events

Tom Bruce, a member of the "Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War" (SUVC) spoke on the function of the organization which seeks to keep alive the memories of Civil War Veterans. Among other projects, members place and repair headstones on forgotten Civil War vet-eran’s gravesites.

Valerie van Heest's tale of the Lady Elgin, a steam and side wheeler manufactured in 1851, was enhanced with pictures, movies and a musical background. The Lady Elgin shipwreck was the worst disaster on the Great Lakes with the wreckage still spread over miles at the bottom of Lake Michigan.

David Lewis was a photographer in Bangor around 1910. He took numerous photos of Bangor and left an amazing legacy of historic images. Sadly, David and wife Ola were in an unmarked grave. The board decided to buy and place a gravestone on the site. Grandsons Bruce and Terry Carpenter admire the marker with Doug Landers.

Bob Myers of the Berrien County Historical Association presented a program on the sinking of the Titanic whose tragedy took place 100 years ago this spring. He spoke about the disaster's connection to Southwest Michigan.

Ten members gathered September 8 at Arlington Hill Cemetery to scrub clean and straighten veteran’s headstones. The day was beautiful and the work rewarding. We hope to make this an annual event.

The Annual Yard Sale held October 5-6 at the Bangor Elevator generated $2,110. We used more than 50 tables to display all the items! This was a great success and has become a big community event.

Despite all the hard work, a good time is had by all. Cindra Bishop displays some of the fruits of our success.

Dr. Howard Poole, a retired WMU faculty member, narrated a presentation titled "German Prisoners of War on SW Michigan Farms." He described how German POWs were first sent to the U.S. As they began arriving in this country, local farmers signed up for the prisoners to work on their farms.

Bob Emmert presented this year's Honorary Lifetime Member Award to Sandra Valentine at the Annual Meeting in October.

Thanks to all of the awesome bakers, everyone seemed determined that we NOT run out of cookies this year and we didn’t! More than 300 dozen cookies were donated for the Cookie Table!

Besides the cookies, there was a silent auction, a holiday treats table and a chili lunch. Another big success that has become a community event.

David Distefano and Ken Ratzlaff look on as Penny Popp signs papers to retain ownership of the old Ackley-Wood Lumber Yard property. This will be the sight of our future com-munity museum.

The Van Buren District Library sponsored a project to digitize 110 years of Bangor newspapers. The BHS board decided this was a very worth while under-taking and donated to the cause. The project in nearly completed and will be available in the Bangor Library soon. Penny Popp and Cindra Bishop are shown helping with the task at hand.

Dr. John Geisler, a retired WMU professor, walked us down the native American trails in Michigan which became highways. He spoke mainly about the Sauk Trail (US 12) which he traveled over several times. He gave a slide presentation showing the highlights and history of the well traveled road.

Mark Tomlonson of the Kalamazoo Model Rail- road Historical Society, presented the history of railroads in Kalamazoo and Van Buren Counties. His research of present and past railroad lines made for an informative and entertain- ing evening.