Welcome to April! Hopefully the cold weather is soon behind us, but for now there's still some chill in the air. I'll be back with a regular post next week, but I wanted to cover a few pieces of news, and it just seemed to make sense to compile them all into a single post and then go back to blogging as usual. Nothing earth-shattering, but some very interesting bits and pieces all the same.
The first is the least relevant to the blog, but my beloved Zenkaikon is in need of more staff members and volunteers for the 2026 convention. It's the con's 20th anniversary, so we're pulling out all the stops to make it the biggest and best one yet, and that means we need help. Lots of it. Yes, I'll be there, and I've got my sticky little fingers in a number of pies that have been in the works for some time. Among other things, I'm helping to run the museum! (Shocking, I know.) So if you're within a reasonable distance of Lancaster County - or even not-so-reasonable, some of our staff members come all the way from Florida! - and want to partake of the nonsense, this is the perfect time. The recruitment isn't at the active stage yet, but if you want to be notified when that happens, please leave a comment on this post and I'll reply with a link when the powers that be are ready for you to express your interest.
Speaking of Lancaster, they're gearing up for the final stages of preparing the Stevens & Smith Center. As I've mentioned before, the home of Thaddeus Stevens and his trusted right-hand woman Lydia Hamilton Smith is being turned into both a historical museum and also a center for civil rights education. It's actually part of the Lancaster County Convention Center, and for the last several years we've been able to take a look into the basement cistern when attending Zenkaikon; this year, we were able to look through the same windows and see the work that's been done. It's going to be extraordinary when it opens next year! If you'd like to learn more about the goings-on, LancasterHistory will be doing a presentation about the whole thing during a reception on Tuesday, April 15th; if you can't get there in person, they will be offering a second presentation via Zoom on Tuesday, May 13th. You can find the details about both events by clicking here.
Next up, the one that affects the blog directly - I received news from MailChimp that they are discontinuing something automated on my newsletter, and the only way I can continue is to buy a paid account with them. I don't make enough money off of this blog to be shelling out for that, so I've decided to discontinue the newsletter. I'll send out one more issue with this information and then that will be the end of it. When I'm able to get that running again, I'll let you know.
My fellow Pennsylvania enthusiast, Jim of Uncovering PA, is celebrating his website's tenth anniversary this year! Congratulations, Jim! With the weather slowly improving, he's scheduling his guided photography workshops for different places throughout the state. You can see which ones he's already arranged by clicking here, and he's got more coming, so either sign up to be notified or keep an eye on that page for future announcements. I want to go on one of his Cresson Prison workshops, myself - that place has one of my markers!
Speaking of the markers, my final piece of news is a pretty big one. Do you want to keep me running around this state like "the Indiana Jones of roadside trivia", as ChatGPT recently dubbed me? I'm in no danger of running out of markers, but if you'd like to help make sure I do this until I'm 90, the PHMC has once more reopened the marker program for nominations! So if you know of an important piece of state history that doesn't yet have a marker proclaiming its awesomeness, now's your chance to ask them to look into it. Do your homework about the subject, and then submit the proposal - download their PDF document on this page to find out everything you need to know.
And that's it for me for this week! Next week we'll be taking our first look at a marker from Mifflin County, courtesy of guest photographer Kaylee Lindenmuth of the Shenandoah Sentinel, so join me then!
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
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