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Mid Atlantic Chapter

Meetings and Events

http://www.spoommidatlantic.org/

Mid Atlantic Chapter Report

Robert McLaughlin, Vice President

The Mid Atlantic Chapter Fall 2011 get-together began with a pre-meeting tour on Aug. 19th with about 20 people in attendance. Marge Lundegard put together an ambitious tour stopping at 6 mills and driving by 2 others. The tour included stops at Aldie Mill, Buckland Mill, a drive by of Beverly Chapman Mill and Fleetwood Roller Mill, and stops at Palmer (Clifton) Mill, Little Fork Mill, Burwell Morgan Mill and finally Locke’s Mill.

The meeting was held on Aug. 20th at Colvin Run Mill. The meeting ran from 9 to 10 am and was followed by 2 programs. Ivan Lufriu gave a talk about the Mills of Ellicott City and the family’s interaction with Oliver Evans. Charlotte Cain gave a presentation on what it took to get the Potomac Watershed Map Project completed.

The Susquehanna Watershed map project is proceeding with Judy Grove acquiring some funding from the Friends of Wallace Cross Mill. Anyone wishing to help should contact Bob McLaughlin at gristmiller@verizon.net.

 The chapter website is up and running with a new host. Check it out at: http://www.spoommidatlantic.org/.

The Nittany Antique Machinery Association in Centre Hall, PA has cut the timbers for the hearst frame for their corn mill. Bob McLaughlin is working on them this winter and is hoping to be able to assemble the frame next spring.

 The restoration at the Peirce Mill in Washington, DC is completed and the grand opening was held on October 15th during the Rock Creek Park Heritage Festival. The spring 2012 meeting is planned to be held there on March 24th 2012. The meeting will be followed by 2 programs. One is a ranger led program titled “History and Culture of Rock Creek Park”. The second will be led by Steve Dryden entitled “Peirce Mill, 200 years in the Nations Capital”. After lunch a tour of the mill is planned. The Friends of Peirce Mill has some interesting videos and other information on their website at: http://www.peircemill-friends.org/.

The fall 2012 meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held at Double Mills in Maryland’s eastern shore area in late August. More information is available on their website at: http://www.doublemills.org/. They produce a wonderful newsletter that is available on the website.

Anybody interested in hosting a meeting is encouraged to contact Bob Lundegard

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The spring 2011 Chapter get together began on a cold and wet Friday April 1st. The 19 participants piled into 2 vans for a morning driving tour of 13 mills and mill sites in York County, PA. Each stop included some history on the mill and opportunities for some pictures. We stopped for lunch at the Glen Rock Mill Inn, an old mill in downtown Glen Rock, PA. After lunch we toured 6 mill sites in Spring Valley Park. The tour was led by Ray Kinard and Terry Koller, who are avid mill hunters with the goal of locating every mill and mill site in Adams and York County PA.

The meeting was held on Saturday April 2, 2011 at the Cross Roads United Methodist Church in Cross Roads, PA and hosted by Judy Grove. Registration began at 8:30 with a continental breakfast. The meeting started at 9 am.

Bob Lundegard provided some examples of the mapping project for the Potomac/Shenandoah Watershed project. We are working with the Northern Virginia Community College GIS Department to develop a database of mill related information. Bob displayed 2 examples of the poster output. One was a map of the Potomac/Shenandoah Watershed and the second was a map of Fairfax County, VA. Each poster had the mill sites indicated and some additional information along the margins. These were very impressive and will be on display at the next chapter meeting and the national conference in September both to be held at Colvin Run Mill. Plans are to also display an interactive computer application on mills in the Mid Atlantic area.

The mill “rack card” project has decided to make the rack cards available for free.

The Chapter declared August 28th, 2011 as Mid-Atlantic Milling Day Celebration and Open House. Mills in the region are encouraged to be open to the public that day. We discussed way to support the effort such as flags, flyers, etc. More information is available on our website or by contacting Bob Lundegard.

Ivan Lufriu outlined a mill tour he took earlier in the spring of some mills in Delaware and Maryland.

Election of officers was held with the current slate reelected for 2 years. That is President-Bob Lundegard, Vice President- Bob McLaughlin, Secretary- Judy Grove, and Treasurer-Jane Sewell. The new board will be appointed shortly.

After that were 2 presentations. The first was entitled “I Smell a Mill: Uncovering the Sites and History of Mills” by Ray Kinard and Terry Koller. These were the leaders of the tour on Friday and they shared some of their research techniques with the group. The second was a short video entitled “Restoration of Wallace Cross Mill Machinery” by Harvey Bradley and Ray Boasman.

The chapter voted to continue the website for another year. Anyone who wishes to support the effort by purchasing advertising space on the website is encouraged to contact Bob Lundegard. The webpage is located at http://www.spoommidatlantic.org.

After lunch Wallace Cross Mill and Woolen Mills Farm were open for tours.

Check our websites for further details at: http://www.unionmills.org/spoommidatlantic/index.html. Or: http://www.spoommidatlantic.org.

Other news from the Mid Atlantic Region:

Charles Yeske announced that the contract for restoration of the hearst frame at the Stover-Myers Mill in Bucks County, PA will be let shortly and the work should be completed by summer/fall. This should allow them to operate the mill.

Future meetings are being planned at:

Colvin Run Mill in fall 2011. This is a prelude to them hosting the SPOOM National Convention in September 2011. Check out their website for the latest at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/crm/friends.htm.

Peirce Mill, DC, Spring 2012.  They have some interesting videos and other information on their website at: http://www.peircemill-friends.org/.

We are seeking organizations interested in hosting future meetings. Any interested party should contact Bob Lundgard.