Penn State event to focus on Fayette County females
Wealthy women like Mary Fuller Frazier and the Princess of Thurn and Taxis, teachers such as Ella Peach and ordinary pioneers personified by the Madonna of the Trail sculpture have all called Fayette County home. But many people know little about them.
Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, hopes to share the significance of these lives as it focuses on Fayette County women during its 23rd annual Women’s Day on Thursday.
“We as a committee thought it would be nice to focus on what we have in Fayette County. I’m an outsider – not raised here – and I’m awed by the history,” said Harriet Galida, co-director of Women’s Day.
This year’s program focuses on Fayette County women as well as local landmarks, such as Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob, Linden Hall and Mount St. Macrina.
“So many of us live in Fayette County, but we know very little about the places we pass by every day,” said Pam Seighman, a member of the Women’s Day Committee. “Mount St. Macrina is one of them. Many think of Fallingwater or Kentuck Knob when we have visitors come to the area, but they’re something with which we all should be familiar. These places attract thousands of people.”
This year’s program is a little twist for Women’s Day, which has traditionally focused on a variety of subjects that range from history to health to legal issues to finances to home ownership.
What hasn’t changed, however, is a keynote speaker who will end the day with comedy. This year’s speaker is humorist Bobbie Staten, a former nurse who believes that laughter lets out little “Puffs of Pain.” She holds a certified speaking credential from the National Speakers Association.
“We touch on a lot of heavy topics, so I like to end the day with laughter,’ said Galida.
Participants – Women’s Day usually attracts 185 to 250 – will join together for the welcome and first session, “Famous Females From Fayette,” and will be presented by Doris Coldren and Dr. Evelyn Hovanec. Although retired from Penn State’s faculty, both women still volunteer to teach on campus.
“Mrs. Coldren will be the first presenter and go back to the early settlers,” said Seighman. “She found a published diary of a woman from Brownsville who was on a wagon train. She’ll talk about their daily lives, the early Colonial period and go up to the Civil War. Dr. Hovanec will go to the present.”
Participants will then be able to choose from six workshops that will be offered for the rest of the morning:
– “The Beauty of Fayette County and How it Inspired Fallingwater: America’s Most Architecturally Significant House,” presented by Lynda S. Waggoner, director of the Mill Run landmark.
– “Finding Women at a Man’s Site – Queen Aliquippa, Iroquois Matriarch,” presented by ranger Mary Jane McFadden of the National Park Service.
– “From 5th Avenue to the Farm – How I Became a Winemaker,” by Sharon Klay, president of Christian W. Klay Winery in Chalk Hill.
– “Kentuck Knob – Fayette County’s Hidden Treasure,” presented by Cathy A. Ciaccia, director of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Chalk Hill.
– “Linden Hall – One of America’s Castles,” presented by Shirley Cottom, head tour guide of the Dawson estate.
– “Thompson’s Barony: Past and Present,” with Sister Carol Petrasovich speaking about the Uniontown home of coal baron J.V. Thompson that came to be known as Mount St. Macrina, the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Basil.
Women’s Day, which also includes a community service and information fair as well as a luncheon, has developed from its earliest years when the event was put together with a small budget.
“We’ve grown to be a good enjoyable experience for anyone who wants to participate,” said Galida, who credited both the workshop presenters and the committee members who volunteer their time to make Women’s Day a success.
The event has become an occasion for many women to get together and devote some time to themselves. And both Galida and Seighman said they are happy when participants discover information or find help they didn’t know was available.
“That’s the purpose of the program,” Galida said.
For more information on Women’s Day, call 724-430-4140 or 724-430-4141.