victoriavm Activities, Blog Posts

3rd graders Tour Historical Park

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.

victoriavm Activities, Sundays at the Depot

Sundays at the Depot: THE SCOUTS ARE COMING!

Our Historical Park has hosted Railroad Fairs, Santa Claus and even a Halloween event years ago. But next Sunday will be a first for us!

Boy Scout Troop 623, sponsored by the Griffith Isaac Walton League, will be camping overnight at our Park, September 16-17. They will set up camp late Saturday afternoon and sleep in the railcars.

On Sunday, they will take a tour of the Park’s Depot, railcars and Tower. Both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places and the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures.

Stop by our Griffith Historical Park, 201 S. Broad St., on Sunday if you’d like to see Scouting in action and learn more about Boy Scout Troop 623, or Cub Scout Pack 622.

victoriavm Activities, Central Market, Support the Depot, Support the Historical Society, Support the Rail-Cam

Upcoming places to find us! Ride the Barrel Train and get your Griffith Souvenirs!

Find us!!
Friday Sept 8 – 9am – 1pm at Strack and Van Til in Highland
Friday Sept 8 – 5pm – 7pm at Central Market 🚂
Saturday Sept 9 – 1pm – 4pm at Griffith Public Safety & Community Day in Central Park! 🚂
Friday Sept 15 – 5pm – 7pm at Central Market 🚂

🧲We have Limited Editon Griffith Magnets!! 🚂🚃🚃🚃 for 💲5️⃣
👕 Or get your own Historical Society t-shirt!Super soft, Bella Canvas tri-blend! 👕 We have V-necks and crew necks available!💲2️⃣0️⃣
🎫 We also have 50/50 Raffle tickets!! Everyone loves a raffle!💲2️⃣ each or 3️⃣ for 💲5️⃣!! 🗳Drawing is on November 15th.
🚂 When we’re at Central Park, we’ll have the Barrel Train!! Grab your ticket to ride! $3️⃣ per kid! All aboard!!

All sales and proceeds go directly to the upkeep of the Depot Museum, Train Park, Railroad Webcam, and Griffith History Preservation!!

victoriavm Activities, Rock N Rail, Support the Depot, Support the Historical Society, Support the Rail-Cam

Get your Griffith souvenirs at Rock N Rail!

Visit our tent at Rock N Rail!!!(Just north of Vegas Vegas) to get your Griffith souvenirs!!

We have Limited Editon Griffith Magnets!! 🚂🚃🚃🚃 for 💲5️⃣

👕 Or get your own Historical Society t-shirt!Super soft, Bella Canvas tri-blend! 👕 We have V-necks and crew necks available!💲2️⃣0️⃣

🎫 We also have 50/50 Raffle tickets!! Everyone loves a raffle!💲2️⃣ each or 3️⃣ for 💲5️⃣!! 🗳Drawing is on November 15th.

All sales and proceeds go directly to the upkeep of the Depot Museum, Train Park, Railroad Webcam, and Griffith History Preservation!!

victoriavm Activities, Sundays at the Depot

SUNDAYS AT THE DEPOT – AUG 6 – PURPLE HEART DAY

Have you ever wondered about how the Purple Heart military award got its name?

Or how the award even came to be? Hint. It’s way older than you think.

August 7th is National Purple Heart Day, so come on down to the Griffith Historical Society’s first Sunday at the Depot event on August 6th at the Griffith Historical Park, 201 S. Broad Street. 

Griffith resident, Karen Kulinski, will be on hand from 1 to 4 p.m. to answers these questions and more. Karen is the author of to beautifully illustrated, THE MEDAL WITH A HEART, which tells the tale of how the Purple Heart came to be. Books will be available for purchase.

For more info on Karen and her books: www.karenkulinski.com

victoriavm Activities, Sundays at the Depot

SUNDAYS AT THE DEPOT

Used to be, the railroad depot was the networking hotspot in every town…
The place to come for the latest news…
The place to watch who came and left on the trains… 
The place to find out what was going on in your area of the world.

Our Grand Trunk Depot will soon be a happening place again,
with our “Sundays at the Depot” programs!

On various Sundays, starting later this month, the Depot will be the site of historic and informational programs and the railcars will be open for viewing!

On the schedule so far is:

August 6th, 1-4 pm : “Celebrating Purple Heart Day”
Mrs. Karen Kulinski will be at the Depot sharing her book “Medal with a Heart” about the creation of the award.

In late summer, early fall, the Depot will be the stepping-off place for our popular “Historic Lantern Tour” with Corporal Peter Ghrist.

Keep checking back to find out more about our programs, new listings, and which Sundays the Tower will be open.