Holiday Bazaar Nov. 4, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Keep calm and go shopping!
Do your holiday shopping at the beautiful Harding Museum! Plan to shop at our Holiday Bazaar on Sat., Nov. 4, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Scheduled vendors include Pampered Chef, Paparazzi Jewelry, Geeky Gifts, Pink Zebra, and other crafts and products. The museum will be decorated for the holidays.
Purchase tickets for the Holiday Home tour while you're there!
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America in the Great War: A Doughboy's Experience
When: Sunday, Nov. 12, 2 p.m.
Where: Franklin Public Library, 44 E. 4th St.
What: Local re-enactor Jeremy Bowles will share the American Doughboys' Experiences in The Great War.
Bowles is a frequent speaker in the area. View his Facebook page for more information.
We appreciate the Franklin-Springboro Public Library for partnering with us on this presentation.
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Holiday Home Tour
When: Sunday, Dec. 2, 1 to 5 p.m.
Cost: $20 regular price; $15 for members.
Four historic homes and an 1848 church will be decorated for the holidays and open to visitors. Enjoy a variety of architectural styles and decor, as well as lovely holiday decorations. The church will have live music.
Ride a horse-drawn carriage in Franklin's lovely Mackinaw District. Ride is included in your tour ticket or is $5/person and $20/family for the carriage ride only.
The tour takes place rain or shine. All sales are final.
Tickets may be purchased online via credit card. For cash or check payments, call (937) 746-8295.
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From Panama to Germantown: A Local Soldier’s Encounter with General Harding
William Steinmetz, a Dayton native, joined the U.S. Army in 1941 and served until 1945. He graduated from Co B, Signal Training Battalion at Ft. Monmouth, N.J. and in 1943 was deployed to the Mobile Force Signal Corps in the Panama Canal Zone.
Coincidentally, General Edwin Harding was assigned to the command of the Mobile Force in the Canal Zone in 1943. His experience in the jungles of New Guinea was an asset in a command that played a role in the training of infantry units for jungle warfare.
Harding only served one year in the Canal Zone which was the year twenty-year-old Steinmetz became the youngest member of the Panama Canal Mobile Force to receive the Soldier’s Award. Steinmetz saved a boy and a girl from drowning and administered CPR to the girl. A photo the Steinmetz family possesses shows Harding pinning the Soldier’s Award onto William’s chest in an outdoor ceremony.
William Steinmetz went on to serve as an MP and became a qualified parachutist. He fought in the Rhineland and the Central European Campaigns.
General Harding went on to command the Antilles Department of the Caribbean and became the Director of the Historical Division for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the War Department. He retired in 1946 and moved back to his childhood home in Franklin.
William Steinmetz settled in Germantown after his service was over, worked as a mechanic and raised six children in the small town down the road from the Harding residence. Oddly, though the two lived close to each other, they never had contact as civilians. Harding passed away in 1970 and Steinmetz in 1993.
Jerry Steinmetz, son of “Bill,” recently stopped by the Harding Museum to learn more about the man who had awarded his father the Soldier’s Award in the ceremony in 1943. He pulled up the photo of his father and General Harding on his phone and related their story.
We are happy to have the information and a copy of the photo to archive at the Museum.
Photo: William "Bill" Steinmetz (right) receiving the Soldier's Award from General Harding.
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Some Franklinites who served in World War I
Schenck Simpson was the first Franklin boy to arrive in France on August 19, 1917. He was the first under fire. He went with the ARMCO Ambulance Corps which was organized by the Armco Association. He received the Croix de Guerre award.
Gordon LeRoy was with the Red Cross Ambulance Corps 8. Other Red Cross workers overseas included Dr. S. S. Stahl, Agnes Reeve, and Pauline Tullis.
Helen Hartzell and Catherine Summers were nurses in camps in the United States. Nurses overseas included Ruth Bridge, Helen Bridge, and Delpha Smith Bischoff.
Delpha Smith Bischoff enlisted in the Army Nursing Corps in New Jersey and was sent to New Haven, CT, in September 1917. She was assigned to a surgical team, and was sent to the Rheims area where she stayed until the Armistice.
Ruth Bridge went with the second Red Cross unit from Johns Hopkins Hospital. Over there she was attached to U.S. Base Hospital 18. Helen Bridge remained in Europe and became director of a hospital in Poland. (These excerpts are from pp. 299/300 of The History of Franklin in the Great Miami Valley.)
The ambulance corps in World War I was the forerunner of the MASH units in the Korean War. ARMCO sent about 25 men to France to form an ambulance corps and paid their wages. They served the duration of the war.
Schenck Simpson was the father of Ann Simpson Beach, 1931-2016, FHS Class of 1949. Ann’s parents were Schenck Simpson, 1891-1968, and Gladys H. Thirkield, 1896-1965. Gladys's parents were Edward M. Thirkield, 1857-1927, and Willa Hull, 1871-1963.
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Memorials
Below are recent memorial gifts to FAHS. In memory of ...
... Ron Beedle, Aug. 21, 2017, age 74, from Harriet Foley
... Thomas G. Easton, Sept. 16, 1017, age 75, from Harriet Foley
... Charles W. Unglesby, July 22, 2017, age 88, from Stephen Simendinger
... Anne Harding, Feb. 28, 1951, age 16, from Scott Logan
... Butch Stanifer, Sept. 29, 2017, age 72, from Harriet Foley & Phyllis McDaniel
... Nell Dicken, Oct. 1, 2017, age 82, from Harriet Foley
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Local Art Featured
Prints by local artist William B. Rehse are available. These are lovely watercolors of Franklin scenes. Prints are available for purchase in three sizes, 3" X 5", 4" X 6", and 16" X 20". Sizes are approximate. Scenes include North Main St., Conover Building, Clock Tower, Prof's, and Fourth and Main. Prices are $50.00 for the large (matted); $25 for the large (unmatted), $3.00 for the 4" X 6", and $2.50 for the 3" X 5". These are also available at the Harding Museum. If you are out of town and would like to purchase, please call (937) 746-8295 or reply to this email.
Local artist Trudi Callahan did beautiful sketches of area landmarks. Four are available as note cards: the Suspension Bridge, the Great Miami River Bridge (current lions bridge), the Harding Museum, and Cookie's Grocery. These are available at the Harding Museum. Note cards are $1.25 each or $10 for a set of 8 (2 of each scene).
Ornaments, books, T-shirts, and other items are always available as well. See the order form.
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