I moved to Newtown Square in 1990, and was drawn into the activities of the Newtown Square Historical Society after I attended a program where Chief of Police Stan Short gave a slideshow with old photos of Newtown Square. I was invited to a board meeting, and sat in a living room and met what I later found out to be all of the people who make Newtown Square a wonderful place to live. One woman had willed their public library into existence, others volunteered at the fire company and ladies’ auxiliary, at the polls on election Day, or organized the 4th of July parade, served on the school board, created the Petticoat League for the girls, and on and on. If they were not the organizers of any effort, they knew that person on a first-name basis. I was the youngest person in the room, by a generation. But I had sat with my kids for several years and watched the parade go by, and thought that I was missing something, by sitting on the curb rather than getting involved. Now I was involved.
Over 30 years later, I have served in every position in the Society, and some at the county level, have been involved with every activity and was given opportunities to try new things and learn new skills. I became a citizen of my community in that time. It changed and enriched my life in so many ways that can’t be captured in my 400-word article.
Over that time, I got to know my neighbor, Edgmont, a little bit more. My kid’s favorite playground was the Choo Choo Train playground that used to exist at the township building. I held my high school reunion at Edgmont Country Club. My son played in the Newtown Edgmont Little League. We’ve thoroughly explored Ridley Creek State Park looking for Sandy Flash. I was asked to write these monthly history articles about Edgmont, and have done so for several years. I found that there was no comparable historical society in Edgmont to what we have in Newtown and most of the communities in Delaware County. But I know from my own experience that there are long-time residents, and there are history-minded young people with families who would profit as I have by participating in a community-wide historical society.
I have made arrangements with Edgmont Township to use the meeting room in the old public-school building that is now their township building on Wednesday night, September 18th, beginning at 6:30 pm. The purpose? To see if there is enough interest in forming an Edgmont Historical Society. What will that Society do and be? It will be whatever the history-minded volunteers in the Edgmont community want to make it. If you enjoy these local history articles, please come out and explore how you can get more involved in your community and what skills and talents you may want to offer to that community to make it a better place to live, work and raise a family. You won’t regret it.
For more information on the Edgmont Historical Society, visit their Facebook page at: https://facebook.com/groups/edgmonthistoricalsociety/