again with our Hess Express Barrel Train at Munster’s 27th Annual National Night Out Against Crime Celebration on August 2nd. Thank you to the Munster Police Department and Officer James Ghrist for inviting us to be part of it. And to top it off, the train made it into The Times newspaper, too, with member Craig Hoot driving it!
A NEW PAGE
We have a new page on our website featuring the rebuild of our C&O Inspection Car that had been left in pieces when a renovation project was abandoned several years ago by the person who began it.
Thankfully, two men who have a passion for these vintage work cars stepped up and are bringing our little car back to life. Look for information and photos here.
FRANKLIN CENTER MUSEUM CLOSED UNTIL SEPTEMBER
The Model Railroad group at Franklin Center has closed down for the summer. When they are not open, we do not have easy access to bathroom facilities, so we must close also. We will be open the 3rd Saturday in September, the 17th, from 10 a.m to 2 p.m.
As we did this past summer and through last winter, we will be again working on new displays during our downtime. In particular, we will be setting up displays in our new school and school sports room.
Mother. Teacher. Wife. Bookstore owner. Grandmother. Genealogist. Great Grandmother. Historian. Friend.
Maxine Hess was all these things and more during her long life, but today we write about Maxine as Historian and Friend.
Maxine was a contributing member of the Griffith Historical Society for more than 30 years and served many terms on our Board of Directors. She worked with us in maintaining the Grand Trunk Depot Museum, creating and growing our Griffith Historical Park, and establishing our Griffith History Rooms at Franklin Center.
There wasn’t an event or activity that Maxine didn’t volunteer for, among them working the Historical Society booth at our annual Railroad Fair for 19 years; scheduling elves for our Santa in the Caboose every Christmas and working the event; helping set up our historical rooms at Franklin Center; and starting a veterans registry that we will continue in her name.
Maxine’s legacy will live on with The Hess Express, the barrel train for children she was instrumental in our acquiring and which was named for her. The train not only is a source of income for our Society, but also provides fun times for so many children each year.
Over the years so many Griffith Historical Society members have become Life Members, like Maxine and her late husband, Jay, were. But more than that, our working together to preserve our town’s history resulted in life-long friendships, as well.
So, today, we say goodbye to our friend, Maxine. She will not be forgotten.
These are unusual times — indeed there’s been no time like it since the 1918 worldwide Spanish Flu pandemic killed millions of people. (You know we’d have to get a little history in this article somewhere!) But times are dire now, and they call for unusual measures. No one knows when life will get back to normal, so for now, we cannot make any plans for the summer. Check this website in the coming weeks for news about any activities that might be coming up. And please do everything you can to stay safe and well.
Griffith History Museums 