๐Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas from the Griffith Historical Society!
๐
Thank you to everyone who braved the cold and came out to Santa in the Caboose!! From our volunteers to those of you who visited and left a donation, we couldn’t do it without you!
๐As a non-profit, volunteer-run organization, all of your donations go directly to the upkeep of the Train & Depot Museums and the Town History Museum at the Franklin Center. We appreciate you and your support!
Mark your calendars for this year’s
๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐
โ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐, ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 13: 10 ๐.๐. ๐๐ 3 ๐.๐.
โ ๐บ๐๐๐
๐๐, ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 14: ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ 3 ๐.๐.
๐ธ Give a donation to see Santa (our 28th annual!) and support the upkeep (and heating!) of the Historical Park!
๐ธ Take as many personal photos & videos as youโd like!
๐ช Be sure to shop our Holiday Bake Sale and holiday stocking stuffers as well!
*๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด!
Want to volunteer for the event? Email us at [email protected]!
๐๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ ๐๐๐๐ณ๐ณ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐บ๐!
โ ๏ธWe are planning something spooky and fun for 2026 and we could use your help!
๐ปCan’t fit all those Halloween items into the garage? Consider donating them to us! ๐ฆEmail [email protected]!
ย The Superfantastical Monarch Journeyย
The monarch butterflies fluttering about arenโt just casual flutterers. They are the last to be born in 2025, and they are โsuper monarchs.โ
Right now, they are busy sipping up nectar they, so as to build up fat reserves in their bodies. You see, these particular butterflies were born to do a seemly impossible job.
They, and millions of other super monarchs, fly 1200 miles to a fir treeย forest in central Mexico between August and November. And the continuation of their existence in theย northeastern states depends upon their safe arrival.ย
These butterflies do have some โsuper powersโ to help them accomplish their task.
– Because of this journey, a super monarch will live far longer than the 2 toย 5 weeks normal monarch butterflies do.ย ย
– These butterflies are born with larger wings and are capable of flying 50 toย 100 miles in a single day, weather permitting.ย ย
– It is believed they were born with an internal sun compass or magnetic ย compass to guide them to Central America.ย
– They can fly at speeds of 5 to 25 miles an hour for 4-6 hours a day, glidingย on currents of warm air called thermals, to conserve energy when possible.ย ย
At the end of each day of their journey, the butterflies will seek out nectar from the flowers to fuel their next-day trip. Once that is accomplished, they will spend the night in trees, clustered together for protection.
It will take the monarchs who leave from Indiana 5 to 7 weeks to make the trip to that Mexican forest Oyamel fir tree forest.
Once there, they, and millions of other super monarchs, will blanket the fir trees for warmth and to conserve energy. Thereafter, they will enter a state of dormancy, allowing them to survive the winter.
We wish all these spectacular insects a safe trip.
๐ฆJoin us in May 2026 to celebrate these incredible creatures at our 2nd Annual Butterfly Day at the Griffith Historical Park, featuring our Monarch Waystation, the Griffith Junction Butterfly Stop.
(If you come visit our Monarch Waystation at the Depot, we ask that you do so respectfully. Please don’t touch the plants, insects, or disturb the habitat in any way. Thank you!)
photos by Jeanette Bobos and Ken Krick
It’s a busy weekend for the Historical Society!!
๐Friday – LAST Barrel Train at Central Market for the Season!
๐Saturday – Barrel Train at Safety Day at Central Park!
๐๏ธSaturday – The TOWN HISTORY Museum at the Franklin Center will be open!
๐ค๏ธSunday – Visit the Depot and Train Museums! Tour guides will be available. Parents of Beiriger 3rd Graders – come see what your kids learned this week!
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐!
Come down to the Griffith Historical Park and visit the ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐บ๐!
Get to know us and learn a little bit about the history of the railroads and the town that came to the tracks.
โข 1 – 3 pm
โข 201 S Broad Street
โข At the tracks, on the corner of Broad Street and Avenue A
๐ช๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐:
๐ฉ๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ฌ๐น๐ญ๐ณ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ฐ๐บ ๐ถ๐ต!!
โข The Barrel Train will NOT be running
โข The Depot and Train Musems WILL be open
โข Our flower & butterfly experts will be inside
โข The rest of the fun will be inside!
๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐!
๐ฆ๐ช๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป?
๐ป๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐๐!!
๐Join us on Sunday to get your butterfly-friendly plants, and learn more about these amazing creatures!
๐Griffith Depot & Train Museums – Corner of Broad St & Ave A, next to the tracks!
๐Thanks Scheeringa Farms & Greenhouses for helping us choose plants butterflies love!
Join us to celebrate National Start Seeing Monarchs Day!
Visit Griffith’s very own butterfly garden, aptly named the Griffith Junction Butterfly Stop. Itโs the first anniversary of the garden, conceived and planted by Griffith Tri Kappa member Jeanette Bobos, and supported by the organization.May 4th is one day after National Start Seeing Monarchs Day, when America celebrates those beautiful, endangered orange and yellow creatures.
It will be a fun and interesting Sunday afternoon at the Griffith Historical Park, where:
The Depot & Train Museums, and the Tower will be open to tourOur barrel train, the Hess Express, will be runningJeanette Bobos, the retired Master Gardner who planted our garden, will be on on hand to share her knowledge. Weโll have info on Monarchs and how theyโve become endangered.Kim Moor, from The Wild Ones, will be with us sharing information about adding native plants to your garden.
Want plants to help butterflies, especially Monarchs? Through the courtesy of Scheeringa Farms, weโll have a small selection of milkweed plants; black-eyed Susans, Griffith Centennialโs flower in 2004; plus some Heirloom Plants, as well.
Girl Scout Troop 15620 will be selling cookies, lemonade, and butterfly clips.
The Cub Scout Pack 622 and Boy Scout Troop 623 will be on hand with hotdogs, chips and pop.
Come check out our Town History Museum at the Franklin Center and find out cool facts about Griffith!
Which ones did you already know? Come find out and tell us!
We’ll be there Saturday!
11am till 3pm
๐ซ Franklin Center
Enter Door G
We are open the 1st and 3rd Saturdays, September – May!
Griffith History Museums 