Archives

Venango County Retired Senior Volunteer Program will hold a volunteer recruitment event on Tuesday, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Drake Well Museum, 202 Museum Lane, Titusville.

RSVP is an organization of volunteers who give their time and expertise to help with numerous community needs. Volunteer opportunities include calling or visiting housebound senior citizens, assisting at blood drives, helping individuals file their taxes, acting as tour guides in local museums, driving seniors to out-of-county medical appointments and many others.

In exchange for bringing a nonperishable food item for donation to a local food pantry to Tuesday’s recruitment event, attendees will receive free admission to the museum.

Tours of the museum will be conducted by RSVP Advisory Council member and volunteer Dick Baker, who will discuss opportunities for seniors to volunteer in and around Venango County.

Call (814) 432-9723 or send an e-mail to rsvp@co.venango.pa.us if you plan to attend or for more information on volunteering with RSVP.

Help Erie celebrate its heritage by participating in “The Spirit of Erie,”  a community pageant that will pay tribute to Erie’s history as part of this summer’s Perry 200 Commemoration.

Auditions for the extravaganza, which will include singing, dancing, historical skits and more, are scheduled Monday and Tuesday, March 18 and 19, at 6 p.m. at the Erie Playhouse Rehearsal Hall, 1158 E. 12th St.

Participants will take part in eight performances between June 25 and June 30 at the Bayfront Convention Center.

Auditions are open to anyone age 7 or older; the show will include a large cast of children. No previous experience is necessary.

Singers should bring 16 bars of a song of their choice. Dancers should be ready to learn some steps and show off their skills; a combination will be taught at the auditions. Actors should prepare a short dramatic monologue.

For more information on the auditions or the pageant, call Richard Davis of the Erie Playhouse at 454-2852, Ext. 2 or e-mail him at richardd@erieplayhouse.org.

Watson-Curtze Mansion

The Erie County Historical Society, which has its offices at the Erie County History Center at 419 State St. and also runs the Battles Museums of Rural Life in Girard and the Watson-Curtze Mansion and the Erie Planetarium, is seeking volunteers to fill a variety of roles.

Some of the positions available are tour guides/docents to lead museum visitors through the facilities, data entry clerks to maintain the society’s databases, and front desk attendants to greet visitors, among others. Volunteers receive free admission to ECHS properties, access to educational opportunities and behind-the-scenes tours, plus discounts on events and items at the History Center museum store.

To find out more, or to volunteer, call Andrew Adamus at 454-1813 Ext. 24.

Check out this great video by my colleague Matt Mead about volunteering on the Brig Niagara.

For more information, check out this earlier Volunteer Erie post.

The flags on the fleet of ships built in Erie for the War of 1812 bore the slogan “Don’t give up the ship.”

Two hundred years later, the Perry 200 Commemoration, sponsored in part by the Jefferson Educational Society, urges the Erie community, “Don’t give up the spirit.”

The city of Erie played an integral part in the War of 1812. Then a city of 500 people, Erie constructed the fleet that led Commodore Oliver H. Perry to victory in the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813.

Perry’s likeness–and name–are now featured prominently in downtown Erie.

“[People like Perry] are Erieites we are proud of,” said Corrine Egan, a program associated at the Jefferson Educational Society.

The 200th anniversary celebration of the War of 1812 and the Battle of Lake Erie seeks to instill that pride in the greater community, says Egan.

Commemoration events kick off this spring and will last through 2013.

The first phase, which will take place in May, brings the War of 1812 into classrooms across Erie.

The Jefferson Educational Society is currently in the process of drafting curricula and planning events for the students.

That’s where you can come in…

Egan said they are looking for as many volunteers as possible to fulfill a variety of roles in the first phase of the Perry 200 commemoration.

Here are some opportunities:

-Join employees of the Jefferson Educational Society in assembling kits of materials for teachers. Volunteers are needed the week of March 12.

-Help run activities in the schools during May. The Jefferson Educational Society is working with a local artist to offer War of 1812-themed classes in schools across the city. Volunteers would be working off an established curriculum.

-Visit classrooms as history re-enacters. Don the uniform of a War of 1812 soldier and share history in character. This is a fun way to make history more interactive.

-Chaperone class field trips. The participating fifth grade classrooms will be going on a couple throughout May.

“We hope the people of Erie will step forward and show their pride by volunteering or participating,” said Egan.

Volunteers will be needed throughout the commemoration. Follow Volunteer Erie for additional opportunities.

Contact Corrine Egan at (814) 459-8000 or egan@JESerie.org to get involved.

Photo courtesy of the Jefferson Educational Society