In days gone by, putting up the townโs Christmas decorations right after Thanksgiving was a yearly event in Griffith.
Members of the Community Spirit organization and the Griffith Fire Department are pictured here in the 100 block of South Broad Street. Lighted garlands were strung across Broad for several blocks.
It gave the town an especially festive holiday look, reminiscent, some folks said, of Bedford Falls, the town in the movie, โIt’s a Wonderful Life.โ
๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ!๐
Join us!!
๐Saturday, Dec 9 (10am – 4pm) & ๐Sunday, Dec 10 (Noon – 4pm)
โ๏ธGive a donation, enjoy a private visit with Santa
โ๏ธTake photos & video, weโll take a family picture for you
โ๏ธOur Holiday Bake Sale in our Depot, plus:
โ๏ธ Daisy Troop 15620, with stocking stuffer snacks
โ๏ธBrownie Troop 35647, with ornaments/decorative candle jars
โ๏ธCub Scout Pack 622 & Boy Scout Troop 623, with hot dogs, & hot chocolate, and holding a clothing drive for Sojourner Truth House in Gary!
Mat Beiriger, Scottie Schweitzer and Mat Theis pose for a photo amidst a bountiful fall harvest. Farmers were the first to come to the Griffith area in the mid-1850โs when land here was cheap, but needed to be drained before it could be used. Under all the water, they found rich, fertile land on which to plant their crops.
Left: GHS Secretary, Karen Kulinski, talks to students about our Pullman Troop-sleeper railcar.
Right: Railroad history comes alive when a train passes by.
For the second year in a row, we hosted Griffith Public School students as part of our ElmerJ Program, wherein we work with schools as they teach town history, part of the 3rd grade Social Studies curriculum.
The program involves a presentation on Griffith History to the classes in their classroom, and a tour of the Historical Park. This year eight classes participated, with 161 students.
Students receive books on Griffith history written for young people, as well as primary source stories about early Griffith and other historical information.
We are grateful to members Nancy Stout, Karen Kulinski, Debby Hoot, John and Valerie Wotkun, Fran Evans, Marthann Gatlin, Claudia Powell, Victoria Fane, Toni Rickert, Belinda Stark.
Special thanks goes out to Officer Alex Ascolani, from the Canadian National Railroad Police, for providing Operation Lifesaver coloring books and coming out to the Park to talk to the children about train safety.
We are also grateful to the Griffith Park Department for bringing picnic tables up to our Park for us to use.
