Jewelry & Beading Class, September 8th

Jewelry & Beading Class will be held Saturday, Sept 8th,  from 11:30am – 1:30pm at the Susquehanna River Archaeological Center (SRAC,) at 345 Broad St. Waverly, NY.

Local artisan Ellen Sisco creates jewelry from a wide variety of materials. Having worked with stones, metals, and beads of all kinds in her jewelry for 25 years, she conducts a popular class on basic beading techniques here the Susquehanna River Archaeological Center (SRAC.) On the second Saturday of each month, participants will be provided with instruction and all the supplies you will need, including semiprecious stone beads, glass beads, metal beads, pearls and tools so that you may create your own gift, keepsake, or special piece.

Learn to make necklaces, bracelets, earrings and other jewelry. Just ask about any style you would like to try, and Ellen will teach you to create jewelry to match your wardrobe, and to make things any occasion.

The fee for this two hour beading class is $25.00. Please call to reserve your space in class by calling the Center at (607) 565-7960 or emailing info@SRAcenter.org.

"George a Civil War Warrior" by Kurt Lafy Tuesday, September 11th

"George: A Civil Warrior" will be presented at SRAC at 345 Broad Street from 6:30 - 7:30pm on Tuesday, September 11th by local Civil War buff, Kurt Lafy.  Lafy is the author of a new book with the same title which centers around the 141st Pennsylvania Volunteers and one of his ancestors who served during the Civil War. He will also discuss many other ancestors of  Bradford County citizens who served in 141st as well.

The 141st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was a volunteer infantry regiment that fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment served at many battles during the war - including a devastating battle that took place at the Peach Orchard outside of Gettysburg.

A general admission donation of $6 for adults and $4 for SRAC members is requested.(Free admission for all students everyday at SRAC.) Free admission to the SRAC exhibit hall is included in this donation. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email info@SRAcenter.org, or call the Center at 607-565-7960.

Photo Gallery: Back Pack Give Away A HUGE Success!

On Friday, August 25th, SRAC and the Red Door Cafe hosted an incredible event where we gave away over 300 back packs to Waverly students getting ready for the 2012 school year. We were joined by the Railhouse Restaurant manning the bouncy house, Church of Nazarene with additional back packs, Guthrie Endocrinology Dept. with childhood obesity information, Tioga County Sherriff's Dept who gave free fingerprinting and photo ID's, ProCare with a bullying class and so many other organizations that donated their time and or $$ and gave so much to make this an incredible FREE event for our students, that I am sure they will be talking about it for quite a while! I want to especially thank the Waverly teachers who teamed up with us and ran several carnival - like games where kids could win more supplies and even dunk their teachers in the ever popular dunking booth. Thank you to all who helped make this event a special day for so many!

Below are some pictures from the event for you to enjoy!

Waverly United Methodist Church Donated Items for Backpack Give Away

Waverly United Methodist Church's Nurture and Outreach Committee members Pastor Anne Canfield, Betty Bump, Wendy Lupo and Rachael Lasco

(WAVERLY, NY) The Red Door Thrift Store and Coffee Shop and SRAC are teaming together with many organizations in the community to help Waverly students get ready to back to school by hosting a back pack giveaway on Friday, August 24th from 1-4pm. The first 300 kids will be able to get a free back pack loaded with needed school supplies for the school year for free.

SRAC’s Deb Twigg stated, “Unlike Pennsylvania students, Waverly students are required to bring their own supplies such as crayons, glue sticks, pencils, folders, erasers, loose paper, pens, spiral notebooks, three ring binders and marble composition notebooks. This can be very stressful for many families, and we want to help We plan to have as much of these supplies on hand as well as the free backpacks. In addition, each carnival game will be ran by WAVERLY TEACHERS and kids from any town can win supplies during the event.”

The most recent donation of supplies for the event came from the Waverly United Methodist Church. The Church’s Nurture and Outreach Committee is involved with many great community events focused on the community’s needs such as food drives, blanket, hats and mittens give-ways in the winter, fundraising events for the local animal shelter, and free lunches for kids throughout August when the summer recreation program has ended so that there is food for the kids available until school lunch programs begin. Throughout this summer, they also collected school supplies for Waverly students in need. Those supplies were donated to SRAC to give away during the event on August 24th.

Waverly United Methodist Church’s Pastor Anne Canfield commented, “The big thing is that it’s so cool to work for the benefit of the children of the community. We ALL need to work together; we will always be better working together than alone.” In fact this totally free event has done just that. Some examples are the Red Cross who will be on hand and giving away coloring books, childhood obesity information will be provided by Guthrie's Diabetes Center, Free library cards will be given away by the Waverly Free Library, bullying classes will be held by ProCare, and Tioga County Sheriff's Dept will also host "Project Safe" to fingerprint all kids under 18 and provide a photo id at no charge. Monetary donations to buy supplies were also accepted from Elderwood for $300, Chemite for $100, Shadowbox Treasures for $50, and WalmMart for $25. Combine this with many more opportunities to get needed funding, insurance and support for kids in the community along with a dunking booth, bouncy house and animal petting area provided by Stray Haven - and it is a free afternoon dedicated to kids and provided at no charge by their community. Twigg added, “Thanks to all of the people and organizations involved in making this a special event for our community. Things like this make me proud to be part of the Valley.”

Elderwood Resident Council Donates $300 to BackPack Give Away!

Elderwood at Tioga  Resident Council members Shirley Searfoss and Phyllis Mosier donate check to SRAC's Deb Twigg while Waverly teacher Robin Blauvelt looks on.

