Bark Peelers’ Festival 50

The Pennsylvania Lumber Museum’s Bark Peelers’ Festival event celebrates its 50th occurrence in July 2025. Referred to as the “Bark Peelers’ Convention” from its inception in 1974 through the 2014 iteration, the festival is the museum’s largest and most well-known yearly special event. Attendance has fluctuated over the years, from a high of approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people during the 1980s...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Winter 2025

Topics in the Winter 2025 Newsletter: Winter Events on the Pennsylvania Trails of History PHF Welcomes Art of the State Winter-2025-PHF-Newsletter...
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Summer on the Trails 2023

Life gets more hectic on the Trails of History during the summer, our busiest season for visitation. Summer camps are planned at about half a dozen sites, mostly in July and August. Numerous special events are scheduled, many taking advantage of warm weather for outdoor activities and larger crowds. Be sure to check the PHMC online events calendar and Trails of History social media platforms and...
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2022 Trails

With what feels like record speed, it’s once again time for our look back at the past year. Our steady rebound from 2020’s COVID-19–related site closures and event cancellations continued into 2022, with ongoing efforts to balance staff and visitor safety with everyone’s desire to get back out onto the Pennsylvania Trails of History. Visitation levels that started to increase in 2021 have...
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Trailheads

What is there left to say about 2020? In previous issues, we’ve chronicled the response of PHMC’s Trails of History sites to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of early October, it looked unlikely that sites would reopen by the end of the year. The uncertainty surrounding reopening sites and welcoming visitors in person has caused a great deal of frustration on all fronts. Nevertheless, our staff and...
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Trailheads

Here we are again. As of mid-July, PHMC’s Trails of History sites and museums remain closed to the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Special events and programs, including Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum’s Herb & Garden Faire, the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum’s Bark Peelers’ Festival, and Somerset Historical Center’s Mountain Craft Days, have been canceled. Grounds reopened with...
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Trailheads

In a normal year, this column would be devoted to a preview of summer events on the Pennsylvania Trails of History. This is not a normal year. As my deadline approaches, sites remain closed to the public, with events and activities canceled. We had to forego the Keystone Summer Internship program and postpone our annual Volunteer of the Year recognition event (although we did manage a virtual...
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Trailheads

Charter Day – always the second Sunday in March – kicks off the spring season on the Pennsylvania Trails of History. Public program schedules start to fill up, and the influx of school group visits reaches its peak. Spring lambs and other animal babies make their appearance at sites with livestock programs, and our many gardens show signs of new life as well. For up-to-date...
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Trailheads

With more than 20 sites and museums on PHMC’s Pennsylvania Trails of History, each year is full of events, tours, programs and visits. Historical milestones are commemorated — such as the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings during World War II or the centennial of Pennsylvania’s ratification of the 19th Amendment — and “everyday” history is remembered in artifact exhibits, cooking...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Spring 2019

Topics in the Spring 2019 newsletter: PHF Partners with The State Museum for Art of the State Weddings Make History at PHMC Sites PHF at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Mary M. Hull Appointed Manager of PHF   pennsylvania-heritage-foundation-newsletter-spring-2019...
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