PHW is drawing closer to the end of our fiscal year on May 31. Our spring renewal letters are often a condensed Annual Report, so we wanted to take a moment and share this letter with all of our online readers, too. If you are a PHW member, thanks for supporting us with your dues! If you’re not, please consider joining or even making a one time donation to us via PayPal to help us continue our programs and activities as we prepare to enter our 52nd year.
Over the past year, PHW has continued our Lunch and Learn lecture programs, providing free, high quality history and preservation information to the community, with topics ranging from the history of railroads, Douglas School, and Winchester’s “Wild West” days, to the impacts of the new National Register Historic Districts, to introducing the National Park Service’s Training Center in Frederick, MD.
We also have plenty of fun while learning about history at PHW, as seen during our fall Memberfest. The 2015 theme was that of a speakeasy. Along with the fun of dressing as gangsters and flappers close to Halloween, we enjoyed the superb music of the Bob Larson Trio, homebrew beers, and tales of Winchester during its time as a dry town.
Thanks to the community’s interest and support, PHW was able to make the Holiday House Tour fundraiser a success not only for us, but also the Winchester Little Theatre. The sales generated from our Bough and Dough Shop put another $2,700 into the Winchester Little Theatre’s Restoration Campaign. As you may have seen, the beautiful new roof is now being installed on the old Pennsylvania Freight Station!
Last year, PHW dipped back into children’s education with the railroad program held in conjunction with the Friends of Handley Regional Library. This year, PHW is aiming to expand on that work and provide a fun, free, and educational activity booth at Kidzfest on May 14. We will provide coloring activity sheets covering a variety of architectural styles, suitable for the entire family to explore buildings, history, and color together.
PHW partnered with the City and the North End Citizens Association with the work at the National Avenue roundabout. PHW authored two industrial heritage signs and sold bricks to line the sidewalk as part of the beautification efforts. The proceeds from the brick sales raised $1,000 each for the local chapter of the Boys and Girls Club and the Timbrook House. Both organizations support the education of children in the community.
Lastly, mark your calendars for PHW’s 52nd Annual Meeting, which will be held Sunday afternoon on June 12th at the PHW headquarters in the Hexagon House, 530 Amherst Street. Yard games will return, along with our usual local preservation awards and election of PHW’s board of directors for the 2016-2017 year.
If you prefer to mail a check, click here for a copy of our membership application form to return with your dues.