The meeting was opened with an invocation led by Fred Salek, who prayed for the safety of our troops in Afganistan, and then, President Larry led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the 4-Way Test.

After enjoying our meal and conversation, Doug Newell reported attendance of 20 Rotarians in person, several joined on Zoom, and our guests, who were there to present our program about the Monterey Pass Museum.

David Myers won $16

 

Foundation Chair, Anna-Mae Kobbe, called forward, Brad Hoch to receive his Paul Harris - Plus 6 pin, in recognition of his donations to The Rotary Foundation amounting to a cumulative $7,000.00. Anna-Mae went on to tell us how the efforts to eradicate Polio have been successful and that only a few cases exist in the world; in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

 

 

 

At the end of the meeting, Club Secretary, Alex Hayes provided the following information in regards to the Gettysburg Fourth!

 

The Rotary Club of Gettysburg earned $2,655.45 for its Community Fund through A Gettysburg Fourth! A Community Independence Day Celebration.
The event was a partnership between our club, Gettysburg Area Fire Department and Gettysburg Area Recreation Authority.
Total income was $16,332, total expenses were $4,530.
Proceeds were divided as follows: 10 percent to next year’s event and the remaining 90 split the following ways: 50 percent to Gettysburg Area Recreation Authority,  25 percent to Rotary and 25 percent to Gettysburg Fire Department. It was agreed GARA would get more money since the event was used on its ground and utilized its paid staff.
The committee appreciates the support of its sponsors: Fireworks Sponsor Destination Gettysburg, Raffle Sponsor Adams Electric, Event Sponsor C.E. Williams and Sons Inc.
We are looking forward to next year’s celebration on Monday, July 4, 2021.

 

Pictured above, left to right are: President Larry, Jeffrey Geesaman, Washington Township Manager and visiting Rotarian, Darwin Seiler, and Steve Patterson, members of the board of directors for the Friends of Monterey Pass.

 

Peter Lagerberg introduced Steve Patterson, who said he was basically "along for the ride", and he introduced Darwin Seiler, who gave the presentation about this historical site, just to our west in Blue Ridge Summit.

 

Darwin explained that the reason for the Monterey Pass Park & Museum was because of a Civil War battle that was fought there during the retreat of troops from Gettsyburg on the night of July 4, 1863. As the Confederate troops He related many facts and names of the persons involved in that skirmish. The details of the story are found on their webpage. https://montereypassbattlefield.org/about/

 

He related the recent events of how interested members of the community have researched the history of the battle and preserved the land, as well as artifacts. 

 

In the early 1900's, a banker from the town of Waynesboro, named Jacob Stoner, had found some old documents about the battle and strove to have the area and the story preserved. After he died in the 19040's, his widow passed the information along to others to keep for future generations. After the 100th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, there was renewed interest in the battle at Monterey pass that followed.

 

In 2006 a woman by the name of Mrs. Cantwell started badgering Washington Township to do something to preserve and recognize this local history. She would regularly attend township meetings and bring up the subject of this effort. In 2006 the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission sent a request to the township to have a sign placed to acknowledge the site of the battle. The sign cannot be placed on private property, so the township set about acquiring a grant from PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to purchase the land in that area. They purchased the land which contained a pavilion that the former owners had built to memorialize their son, who died in combat in the Vietnam War. The pavilion could not be used for the purpose of a museum, but the township disassembled the native rock used to build the pavilion and used them to face the new building which now houses the museum.

 

In 2017 Washington Township purchased 418 acres which contain the mountain pass and the ancient roads used in the retreat from Gettysburg. Using the money from a grant obtained from DCNR in 2019, the township built trails, bridges, and viewing platforms on the land for public use. Along the trails are interpretive signs, pointing out the significant features of the mountains, the ancient roads, and the battle that was fought there. The museum contains some interesting artifacts, such as, uniforms, a Spencer repeating (lever-action) rifle and a diary of one of the generals who fought there. Most of these artifacts are donated or on loan from private collectors. 

 

A living history event will be taking place at the park on September 18-19, 2021, and there will be ghost tours later in October. In the future, the Friends of the Monterey Pass hope to purchase one of the original toll houses on the old Hagerstown Road, which is about 400 yards from the park. They are also seeking to obtain some significant artifacts related to the battle.