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!
In this space, weโre going to share with your the story of how the Griffith Historical Society came to be. But first, weโll share the meaning of the word โsaga.โ Itโs an old word that historical society people like to throw around. It just means โa long story. Since weโve been around for going on 42 years, you know the word fits. Now, onto the story of us. Take one town elder, Ray Anderson, walking his dog, Herman. Add in three young women – Kathy Anderson (no relation,) Marthann Hanrath, and Donna Gonzalez –ย walking for exercise. You see, Ray mentioned to the ladies that the last railroad depot in town was scheduled for demolition. โTheyโre demolishing our heritage,โ Ray told the ladies. Later that day, Ray told his son, Howard, the same tale. Then Howard contacted Marthann and said, โLetโs save our heritage.โ Now sagas, because they are long, are often made up of a whole lot of smaller stories. And what happened next, and beyond, with Ray and Howard and the ladies, we will tell you in upcoming newsletters and posts. But first we want you to meet Herman the Dog. Herman never left Rayโs side. Like when he was walking and encountered the ladies. Even when Ray attended Griffith Lions Club meetings. Because of his devotion to his master, Herman was made an honorary Lion. He is the first canine to be so honored. Hermanโs certificate of membership is shown here.
A year ago last summer, the proud Chesapeake & Ohio Inspection Car, shown below in its honored place next to our Depot Museum, lay in pieces. Taken apart several years before by a long-time member, it had been cannibalized and left to rust away.
We feared the car would remain that way, none of us having the expertise to put it back together. Nor did the Society have the money to pay to have it done, or even know if it could be done. Enter Perry and Kevin Frye.
Father and son Inspection Car enthusiasts, with a passion for restoring them, the men volunteered to bring our little car back to life. And, they would charge us only for parts they couldnโt donate to us, or arrange for others to do the donating.
Mid-summer 2021, the battered, bare-bones skeleton of our little car, was taken away by Perry Frye, along with a heap of random parts that were still left.
The photo shows the shape our car was in when Perry, right, came to pick it up from the town garage where it had been stored for us.
The Fryes couldnโt give us a date when the car would be ready. All they could do was promise that they would bring back the car looking as good as in the first photo above, if not better. They did keep us posted as they worked with photos and updates as to what had been done.
Imagine our surprise, when in mid-January, Perry informed us our car was finished. He brought it to us on January 16th, after stopping offย at Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum to actually run the car on the tracks, see photo below. At our site, the car must be a static display.
Perry and Kevin gave us the best gift ever as the Griffith Historical Society celebrates our 40th anniversary this year โ they restored our Inspection Car to better shape than it was before. It now has front and back working lights, which were not on the car when it was donated some 40 years ago.
The car also has small brooms attached to the wheels to sweep offย the rails while moving along, which was unknown to us. A broom is visible in the upright position on the left side of the car in the picture below.
For now the car will be kept offย display until we can find a way to exhibit it without it being constantly exposed to the elements. However, we will be showing it offย in the Griffith 4th of July Parade, and it will be on display at the Griffith Historical Societyโs 40th Anniversary event up at the Depot, where it all began for us.
Watch our website for more information about the Anniversary event, which will, of course, include having the Depot, railcars and the Tower open to the public. Also on hand will be our Hess Express barrel train, among other fun things.
L to r, rear, Griffith Historical Society President Nancy Stout and Secretary Karen Kulinski. L to r, front, Directors Marthann Gatlin and Debby Hoot.
All of us at the Society will be forever grateful to Perry and Kevin Frye! Our beloved little car came home all in one piece for our 40th anniversary.
Griffith History Museums 