Collingdale WWI "Day of Remembrance"

Hi,

It has been awhile since I last wrote this blog. A lot has happened in the interim. We're now fighting against the encroachment of a Super WAWA on borough land and the wanton destruction of four historic resources. As part of the participation in the WWI Delco commemoration on Saturday, September 23rd, we will briefly explore the history of these buildings and why we feel they should be saved.

The "Day of Remembrance will start at 10 am down at Collingdale Park with a brief introduction to the walking tours. It is important that we remember the people that are honored at the WWI monument.

Organization-Collingdale Library Association

Location: 823 MacDade Boulevard

Hours of service; Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 12-8 pm, Wednesday 10-8 pm. Friday 12-4 pm, Saturday 10-5 pm.

Founded by: The Women's Club in May 1937.

Mission Statement: To provide easily accessible information to the community and to foster the love of reading.

A Brief History: When the Women's Club was formed in September 1936, the first order of business was to establish a public library. The ladies felt that having a public library meant that the growing community would be well educated and be able to succeed in life. The first books in the library were literature and reference books accumulated by the Women's Club and donated. Many of the founders of the library dedicated their lives to serving the community through the library. The Trinity Episcopal Church in Collingdale (now Pilgrim Seventh Day Adventist Church) actually leased the land for the new library to the library association for $1. The library association also had use of the old rectory building. The rectory building became the library for many years until it was deemed unsafe in 1974 and demolished to make way for a new building in 1976. The photograph above shows this library in 1987 when the association celebrated its 50th year.

The Future- Unfortunately the future looks pretty grim for the association. The Friends of the Collingdale Library, a subsidiary of the association disbanded in 2014 due to lack of interest and time restraints. The void of not having this voice has been keenly felt when a new library director came on board in July bringing many new changes.

The issue is two-fold. The changing demographic of the borough has created a crisis in funding and resources. Equally challenging is the push to change the library's purpose from its original intent and provide what essentially is a computerized library system. This means in effect that the library in its present form will soon cease to exist. Instead of a library with reference books and non-fiction books that are easily handled, you'll now have to request those books from a repository.

Collingdale History Day Celebrates Collingdale's 125th Anniversary

Collingdale History Day is this Saturday, October 15th at St. Joseph's Church in Collingdale. We have a lot of fun activities planned for all ages. You can shop for beautiful jewelry or purchase handmade crochet items for your child.

John & Jan Haigis will entertain us from 10 am to 12 pm with a selection of old songs and transportation hits. More OcTrolleyFest activities are available at the Darby Free Library from 11 am to 5 pm.

Why not stop on by? We'll be holding an raffle auction of Collingdale items at 1 pm. All monies go to the Collingdale Historical Society's general fund. We hope to have an publicly accessible history room for everyone to learn about their local history soon.

Collingdale History Day Celebrates Collingdale's 125th Anniversary

One week to go. The tension is high but I'm excited to say that we have 3 transportation organizations that are going to be at this event. We'll have fun with switching games, train and trolley displays and antique cars. There will also be jewelry and food vendors. Why not come and join us?

Collingdale History Day

Saturday, October 15th

10 am to 2 pm

St. Joseph's Church 500 Woodlawn Avenue

Collingdale, PA

You'll be sorry you missed it....

Celebrating Transportation at Collingdale History Day

Hi,

We're heading down to the wire with our transportation themed Collingdale History Day. Three transportation organizations will be setting up tables and having transportation themed activities. There will be food vendors, crafts vendors and historic organizations at this event.

We're also celebrating the 12th annual OcTrolleyFest with scarecrow making and a Selfie contest. Kids from area elementary schools are also participating in the annual trolley art contest.

New this year is a transportation themed baking contest. The contest is open to all ages and is free to enter. You can register by emailing collingdalehistory@gmail.com, calling Jennifer at Cupcakeology (610)246-8910 or by downloading the form at www.Facebook.com/collingdalehistoricalsociety.com.

We have 6 sponsors and are in the midst of creating a booklet on Collingdale. 125th anniversary merchandise will also be available for purchase.

Collingdale History Day

Hi,

You probably thought I'd forget about this. Of course not! We're actually getting down to the wire with this continuation of the 125th anniversary of Collingdale. As in the past years we will have tables with different organizations, food and craft vendors and music. What's different this year is:

A Baking contest!....Yup, that's right. We're having our 1st ever baking contest and you're all invited to participate. In conjunction with this year's theme of transportation, we want contestants to think and create culinary masterpieces that have to do with transportation. You could make trolley cupcakes or bus cakes....You get the idea. I want everyone to have fun with this. No idea is too crazy as long as it's edible.

Collingdale History Day will be held this year on Saturday, October 15th from 10 am to 2 pm at St. Joseph's Church parking lot...500 Woodlawn Avenue, Collingdale....

I'm still looking for vendors....$15 table space....You will need to bring your own tables and chairs. You can also get involved in the booklet...sponsors and patrons are welcome. Fill out form below...

To get clearer copy, e-mail me at collingdalehistory@gmail.com. Thank you!

The 125th Celebration Continues....Collingdale History Day

The 4th of July celebrations with the exception of the cancelled fireworks went off without a hitch.
We had a lot of people show up at our historical display down at Collingdale Park. It was the largest turn out we had for a long while too. Estimates are that around 500 people or more showed up during the 5 hour stay down in the Park. For those who missed this display, we will be setting it up again during Collingdale History Day. This day was set aside to celebrate the rich history of Collingdale back in 2013. The Collingdale Historical Society, founded February 11, 2013 is dedicated to educating young and old about Collingdale's rich historic resources. We also support local organizations in Collingdale in their missions. You can become a part of what we're doing in Collingdale. Become a member of Collingdale Historical Society and join us as we preserve our local history for future generations....Collingdale History Day will be celebrated on October 15th...Our theme is transportation and its impact on the incorporation of Collingdale.