Historic Gettysburg Adams County announced its 2024 awards at its Annual Membership Dinner held on May 22 at the Dobbin House in Gettysburg.
For the first time, HGAC presented three Adams County students with its inaugural Bonnie Braun Investing in Youth Initiative Award. This award honors HGAC’s late Vice President Bonnie Braun, who was instrumental in creating HGAC’s Investing in Youth program five years ago. The awards went to Zachary Sentz and Jonah Fleck, graduating seniors at Gettysburg Area High School’s Technology Education program, and to Miles Carignan, a graduating Building Trades II/senior student at the Adams County Technical Institute.
Also announced at the event: The 2024 Barn of the Year Award went to Lois Edwards and Larry Musselman for their restoration work on the Manor of Maske Barn in Gettysburg.
Michael Schen of New Oxford Borough received HGAC’s 2024 House Restoration Award for the extensive work he did on his home at 113 Lincoln Way West in the borough.
Both the Barn of the Year and House Preservation winners were given plaques which can be displayed on their winning structures.
The three students honored were each presented with a $1,000 award to use for their future education.
Zachary Sentz and Jonah Fleck both will be going to Millersville University to pursue studies in manufacturing engineering technology and workplace safety. During the past two school years, both students have worked on HGAC’s Civil War hospital sign project and are responsible for manufacturing of 26 of the 33 markers made so far for the project.
Zachary and Jonah often worked as a team and utilized each other’s strengths to complete multiple projects successfully, including the hospital sign replacement project. HGAC’s partnership with the Gettysburg Area High School (GAHS) Technology program to create new Civil War hospital markers began in 2022, as many of the existing signs in the area had fallen into disrepair. Under the direction of instructor Stan Licharowicz, the GAHS students manufacture the signs and HGAC volunteers, led by board member Mike Koziski, install them.
Miles Carignan will be attending Pennsylvania College of Technology to pursue a four-year degree in civil engineering. He has participated in HGAC’s “Learning Lab” timber framing hands-on program at the George Spangler barn, which is one of the foundations of the Bonnie Braun Investing in Youth Initiative. Miles has said that the hands-on experiences provided by the Learning Lab classes and interacting with the various artisans conducting the activities contributed to his sense of the importance of historic preservation as a part of his future career.
Back in 2005, HGAC instituted its Barn Preservation project, which began surveying and registering Adams County’s historic barns and providing barn owners with grants to repair their barns. HGAC’s Preservation Committee began giving the Barn of the Year Award in 2008.
Since its addition to the Adams County Barn Register in 2019, Barn #381 Manor of Maske has undergone a dramatic transformation, representing one of the most extensive local barn restoration efforts in recent years. HGAC’s Barn Preservation Specialist David Maclay called the work done on the barn “more of a resurrection than a restoration.”
Owners Larry Musselman and Lois Edwards, enlisting the expertise of Stone Ridge Construction and mason Gary Redding, brought back a classic 1820s Extended Sweitzer Pennsylvania Barn from the brink of collapse, Maclay said. “Their efforts have ensured that this architectural treasure will stand for another two hundred years and beyond, enriching the Adams County landscape with another tangible connection to our history.”
HGAC has been giving house restoration awards since 1984. This year, HGAC’s House Preservation Award Committee felt that
Schen’s New Oxford house showcased everything they were looking for in a house award winner, according to committee chair Kendra Debany. This included preserving his 1874 house inside and out, restoring what was already there (moldings, floors, doors, windows, ceilings, etc.), and repurposing what couldn’t be saved to use elsewhere in the house. Through many years of effort and lots of planning, Schen’s house today showcases what hard work and determination can achieve.
Debany thanked the House Preservation Award Committee for their help in choosing the 2024 winner. Committee members involved in the process included Doug Cooke, Richard Mancini, Deb Novotny and Bill Braun.
Source: Coleen Dee Berry, HGAC Secretary
Featured Image Caption: Left: Zachary Sentz, ( front row, right) holds the Hugh Culbertson Hospital sign and Jonah Fleck (front row, left) holds the Michael Trostle sign. GAHS Technology Education Teacher, Stan Licharowicz, (back row, left) holds the Adam Butt Farm and School House sign; Right: Miles Carignan in the ACTI Buildings Trades classroom