Dan Wukich joins Debie Delisi, event committee member, for a photo during the Grand Opening Gala at the Westmoreland Historical Society’s Westmoreland History Education Center at Hanna’s Town on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, 2019.
Bob Morris (from left), Tom Klingensmith, Bruce Shirey and Caleb Holt, gather for a photo during the Grand Opening Gala at the Westmoreland Historical Society’s Westmoreland History Education Center at Hanna’s Town on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, 2019.
Joan DeRose (left), event committee member and volunteer shop coordinator, joins Anita Zanke, library coordinator, for a photo during the Grand Opening Gala at the Westmoreland Historical Society’s Westmoreland History Education Center at Hanna’s Town on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, 2019.
Event committee members Linda Assard and Mike Cary, board chairman, pose for a photo during the Grand Opening Gala at the Westmoreland Historical Society’s Westmoreland History Education Center at Hanna’s Town on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, 2019.
Guests raise their glasses with a champagne toast to the grand opening of the Westmoreland History Education Center at Hanna’s Town on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, 2019.
Kimberly Smith joins her husband, Marquis Smith III of Greensburg, for a photo during the Grand Opening Gala of the Westmoreland Historical Society’s Westmoreland History Education Center at Hanna’s Town on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, 2019.
Dave Delisi, event co-chair; Lisa Hays, executive director of the Westmoreland Historical Society and event committee member; and Nancy Anderson, event co-chair, raise their glasses in a toast during the Grand Opening Gala of the Westmoreland Historical Society’s Westmoreland History Education Center at Hanna’s Town on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, 2019.
Mary Catherine Motchar and Jim Clayton, event committee member and board vice-chair, pose for a photo during the Grand Opening Gala of the Westmoreland Historical Society’s Westmoreland History Education Center at Hanna’s Town on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, 2019.
Louise Henry and Clinton Piper pose for a photo during the Grand Opening Gala of the Westmoreland Historical Society’s Westmoreland History Education Center at Hanna’s Town on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, 2019.
Though it was founded in 1908, the Westmoreland Historical Society never had a permanent home until this year, when it moved into the new Westmoreland History Education Center at Historic Hanna’s Town. Fundraising started a little more recently — during the George W. Bush presidential era.
That tidbit was shared with major contributors during a Grand Opening Gala on Nov. 14 at the Hempfield site, which includes a gallery, gift shop, library, meeting room and collection storage.
The current “Gems of the Collection” display is “the tip of the iceberg of the things in the collection,” said board president Michael Cary. “(The gallery) greatly expands our ability to educate the public and really makes history come alive.”
Included are items donated by Greensburg’s prominent Coulter family in 1958, such as a jacket 19-year-old Richard Coulter Sr. wore during the Mexican War in 1846 (which looks as though it might fit a 10-year-old today).
Gala guests were treated to a musket salute by Proctor’s Militia members, music by a Seton Hill University trio, a champagne toast and heavy hors d’oeuvres from Chef Mark Henry.
Event chairs Nancy Anderson and Dave Delisi were assisted by committee members Cary, Linda Assard, Linda Austin, Jim Clayton, Debbie Delisi, Joan DeRose and WHS Executive Director Lisa Hays.
Seen: Marquis III and Kimberly Smith, Chuck Anderson, Lou DeRose, Daniel Wukich, Jennifer Kettering, Mary Catherine Motchar, Phil and Gladys Light, Rich Lopretto and Phyllis Bertok, Clinton Piper, Charles and Laura Aftosmis, Dick and Barbara Flock, Tom and Donnis Headley and Bruce Shirey.
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