Genealogy, Goats, Mary Lynne Spazok
and
Glue
at
Gilfillan
An archetype of Americana, the Gilfillan Farm celebrates Upper St. Clair Community Day (which is also Armed Forces Day) Saturday, May 16. New for 2015 is “Finding Our Families, Finding Ourselves,” which chronicles the roots of Upper St. Clair through genealogy and is the first “G” in our article. Consider helping. Offer your vintage photos or documents, which will be scanned and methodically archived, and then returned to you. Every contribution is valued and will enrich this open-ended research. Upper St. Clair Historical Society president Rachel Heins Carlson asserts, “The pursuit of family origins tends to be shaped by kinship and the desire to carve out a place for one’s family delineation and preserve the past for future generations. To amass individual and civic data, genealogists employ oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other registers, including obituaries. The collective outcome includes charts and written narratives. Digital data from legacy software can significantly expand ancestral horizons. Start discovering today!” The second “G” is for those contrary goats and other animals that nibble incessantly. The always popular petting pen will showcase quirky quackers, loving lambs, and squawking turkeys who will entertain with their barnyard antics. Enjoy sheep shearing and dairy cow milking, and see the brute strength and power of the genteel Percheron draft horses. The goal is to endow children with confidence in their abilities and their decisions and creative choices. The farm is enchanting; be curious, wonder aloud, listen carefully, absorb new knowledge, and explore. The ever-popular Gilfillan Farm kids craft encourages independence and imagination. Therefore, the third “G” is for glue! Kids are invited to bring a 4" x 6" photo to create their very own picture frame. An assortment of foam farm animals will be available to enhance their creations. This memento is yours to keep and treasure. While smiling, laughing, and learning, preserve the memory of friends and family through photography. Unlimited photo ops at Gilfillan Farm include perching on an antique tractor or chatting with an authentic cowgirl and bronco buster. Whether your camera is disposable, digital, or through your smart phone, photography empowers. In a single moment, photography transforms a real life image into a historical artifact. Cameras are tools of exploration, passports to inner feelings, recorders of history, and, perchance, instruments of change. Whether flora or fauna, portrait or landscape, happy or sad, a photograph captures a memory. USC Community Day 2014 photos depict some awesome activities! Why don’t you share your art of photography at Gilfillan this year? Seize the perfect place, the perfect time, or the perfect angle, but remember your photo is uniquely yours! The Gilfillan Homestead is open Saturday May 16, noon–3 p.m., rain or shine. Handicap parking is off Orr Road at the entry lane; general parking is located at the garden area. n
The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.—Andy Warhol, Pittsburgh native, artist, filmmaker, biographer, (1928–1987).
For additional genealogy inquiries, email president@hsusc.org or phone 412-835-2050. For possible photo publication in UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY or HSUSC event anthology, email jpg format to mlsusc@aol.com, including names, dates, and locations. 14
UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY
Summer 2015