Morgantown/Honey Brook townlively.com
SEPTEMBER 6, 2023
SENIOR
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
Hay Creek Festival: A living history event
BY FRANCINE FULTON
W hat started as a day for neighbors to hold yard sales has evolved into Harmony Day, an annual celebration that involves organizations and businesses throughout the Honey Brook community. This year’s event, themed “Celebrate Honey Brook Harmony,” will be presented by the Honey Brook Community Partnership (HBCP) on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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The center of activities will be at the Honey Brook Fire Company, 679 Firehouse Lane, where there will be children’s activities, including carnival games, a rock wall and an obstacle course. Food for sale at the firehouse will include hoagies and hot dogs by the Honey Brook Women’s Club, jerky and popcorn by Cub Scout Pack 9 and coffee and cold drinks by the Honey Brook Youth Center. The September Farm pretzel and doughnut truck, as well as a milkshake truck, will also be on hand. Fire company members will have See Harmony Day pg 6
A book sale will take place at Honey Brook Community Library on Harmony Day.
Woman’s Club of Birdsboro installs officers, new members BY FRANCINE FULTON
Re-enactor Barbara Esterly displays homemade mush muffins that were baked at a previous festival. Mush muffins are made with cornmeal and topped with homemade butter.
spinning wheels of various types during her life and demonstrated the early American craft of spinning and dyeing wool. Her demonstrations
included donning period dress and teaching others about spinning and its role in Colonial America. Festival visitors will see her “walking wheel”
The Woman’s Club of Birdsboro, a community service organization open to women of all ages, recently installed officers and new members. During a candle-lighting ceremony held at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ (UCC), the following new officers were installed for 2023-24: president Suzanne Lander, vice president Phyllis Hoffman, co-recording secretary Kim Zeiber, corresponding secretary Joyce Zeiber and treasurer Jodie Zuber. “Last year, we celebrated our
85th anniversary,” said Lander. “The candle-lighting ceremony dates back to when the club started, and we like to keep the tradition.” New members were also inducted at the event: Mary Beth Cinsici, Abigail Jones, Martha Millard, Anna Palmer and Kim Zeiber. Lander pointed out that the officers and members were asked to recite the club oath. “You (promise) to serve the club to the best of your ability and share your talents so we can improve our community,” she said. The Woman’s Club of Birdsboro, established in 1937, holds several
See Festival pg 8
See Woman’s Club pg 6
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Celebrate Honey Brook Harmony
BY FRANCINE FULTON
he Hay Creek Valley Historical Association (HCVHA) will present the 47th annual Hay Creek Festival on Friday through Sunday, Sept. 8 through 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at historic Joanna Furnace. The event will feature demonstrations of traditional crafts, children’s activities, festival foods, a display of antique vehicles and more. The festival timeline will highlight the 18th- and 19th-century iron-making community from the beginning of the furnace’s operation in 1791 up to the 1950s. “The Hay Creek Festival is truly a one-of-a-kind living history adventure,” said Mark Zerr, HCVHA executive director. Highlights of the festival will include open fire cooking and bake oven demonstrations, a contemporary craft market, living history presentations, a display of vintage Industrial Revolution-era working equipment, threshing demonstrations, a working sawmill, a display of steam engines and tractors, folk music presentations and Civil War and World War II encampments. Visitors will also be able to tour the Joanna Furnace buildings. A 22-minute introductory video on the history of Joanna Furnace will take place each hour in the blowing engine house. The Tri-County Heritage Library, which the HCVHA acquired in 2021, will have a special exhibit at the festival. “Each year, our library does a different exhibition at the mule stable,” said Zerr, noting that last year’s exhibit featured quilts. “This year, we will focus on the collection we received from the Florence (Flo) Williams estate, including one or two spinning wheels.” According to Zerr, Williams was an educator and Civil War re-enactor. She also accumulated more than 40
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