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discover northern mercer county

2023

restore riverside page 6 community celebrates opening of rec center page 10 pymatuning state park upgrades continue page 14

to take off at airport The Greenville Freedom Festival is only getting bigger in its third year. The annual event will return July 1 with all of the draws of years past at a new venue and with a national act. The event is moving to Greenville Municipal Airport on East Jamestown Road and will welcome the nationally touring band Stone Senate. The Nashville-based group — which has been described as a heavier version of Lynyrd Skynyrd mixed with the Allman Brothers — will be on a tour hitting Nevada, South Carolina, Illinois, and Greenville, Pa. Stone Senate will take the stage from 7 to 10 p.m. — with fireworks following — but the day will start with gates at the airport opening at 11 a.m. Sky divers will dive into the patriotic event at noon, with the first band, Necessary Experience, performing at noon. EPIC will play from 3 to 6 p.m. Rides will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and will be included with the entrance wristband fee. There will also be face painting and balloon artists. “Our goal is to have a great community event with low cost,” said organizer Chad Bromley. The group strives to continue to help the community.

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German POWs held at Camp Reynolds Not everyone knows that the Reynolds School District was named for the Reynolds Personnel Replacement Depot which occupied that area of Pymatuning Township between Reynolds Road and Route 18 during World War II. But fewer know that it also held POWs. Hundreds of German POWs were held at the local camp, until it was deactivated in 1946.

Restore Riverside Park has done much to physically improve Greenville’s largest green space, but its members also have a done a lot to fill it with activities.

2023 will be no different.

For starters, they’ll be bringing music to the amphitheater on June 19, July 8, July 24 and August 24. The June 19 event will be headlined by Memphis Honey, while on July 24, the group will be bringing in Los Angeles-based yacht rock group Yachtley Crew. Formed in 2017, Yachtley Crew is known for wearing nautical attire on stage while playing soft rock hits from the 1970s and 80s. The July 8 event will be during Heritage Days and will be scheduled in the late afternoon, while the other dates will start at 6 p.m. September, though, might be the biggest month, though. As “Spookt” — a horror film filmed in Greenville — hits the big screen, the group will be helping to celebrate.

Spookt weekend begins Friday, Sept. 22, with a panel discussion at Thiel College, followed by a celebration on Saturday, Sept. 23, in the park with local rockers Juvenile Characteristics playing in the park, and a meet and greet with stars from the film, as well as the release of a comic book featuring area ghost stories. That night, “Spookt” will hit the big screen at the Reynolds Drive-in. “Spookt” was filmed in Greenville, and directed by Greenville grad Tony Reames. It tells the story of a girl that has gone missing; locals believe she’s become a ghost. Paranormal investigators come to town to explain what has happened, but it’s not paranormal activity. “It’s actually much worse than that,” Reames said.

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Automobiles made here Greenville has been known for making a lot of things over the years: Ladder, tubes, rail cars. But it has also made more traditional cars. From 1912 to 1919, the now defunct Greenville Steel Car Company made Fay and Empire cars. Greenville Area Historical Society has an Empire car among its displays at its Waugh House museum on West Main Street.

Greenville had a rec center until 2014, housed in the former USO facility in Riverside Park, but this project can actually be better traced back to the former Greenville Memorial Swimming Pool. After years of service to the community, the pool fell into disrepair and was closed in 2010. Soon after, the Greenville Memorial Swimming Pool Committee formed to either repair or replace the pool. But as further studies took a longer look at the costs of building and operating a pool and the community’s desire for recreation beyond swimming, the group evolved into Community Recreation of Northern Mercer County. The group benefited from support from the Baughman Foundation, named for late Greenville philanthropist David Baughman, hence the name of the center. And after years of tireless work by the volunteers, the center is now open. For more information, visit baughmanfcc.org.

“Camping, nationwide, has been growing, and we have really seen it here. Last year, our camping was up 12 percent. we went from 109,472 campers in 2021 to 122,943 campers in 2022, in just two campgrounds — jamestown and Linesville.” 15

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Parachute invented here While others had tried before him, Stefan Banic has been credited as the father of the parachute. Banic, who had immigrated to Greenville from Slovakia, is said to have seen a plane crash on his way home from a shift at the coal mine in 1912, inspiring him to start putting together designs using hand-sewn canvas. While the starting point for the modern parachute, his creation looked a bit different than what we think of today. Banic’s design used poles at the hip to open an umbrella, or a kind of skirt around the waist. With the advent or World War I, he offered his patent to the U.S. Army.

august FRIDAY, AUGUST 4 “A Special Concert,” 7 p.m., Mercer Community Band

MONDAY, AUGUST 14 Restore Riverside concert series, Side Effects

SATURDAY, AUGUST 5 Brews, Bands & Vintage Bikes, Mercer courthouse square

TUESDAY, AUGUST 22 Transfer Harvest Home, though Aug. 26

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8 Jefferson Township Fair though Aug. 12

SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 Lake to Lake Paddle Challenge

SATURDAY, AUGUST 12 Music at the Marina, through Aug. 13, Goddard State Park

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30 Great Stoneboro Fair, through Sept. 4

september TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 Jamestown Community Fair, through Sept. 9 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 Jamestown Fireman’s Club Cruise-in, 5 to 8 p.m.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 Celebration of release of Greenville-set movie “Spookt,”through Sept. 23, Riverside Park, Thiel College and Reynolds Drive-in SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30 Fall Paddle Fest, 7:30 a.m. Pymatuning State Park

october-november FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13 Fall Pumpkin Fest at Conneaut Lake Park, through Oct. 15 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23 Gobble Wobble, Buhl Park

dyu First building was a Tavern The first building of any kind in what is now the Town of Greenville was a tavern. In 1797, Tobias Shank built Shank’s Tavern at the corner of what would become West Main and North Front streets. There was no bridge across the river at that point. The tavern also hosted the first organized religious services in what is now the Town of Greenville. Starting in 1798, the United Presbyterians started up operations at the tavern.

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