Heritage Celebration | Columbus’s messenger
Messenger photos: Dedra Cordle
On June 8, the City of Grove City and the Southwest Franklin County Historical Society hosted their annual Heritage Celebration. The event, held at Century Village at Fryer Park, gives visitors a glimpse into the lives of area residents in the mid-to-late 18th and 19th centuries through shows, games, live entertainment and building tours. Here, SWFCHS volunteer Linda Crews shows off a vintage Treadle White sewing machine at the Haines-Black House and General Store. The crews found that during this period most families could not afford a sewing machine, so they sewed all their work by hand.
He is pictured crafting “some kind of spear” at the Augenstein-Spillman Blacksmith Shop with local resident Garrett Mays and assistant blacksmithing instructor John Mattix. The blacksmith program is typically supervised by instructor Max Bauman, but Mattix, whose great-grandfather was a blacksmith, filled in for the event. The city’s parks and recreation department offers blacksmithing classes throughout the year. For more information, contact the Division of Parks and Recreation at grovecityohio.gov.
Gantz Farm garden volunteers (left to right) Mary Jane LaLonde, Sue Skorupski and Theresa Myers pull weeds from the gardens at Century Village.
SWFCHS volunteer Michael Crews shows off the carving table at the butcher shop located on the grounds of the Bob Evans Farm Museum/Log Cabin with a Double Bed. Crews joked that this carving table would probably not pass a modern health inspection.
Tony Gerardi (left) and Mark Fesler (right) hold a jam session with other musicians during an event.
SWFCHS volunteer Gary Gardner works on a new creation at the tinsmith’s booth in Olde Village. Gardner, a local resident, was a mechanic by trade, but took up bodywork several years ago after taking a tradesman’s course.
SWFCHS volunteer Tom Wilhelm uses leather canvas to create a landscape portrait of Yosemite National Park.






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