Ellwood City Area Historical Society “We Can Do It” Recap

Everett Bleakney, Board President of the Ellwood City Area Historical Society sent in a recap of the successful “We Can Do It!” exhibit:

“The WW II “We Can Do It!” Senator John Heinz History Center exhibit was a huge success. We were impressed with so many young students that had an interest in it. Thanks to both the Lincoln and  Riverside High Schools for taking advantage of the exhibit by holding  history classes here. The students interacted with local WW II veterans that explained their personal experiences during this, The Great War.

So many came in and explained to us that their grandfather served in this war, and that he never talked about it. Many of the student’s parents expressed the same comments. This was a great opportunity to explain history from a personal view.

You can view the December 7th opening ceremony video on  Facebook. Mayor Court proclaiming that day dedicated to Joseph Gasper, a Pearl Harbor survivor.  Several local WW II veterans attended. The American Legion Post 157 honored the veterans that were killed during WW II. If you missed the exhibit, there is another video posted walking you through the exhibit. It was narrated by Bob Morabito and videoed by Alexis Bodenschantz. While there, like us on Facebook.

In conjunction with this exhibit, we held our January meeting at the National Grind Coffee and Tea Shop. Bob Rivers and his wife Jackie hosted the event. Bob is a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and is a World War II reenactor. Bob had many pictures, uniforms, firearms, etc., all original equipment used during the war, on display for our viewing. Guy Prestia, a local WWII veteran also told about his experiences during his tour of service in Europe. Some of Guy’s medals and his uniform were also on display Door prizes were won by Jerry Riedel, Nancy Catanzariti, Tony DiBiagio and Dew Weisz.

Our next general membership meeting will be held at the History Center,  Monday February 12, at 7:00 pm. The guest speaker will be Dan Burns, who lives here in Ellwood City.  Dan, a former police officer, a freelance writer, amateur historian and author of several history books will speak on “The Rivers of Pittsburgh.”   Refreshments will be served.   Come, and bring a friend, and also bring something for show and tell. ?