Society President's, Report for SPRING 2024 - 

with current 'BULLETIN' features...

Memberships, Bulletins access links...< click

Society President, Report for Fall 2022

            PRESIDENT'S REPORT    .... by Denny Shaffner

As I type to you, plans are afoot for our Fall Festival at the Bloody Knox cabin and for our 65th Annual Dinner Meeting at the Copper Cork Event Center. Our speaker this year will be John Forcey.  His work researching the last land surveys of Pennsylvania, in particular, those relevant to Clearfield County, is enlightening.  We will have his forthcoming book on this topic available in 2023. It is a “pre-pioneer” review of the last frontier in Pennsylvania.  John reveals letters and historical documention from 1793-4 as the Pennsylvania frontier is opened to settlers and speculators.  Reading his manuscript has piqued my imagination.  I hope it will do the same for you.  
  All our events are preceded by lots of planning, and this year is no exception.  I am hoping that the Fall Festival and our annual dinner are enjoyable and successful this year as they’ve been in the past.  The Board is happy to be able to hold these activities again since the virus gave us reason to cancel both over the past few years.
This summer season saw us re-opening the Alexander Research Center for researchers. The Kerr House Museum was visited by families and individuals.  We conducted several guided tours for groups visiting from out-of-town and for area Scout troops. The Society was given a wonderful opportunity to provide the Clearfield County Courthouse with historical displays for their downstairs office hallway.  If you’ve not had business at the Courthouse, stop by, go through the metal detector, and then “wonder” down the hallway to enjoy some of the history of Clearfield County.  This display was spearheaded by a few of our board members, and I think they did an excellent job.  Remember that the CCHS is about our county’s history, not just the town of Clearfield where our facilities are located.  
We are thankful that we once again received financial support from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in the form of a support grant. This helps us with our utilities and operating expenses.  Several large donations were received from individual patrons which enable us to comfortably maintain our facilities and protect our artifacts and library resources, and the Clearfield County Commissioners continue to provide a stipend each year to support us.   Your membership is vital as well, so thank you.  Next time you fill your tank with gas, consider that our yearly membership cost is only $20 and you, for sure, get two fine Bulletins each year.  Our Bulletin, I think, is one of the best things you receive for your membership, short perhaps of the support you give to our museum and genealogical library. The Bulletin is a quality magazine with varied and relevant reading and information about Clearfield County. Our editor and proofreaders should be commended as they’ve been doing this excellent work for years.  
Thanks to our volunteer greeters who staff the Kerr House Museum each Thursday and Sunday.  Your help in opening and closing the museum, greeting the public and answering questions about the museum is outstanding.  We would be hard-pressed without you.  A huge thanks to Jim Moore, our webmaster, who thoughtfully looks for ways to keep our website relevant and up-to-date regarding our services and activities.  
So as the years winds down for us, we look back on the open houses we held for book signing, Mother’s Day tea, Clearfield County Fair parade 1st place (yay), Hat and Bonnet Day at the grandstand, Fall Festival, Annual Dinner, book sales, bi-weekly opening of the Kerr House and Alexander Research Center—all I can say is, “WOW!” 
    Often, I’ve heard visitors say talk about history being boring to them when they were young.  My response is usually, “It’s hard to appreciate history until you have a history.”  Clearfield County has a history. Each visitor brings a unique viewpoint and a passion to our museum.  Each researcher has a unique historical pathway that they are pursuing.  Museums and libraries help people appreciate their history and it is our purpose to help facilitate that as best we can.  We’ll never be perfect in our efforts, and we’ll never please everybody, but we’ve worked hard again this year to do what we do and make our presence a good thing for Clearfield County.  Thank you for your grace, and thank you for your support.
      Blessings on you all.         Denny Shaffner, Pres. 

Denny Schaffner, Society President, Report for Spring 2022