Today was a very special day for us. This morning I received a phone call from Kathy Gillette st Elderwood Healthcare at Tioga Nursing Home and she told me that their Residents Council had a $300 check they were donating for more supplies for the Back to School Back Pack Give Away coming up on Friday August 24th. Resident Council members Shirley Searfoss and Phyllis Mosier were on hand to meet with us and to give us the check. I also asked Waverly teacher, Robin Blauvelt to come along because I felt it would be great if the residents could have her thank them on behalf of the Waverly School District as well.

Things like this make me so proud of SRAC and all of the good things that we have been able to do with other members of our community. It's all such a blessing to be a part of.

Thanks to everyone at Elderwood Healthcare at Tioga for making this generous donation - we will actually be sending Robin Blauvelt to buy the supplies next week with all of the funds we collect. ALL of the supplies will be given away at the event and whatever is left will be given to the teachers who take part in the event for their classes this school year. (So if you are a Waverly teacher - we hope that you will consider this an incentive to take part !) Call Robin Blauvelt to learn more at 607-565-7192.

Back to School Back Pack Give Away Planned for Waverly

(WAVERLY, NY) On Friday, August 24th, 2012 from 1-4pm there will be an event held in downtown Waverly with the sole purpose of making sure that Waverly’s students have the resources that they need for the upcoming school year. 

Two of Waverly’s nonprofits, The Red Door Café and Thrift Store and The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center (SRAC) have teamed together with many local businesses to make the first annual “Back to School  - BackPack Giveaway” an event for students needing supplies for the upcoming school year.  SRAC’s Deb Twigg explained,” Unlike kids in PA , Waverly’s students must bring certain supplies like pencils, pens, glue sticks and notebooks when they arrive at school. You can imagine the stress this can cause families with tight incomes or with several children in school. As a result, Mary Perry Rogers of The Red Door went after a grant for 300 back packs for Waverly students. Since then it has been like ‘stone soup.’ By that, I mean, everybody we ask throws in what they can, resulting in a really amazing event.”

At this time, the free event includes not only the 300 initial backpacks from the Red Door, but 40 more that have been donated by the Church of the Nazarene.  SRAC, Chemite, WalMart, The Waverly Community Chest, The Railhouse and many private individuals have also donated more supplies to help fill each back pack. Along with the free back pack giveaway, Waverly teachers will be running carnival-style games where students can win additional supplies.  Free refreshments, face painting, an air filled “bouncy house,” and even a dunking booth donated by the American Legion for the event will also add to the carnival-like atmosphere.  The event will also have a clown, provide a chance to win a free birthday cake from Desserts First, free coloring books and first aid kits from the Red Cross, Childhood Obesity information from the Guthrie Endocrinology Team, and a bullying class presented in the SRAC lecture hall by ProCare. The Tioga County Sherriff's Department will be at the SRAC Gift Shop during the event giving free photo ID's and fingerprinting.

Twigg added, “In order to get a free back pack, students just need to bring proof of their residency in the Waverly school district. The rest of the event is free to attend and open to all students in need of supplies, helpful information and a good time.”

The event takes place on Park Avenue between SRAC and the Red Door Café and is set to run from 1-4 pm. Donations of school supplies are still being accepted and can be dropped off at SRAC during normal business hours. Interested parties are asked to call Deb Twigg at SRAC at (607)565-7960 for more information.

SRAC Highlighted on WBNGTV

WBNGTV recently visited SRAC and highlighted us on their "On the Road: The Vally" segment:

(click the image above to play the video)

WBNGTV reported, "Step inside the Susquehanna River Archaeological Center in Waverly and you're taking a trip back to the Native American culture. The museum focuses on its archaeology.

"There's nothing like it for hundreds of miles around here," said Deb Twigg, Executive Director.

From pottery to rock and minerals to the huge Wooley Mammoth Exhibit, there's something for everyone at the SRAC. It's a non-profit and all of the employees are volunteers who love teaching others about the area's history.

"You'll have someone here who will walk you through it all and help you understand who these people were, how they lived and just how amazing they were," said Twigg.

Best of all, it's a true "hands on" experience. Kids who visit will be able to touch nearly fifty of the artifacts.

"We have 20 collections, from all different collectors all over the region from basically Owego to Corning all the way down to Bradford County," said Twigg.

By each collection is a picture of those who donated their items for their families to enjoy for years to come.

There's also a gift shop where visitors can pick up a variety of souvenirs."

Visit the WBNGTV page here: http://www.wbng.com/features/on-the-road/On-The-Road-The-Valley-164792846.html

Tuesday, August 7th - Margaret Hastings Presentation

“Margaret Hastings, WWII WAC Lost in the Pacific”

By Emma Sedore   

Tuesday, August 7th

6:30 - 7:30pm

SRAC welcomes back Owego historian, Emma Sedore for a night of historically significant storytelling about Margaret Hastings, from Owego NY - who was a WWII WAC who was lost in the Pacific.

The presentation covers the true story that took place in May of 1945 and received the greatest amount of coverage, from both newspapers and radio than any other single episode of WWII - and the main attraction was a petite WAC Corporal by the name of Margaret J. Hastings from Owego, N.Y. It began as a pleasure flight for 24 military personnel in a C-47 from Hollandia, New Guinea and ended in tragedy. The account of how the three survivors, two men and a woman, lived to tell their saga of being trapped in "Shangri-La" and of the ingenuity and courage it took for rescuing them.

Sedore's ability to engage and entertain the audience with her lively storytelling about real people and real subjects makes her presentations a must see for all ages.

A general admission donation of $6 for adults and $4 for SRAC members is requested.(Free admission for all students everyday at SRAC.) Free admission to the SRAC exhibit hall is included in this donation. For more information, visit www.SRACenter.org, email info@SRAcenter.org, or call the Center at 607-565-7960.