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!
๐๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ – ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง
๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ!
It was 25 years ago, and we are still grateful to everyone who donated time and money to help us preserve the Tower and save it from demolition.
Thanks to the businesses and banks that allowed us to put donation jars on their counters, and thanks to all the Griffith residents who put money in the jars! Thanks to all the Historical Society members, who volunteered every step of the way, and of course, thank you to all the people and businesses who donated money towards this gigantic project!
It was really a town-wide effort, and is a monument to the spirit of Griffith!
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.
โจTHANK YOU THANK YOU!
๐
This year’s Santa in the Caboose was a huge success thanks to every visitor and so many volunteers!
๐This event is fun for everyone and has a huge impact in funding the upkeep of the Depot and Train Park!
๐Thanks to our old friends who come every year, and to the new friends who found us this year.
๐ชThanks to the Scouts and Leaders of Griffith Girl Scout Troop 15620 for baking cookies for us to sell at our bake sale and for being part of the fun with their holiday hair club and headbands.
๐ญThanks to Griffith Cub Scout Pack 622 for again selling hot dogs and hot chocolate up at the Park during the event.
๐ฅงThank you TriKappa for donating baked goods!
๐ซThanks to the Griffith Public Schools for helping get the word out about Santa in the Caboose.
๐ณThanks to the Park Department for sharing the info at Central Park.
๐ขThanks to all the businesses that let us put flyers in their windows.
๐Hopefully we didn’t forget anyone!!
๐โโ๏ธAnd a huge thanks all the Griffith Historical Society members who decorated the Depot and railcars, worked to promote the event, made goodies to sell, and made the event run smoothly!!
โจA special shoutout to volunteers/members Karen, Nancy, Martha Belinda, John, Laura, Valerie, Debbie, Jim and Beth for making this weekend a success!
๐ ๐คถAnd, of course, a big thanks to Santa and Mrs. Claus!
We had a wonderful time and we’ll see you next year!!
Reminder, mark your calendars for this year’s
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐! 
โ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐, ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 14: 10 ๐.๐. ๐๐ 3 ๐.๐.
โ ๐บ๐๐๐
๐๐, ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ 15: ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ 3 ๐.๐..
Give a donation to see Santa (our 27th annual!) and support the upkeep (and heating!) of the Historical Park!
Take as many personal photos as youโd like โ you can even record the visit on your phone! Be sure to shop our Holiday Bake Sale and the holiday stocking stuffers that Girl Scout Troop 15620 will be offering.
๐ญโ๏ธ Hot dogs and hot chocolate will be sold by Griffith Cub Scout Pack 622 and Griffith Boy Scout Pack 623.๐๐งฒ Griffith train magnets will be available for sale.
*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!
๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐งฒ
make GREAT stocking stuffers!! ๐งฆ๐
$5 each – local pickup
(We’ll also have them for sale at Santa in the Caboose!)
We can ship multiple magnets for a flat $4 fee!
Your purchases and donations go directly to helping maintain our Depot & Train Park and the Franklin Museum! We are all volunteers and we appreciate your support!
We know it’s not even Halloween yet, but mark your calendars for this year’s
๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐
โ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐: ๐๐ ๐.๐ฆ. ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ฉ.๐ฆ.
โ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐: ๐ง๐จ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ฉ.๐ฆ.
Our 27th annual Santa in the Caboose (minus two Covid years) is scheduled for Saturday, December 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, December 15th, from noon to 3 p.m.
With winter illnesses in mind, we are minimizing the size of our crew working in the small caboose. So, we are again not taking or printing photos.
Instead, we are asking for a donation to see Santa. Your donation helps pay the bills, which grow in the winter, having to heat the Depot and the Tower.
When youโre with Santa, you can take as many personal photos as you wish. You can even record the visit on your phone! Looking forward to seeing you in December!
We will again be having our Holiday Bake Sale in the Depot on both days, too. And Girl Scout Troop 15620 will again be with us, offering holiday hair clips and headbands for sale.
๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ for being a part of our ElmerJ Program!
These incredible officers talked to all the kids about railroad safety, their jobs, and different aspects of maintaining a railroad. They made sure that every class knew about the ENS (the Blue and White sign), which is the Emergency Notification Sign found at every crossing. This sign can help in an emergency around the railroad tracks. (*More info below!)
The Historical Society wants to send a very special thank you to Alex Ascolani CN Police, David Barajas CN Police, Heather LiFonti Risk Mitigation Officer, DShawn Dangerous Goods, Matthew Frazier and Schuyler Williamson Signal Maintainers for joining our groups and giving such valuable information and insight to all the students!
*๐๐ฃ ๐พ๐๐จ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฎ, ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ค ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ
Report emergencies and safety concerns at a highway-rail grade crossing by using the information on the ENS sign at the grade crossing.
โLocate the blue-and-white ENS sign at the grade crossing.
โ Call for help! Call the railroadโs emergency contact number listed on the ENS sign.
โ Communicate your location by providing the identification number and state the nature of the emergency to the dispatcher.
The signs contain the railroadโs emergency contact number and the U.S. Department of Transportation National Crossing Inventory Number, which identifies the exact location of the crossing to the railroads.
Griffith History Museums 