COMMUNITY
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JANUARY 12-18, 2017
VFW loses building to Route 322 construction By SAM STITZER correspondent@centrecountygazette.com
POTTERS MILLS — The Potters Mills Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 9575, established in 1947 and located along Route 322 near Potters Mills, has a serious problem. PennDOT is constructing a new four-lane section of Route 322, and it has taken the VFW’s property by eminent domain. “We’ve been paid (for the property), but we have to be out by March 15,” said post commander and Marine Corps veteran Walter Mayes. “The 12th will be our last operating day.” But, the post has nowhere to go. Mayes said the post has 110 first-class members who are veterans. It also has an auxiliary — formerly just open to women, but now open to men, too — and a home association made up of about 200 social members. “Social members can be anybody, but they cannot hold an office
SAM STITZER/For the Gazette
THE POTTERS MILLS VFW Post No. 9575 building will be demolished to make way for a new four-lane section of Route 322 near Potters Mills. The post is searching for land to erect a new building.
and they cannot vote,” Mayes said. “Somewhere in Pennsylvania law it says in order to have social members we must have a canteen or a club, and we’re losing that.” Mayes said that losing its land would be a devastating blow to the post, as well as to the community. The bar and club is the post’s chief source of income, much of which goes to local charities and individuals who have suffered loss. He said the post donated more than $53,000 to local people in need over the past several years, and those donations would cease if the post can’t soon be relocated. Mayes said the current 4,000-square-foot building is much larger than needed for the post’s membership, and the group would like to erect a building half that size on a property of about 2 acres. The search is on for land in the Potters Mills/ Potter Township area, but north VFW, Page 15
Penns Valley residents compete and work at Farm Show By SAM STITZER correspondent@centrecountygazette.com
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Farm Show is the largest indoor agricultural event in America, attracting thousands of participants and visitors annually from all across the state, including the Penns Valley area. Competing in numerous equine competitions were Gerald and Melissa Allebach, who own and operate Windermere Farms, located at 3971 Brush Valley Road in Gregg Township. There, they breed, raise and train world-champion class Percheron draft horses. The Allebachs’ horses have won several world championships, and six years ago Windermere Farms had produced three world champions in a row — a feat never before accomplished by any other farm. Gerald Allebach said that producing championship caliber horses is a combination of good breeding, training and handling. He said that none of his horses are bred until they have proven themselves to be top-quality show horses. This year, the Allebachs brought Bentley, their world champion stallion, to the Farm Show. They also showed three of
Bentley’s siblings and a mare sired by Bentley, as well as four Belgian horses owned by Lou Biddle, of Oak Hall Farm near Boalsburg. The Allebachs are planning to have an open house at their farm Sunday, May 14, to acquaint the public with their farm operation. Allebach mentioned that, in addition to raising horses, Windermere Farms has a business selling hay to companies working on restoring former strip mines to their natural state. He grows some of the hay on his 400-acre farm and buys some surplus hay from nearby farmers. “I get to give them (other farmers) some money, I get to make some money, and I get to help the earth,” he said. “It’s win-win all around.” Also at the Farm Show were Erskine and Wilhelmina Cash, of Centre Hall, who served up sandwiches at the Pennsylvania Livestock Association’s food court booth. Erskine Cash said the booth, which raises funds for the PLA, is also staffed by members of many agricultural organizations such as 4-H clubs, the Pennsylvania Draft Horse Association, collegiate livestock clubs and others. “The bulk of our money comes from this and membership dues,” said Cash. Farm Show, Page 15
SAM STITZER/For the Gazette
GERALD ALLEBACH, of Windermere Farms in Gregg Township, stands with Bentley, his world champion stallion, which competed in several draft horse competitions at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.
Schlow Centre Region Library celebrating 60th birthday Special to the Gazette STATE COLLEGE —On Tuesday, Jan. 17, Schlow Centre Region Library will celebrate 60 years as a public library serving the State College community. Residents are invited to stop in to celebrate its legacy. During the past 60 years, the Schlow Library has grown from a collection of 3,000 books in two rooms on West College Avenue to a state-of-the-art institution with more than 160,000 items in its collection and a landmark building in the center of downtown State College, the library said in a release. At the turn of the 20th century, the residents of State College sought a public library. Many incarnations of community libraries were formed — from the basement of the Fraser School with a $1 per year membership fee, to a single room that opened only one day a week at the high school. All of these projects ultimately collapsed as they sought long-term public funding. In 1957, the dream of a true public library came true when Charles Schlow, a local businessman, stepped up to renovate a space for the library in one of his properties. Schlow donated this space rent- and utility-free and named it for
his late wife, Bells S. Schlow. That act of generosity prompted an outpouring of support, from donations to volunteer hours. Ruth Zipser and Judy Lang, Charles Schlow’s granddaughters, said they know their grandfather would be proud of what “astounding” transformations the library has gone through in the past 60 years. “It’s a true testament to the amazing community he loved and the driving force behind why honoring the memory of his wife, our grandmother, with this library was so important to him.” Within a couple years, the people of State College passed a tax referendum and the library gained the public funding support it needed to continue. Today, Schlow Centre Region Library is an agency of the Centre Region Council of Governments, supported by revenue from the Borough of State College and the townships of Ferguson, Patton, Harris, College and Halfmoon. All residents of Centre County, including Penn State University students, are eligible for library cards. The library will host a special Community Open House on Saturday, June 10, to mark Charles Schlow’s June 14 birthday. Additional events will be announced throughout the year at www.schlow library.org.
MARK BRACKENBURY/The Gazette
THE SCHLOW Centre Region Library at Allen Street and Beaver Avenue in State College is celebrating its 60th birthday Jan. 17.