From a 1925 vintage fire engine to an antique toy exhibit to a display about convicted murderer Martha Grinder, a Kiski Valley museums open house tour Sunday had something for everybody.

The tour encompassed exhibits from the Victorian Vandergrift Museum and Historical Society, as well as the Apollo, Hyde Park and Leechburg museums.

These museums don’t have money to advertise, so the tour was about creating awareness. About 65 people took advantage of a shuttle bus taking them to the four destinations.

“The pandemic shut us down last year, and we decided we needed to get people back interested in the museums in these little towns,” said Anthony Ferrante, VVMHS president. “You ask half the people in Vandergrift, Apollo, Hyde Park and Leechburg if they have a museum in their town, and I guarantee you they’ll say, ‘We don’t have a museum.’ So we’re trying to get the word out.”

A garage below the Vandergrift Museum housed a 1925 pumper firetruck that proved fascinating enough to hold the attention of 7-year-old Mason Patzer and his brother, Ben, 6.

In the main building next door, there are numerous displays honoring Vandergrift’s military heritage, focusing mainly on the area’s World War II veterans whose families have donated medals, uniforms and photos of hundreds of soldiers. One display is dedicated to the first soldier from the area to die in WWII — Sgt. Howard Glenn Hall.

Other displays included memorabilia of former Kiski Area High School football coach Frank Morea, who presided over a perennial powerhouse during the 1970s. The items included game films, apparel and game programs.

“People were looking for the ones that had their names and everything,” Ferrante said.

At the Apollo Museum and Historical Society, a vintage toy exhibit included antique dollhouses that brought back memories for Sandy Ashbaugh of West Leechburg.

“I still have the dollhouse I had as a kid and all the furniture,” she said. “It’s fantastic. There’s so much to see. It’s just wonderful. It has so much to give, and nobody knows it’s here.”

Her friend Janice Vovaris of Leechburg said it was the first time she had been on the tour and she would definitely recommend it to others. There were toys that also caught her eye.

“I remember the dolls like this one with the painted-on hair. I remember those. I had one,” she said.

Dennis Chapman, 68, and his wife, Dot, 66, of Upper Burrell, had a special fascination for the display in Hyde Park about convicted murderer Martha Grinder, who was hanged for poisoning people by putting arsenic in their food.

The display featured newspaper articles and photos documenting her murderous adventures and eventual execution in Pittsburgh in 1869.

“It’s history, and that’s what she’s famous for,” Dot said. “It was a pretty big deal at the time. It still is a big deal.”

Hyde Park Museum and Historical Society treasurer and organizer Kathleen Baker said the hope is that those who took the tour will make return visits and encourage others to check out all of the Kiski Valley Museums.

“Each museum is unique,” she said. “Every one of them has their own special thing.”

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