This year we decided to celebrate Christmas at the WCTU Building/Museum. From 11 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. we were open to the public to view our vintage Christmas trees, antique ornaments, postcards, and decorations from Apollo’s past. A big Thank You goes to Alan Morgan & Denise Flickinger and the others who helped get the displays together. A special mention goes to the Train Display belonging to the Morgan family of Apollo. The train was first displayed in 1970 in their home with Dale Morgan setting it up. Through the years, his son Alan began helping until he was doing it himself. Then the whole display was packed away for over 30 years until Alan unboxed it & brought it to the museum. After many hours of work, he had it up and running much to our delight! The children who visited LOVED it (so did the adults!).

We had cookies and hot beverages to enjoy throughout the day. The Kiski Valley Community Band Flute Ensemble entertained us for a while, followed by The Orchard carolers. Jenny Hellein sang carols throughout the morning in the museum as well as downtown, while Becky Kane, dressed as a Victorian Christmas caroler, invited people from the plaza to our Celebration.

Santa and Mrs. Claus stopped by the museum to the delight of the children visiting. Thank you to them for joining us! It was a great day and we had a nice amount of visitors, many of whom had never seen the museum before. The displays and train will remain up until Sat. December 16 which is our last day to be open until spring. Be sure to stop by!

Thanks to Denise Flickinger and Dolly McCoy for the above pictures and Bill Miller for the following photos.

A great time was had by all at our Civil War encampment on Sunday, August 13, 2023. The encampment was set up by members of the 40th Regiment PA Volunteer Infantry Reserves Company C. Three presentations were made; first by Jonathan Richardson detailing the life of General Samuel Jackson and second by Cindy McShane who talked about the women during the Civil War & specifically Mary Walker, the first female U.S. Army surgeon of the U.S. Army of the Civil War. Finally Don and Becky Becker presented the accoutrements of the soldier in the field and his wife at home. Great presentations and the audience learned a lot. Following are pictures taken by Jonathan Richardson and Denise Flickinger. The first set is Jonathan Richardson’s presentation.

On Saturday, July 29, 2023, a group of AAHS members were given a behind the scenes look at the Rebecca Hadden Stone House Museum and the Old Saltsburg Mill. Jack Maguire, along with Chuck Colton, provided the tour to Denise Flickinger, Alan Morgan, Sherry Miller, Sue Casella, Bonnie Kautz, and Bob & Becky Kane. Sue Casella & Denise Flickinger took the following photos.

Following the tour, the group had lunch at the Point Street Tavern. A good time was had by all.

The kids from Grandma’s House have visited the WCTU Building/Museum twice this summer along with their trips to the Drake Log Cabin. We are thrilled to have them take an interest in Apollo’s history. The most exciting fact for them was that Apollo,PA is spelled the same forward & backwards! (palindrome!!) Thanks to Wendy Minik & Sue Ott for hosting their visits!

If your group is interested in a personal tour, please contact us at 724-478-2899 or email apollopahistory@gmail.com. Thanks!

The kids from Grandma’s House visited the Drake Log Cabin twice this summer. They especially enjoyed seeing the renovated spring house & the new outhouse. Several offered to “christen” it for us! We sure enjoyed having them. Thanks to Denise Flickinger & Sue Ott for hosting the tours.

If your group is interested in a personal tour of the cabin or the WCTU Building/Museum, please contact us at 724-478-2899 or email at apollopahistory@gmail.com. We’d love to have you!

On Saturday, June 17, 2023, a group of notable citizens from our great town on Apollo visited the Drake Log Cabin. As our audience ate pizza donated by Apollo’s Fox’s Pizza Den and veggie trays donated by Naser’s Foods and Held’s Shop ‘n Save, the reenactors gave a monologue of their contributions to Apollo. A great time was had by all. Below are some photos taken by Bill Kerr of our event.

Test your knowledge of Apollo’ s famous citizen Nellie Bly with the questions below!

The Apollo Area Historical Society is excited about our new t-shirt that has been delivered and is ready for sale! The price is $12 for Adult sizes Small through 1X and $15 for 2X and $16 for 3X and up. Shipping is $8 for the first shirt and $2 for each other shirt. Call 724-478-2899 or contact us here or at apollopahistory@gmail.com for more information. The shirts will be for sale at our WCTU Building/Museum beginning Saturday, April 1 and every Saturday & Wednesday, 11-2 during museum hours. Children’s sizes can be special ordered.

We invited Santa Claus to visit Drake’s Log Cabin again this year. We had such a good time with the families that stopped by. Hope you enjoy our montage of pictures. Thanks to all the AAHS members who were able to help out in so many ways. The treat bags were filled with donations from the following: Sherry Miller, Sue Casella, Becky Kane, Jessi Casella, Denise Flickinger, Bill Miller, Bonnie Kautz, Debbie Bash, Debbie Flickinger, Sue Ott, and the Apollo Lions. Thanks also to the Leo Club students who volunteered their time to help with the kids as they visited. They were truly Santa’s Helpers!

The Apollo Area Historical Society held its monthly meeting on December 8, 2022 at the wonderful Jackson Mansion on Terrace Avenue. We were invited to hold our meeting there by Rob Jackson, the owner. Rob is a descendent of General Samuel Jackson who had the house built in 1883. You can learn more about the house by clicking here.

After our meeting, we were given a tour of the mansion by Bill Kerr. He took the photos in this article. We ended the enjoyable evening with cookies and cider. What a treasure we have right here in Apollo!