A Dickens Event

The 2011-12 calendar of events continues this month.

Sunday, December 18, 7:00 p.m., at the Finley House*

Excerpts from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens read by Bennett Hill.  This is a traditional RHS event.  Every other year, Bennett Hill, a retired teacher and member of the RHS Board, reads an abridged version of this classic Christmas tale by the fire in the front parlor.  Refreshments, including eggnog, will be served at the interval.

*This event has been canceled due to illness.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 7:30 p.m., at the Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library (Snow date is Tuesday, March 6.)  Book Talk and signing by Dewitt Henry, author of Sweet Dreams:  A Family History.  Henry currently teaches at Emerson College in Boston.  A Harvard graduate, he is a well-known author, and the founding editor of Ploughshares literary magazine.  Sweet Dreams chronicles the early years of the author’s life, growing up in post-war Wayne, Pennsylvania.  This is a complicated and masterful memoir of a boy’s passage into adulthood in a family of privilege, torn by dark secrets, alcoholism, mental illness, and dysfunction.  Books will be available for purchase and signing, and refreshments will be served.  The event is cosponsored by RHS and the Radnor Memorial Library.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 7:30 p.m., at the Creutzburg Center, 260 Gulph Creek Road (off King of Prussia Road), Radnor  (Snow date is Wednesday, February 15.)   Come laugh and learn about the history of Radnor’s open space movement as told by a panel of pioneers who were at the forefront of the action.  Their stories tell about a time when the community enthusiastically endorsed the concept of preserving the rapidly diminishing green lands in our township.  Today, when the value of Radnor’s open space is in question, and under intense scrutiny, this informative session will leave you with an understanding of a generation joined together to preserve this cherished heritage for the people of Radnor Township.

Thursday, March 29, 2012, 7:30 p.m., at the Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library    
A HARB is not your enemy!  What actually is a Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB)?  How much power does it have?  Michel Lefevre, former community and preservation planner with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, will talk about HARBs and how they direct the way communities can create and oversee their historic districts.  A member of the Radnor HARB will present some recent projects that have come before it for review.  Refreshments will be served.  This event is cosponsored by RHS and the Radnor Conservancy.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square

Annual Dinner with speakers about the history of the Academy, founded in 1785, and its move from Merion Station to Newtown Square.  A tour of the new campus will be available for those who are interested.  The Academy’s new campus opened in 2008, combining a variety of architectural styles and materials on its 123-acre campus.  The tour will begin at 5:00 p.m., and wine, soft drinks, and hors d’oeuvres will be served beginning at 5:45 p.m.  The first of two after-dinner speakers, Jim Garrison, will talk about the Academy’s history.  Garrison is a restoration architect, an Episcopal graduate, and author of Excellence that Endures—The First 225 Years of the Episcopal Academy (2010).  Rush T. Haines, a partner with Drinker, Biddle & Reath, LLP, in Philadelphia and former Chair of the Board at Episcopal will then discuss the transition to the new campus.  A separate mailing will provide more details a few weeks before the meeting.

Sunday, April 29, 2012, 2:00 p.m., at the Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals

History talk followed by a tour of the facility and its 16-acre wooded cemetery.  Francisvale’s Executive Director, Jodi Button, and the President of its Board of Directors, Melanie Shain, will present the history and lead the tour.  Francisvale is a non-profit, no-kill refuge which began with the rescue of a stray puppy in 1897 and has been in continuous operation since it was incorporated in 1909.  Please join us for what promises to be an informative and enjoyable afternoon!  Refreshments will be served.

Sunday, May 6, 2012, 4:00 p.m., at the home of Larry Andreozzi in Overbrook Farms

Brief RHS business meeting followed by a self-guided house tour.  The Andreozzi house, designed by Chester Kirk and built in 1894, is located at 5927 Drexel Road.  This home is located in a neighborhood, which, like Wayne, was developed by Wendell & Smith and funded by the Drexel Bank.  Members will be able to tour the first floor of this marvelously eclectic Gothic Revival property, which has been a feature of the Overbrook Farms Tour.  His own superb craftsmanship, his wonderful furnishings and art, and the addition of special architectural features enhance Mr. Andreozzi’s rennovations.  Wine, soft drinks, and hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 7:00 p.m., at the Wayne War Memorial and then the Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library

History of the War Memorial, its restoration, and the Gold Star Mothers.  This program will begin at the Memorial on S. Wayne Avenue across from the Wayne Fire Station.  Marty Costello, commander of the Bateman-Gallagher American Legion Post will provide an overview of the renovation of the Memorial.  Gene Hough will then discuss the restoration process.  Hough has cleaned the Memorial three times and owns Heritage Iron Works, a company that specializes in cemetery and bronze restoration.  We will then move to the Winsor Room at the Radnor Memorial Library where Marty Costello will outline the rich history of the Memorial, and Gene Hough will explain a national program for veterans to help restore war memorials.  Julie Pierce will then talk about the Gold Star Mothers.  This event is cosponsored by RHS and the Bateman-Gallagher Post.

Past programs:

Sunday, October 2, 2011, 3:00 p.m., at the Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library

The Linguists documentary film screening.  This one-hour film, funded by the National Science Foundation, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008, and went on to win top honors at film festivals around the world.  It is a hilarious and poignant film that follows Swarthmore Professor K. David Harrison and Dr. Gregory Anderson, Founder and Director of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, who are racing to document languages on the verge of extinction.  Dr. Harrison will speak about the film on Tuesday, October 4 (see below).  This event is cosponsored by RHS and the .

Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 7:30 p.m., at the Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library

Book Talk by Dr. K. David Harrison, author of The Last Speakers:  The Quest to Save the World’s Most Endangered Languages.  Dr. Harrison documents endangered languages and chronicles his expeditions around the world.  He will share the eloquent reflections of individuals who know they may be the last ones to speak their native tongues.  Following the talk, refreshments will be served, and books will be available for purchase and signing.  This event is cosponsored by RHS and the Radnor Memorial Library.

Saturday, October 8, 2011, 2:00 p.m., at Old St. Davids Church

Bennett Hill, a retired teacher, member of the RHS Board, and a guide at Historic Waynesborough, will talk about the church’s history and its connections to the family of Anthony Wayne.  Attendees are requested to meet at the flagpole (on right by entrance to old church) to begin the visit to both the churchyard and the church.  The original church, established by Welsh settlers seeking religious tolerance, still stands and is in nearly the same condition as when its cornerstone was laid in 1715.  With the coming of the American Revolution, a wave of resentment against the Church of England, which professed loyalty to the King, arose among the congregation.  Anthony Wayne was a leader of this opposition and a lifelong member of .  Both the church, the subject of an 1880 poem by Longfellow, and its historic churchyard are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.  Following the talk, refreshments will be served.

Directions:  From the Wayne fire station, follow West Wayne Avenue past the post office 1.0 miles to a T-intersection where West Wayne turns left.  Continue on West Wayne 0.3 miles to its dead end at Maplewood and turn right.  Follow Maplewood 0.3 miles to a stop at S. Valley Forge Road, and turn left.  Church is 0.2 miles down on the right-hand side of the road.  There is limited parking at the old church on the right, and more parking at the new church on the left.

Wednesday, November 9, 7:30 p.m., at the Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library  Book talk by William “Wild Bill” Guarnere and Edward “Babe” Heffron, Authors of Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends.  Two WWII paratroopers from the original band  of brothers tell their stories.  Join us for a Veteran’s Day event with the authors who will discuss their military service and their portrayal in the award-winning HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers (based on the book by Stephen Ambrose).  They will also reminisce about growing up in South Philadelphia, and their post-war lives.  Refreshments will be served following the talk, and books will be available for purchase and signing.  This event is sponsored by the RHS, the Gallagher-Bateman American Legion Post, and the Radnor Memorial Library.