Back in 2019, HGAC’s late vice president Bonnie Braun became concerned the young students of trades programs were not being encouraged to pursue the historic preservation skills of timber framing and masonry. She then set about to create a program to help ensure that here in Adams County, Building Trades students would receive that education – and HGAC’s Investing in Youth Initiative was born.
Over the past six years, HGAC’s Investing in Youth Initiative has stabilized into a regionally recognized educational program that is now anchored in a stable site with multiple partnerships. HGAC’s Learning Lab – a daylong hands-on workshop for Adams County Technical Institute students to practice timber framing and masonry skills – is held at the historic George Spangler barn in Gettysburg with the support of the Gettysburg Foundation. This year marks the sixth Learning Lab HGAC will hold at the Spangler barn.
HGAC also sponsors an annual field trip for ACTI students to visit the NPS’s Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, MD to learn about career possibilities, tour the facility and talk with the experienced preservationists. The students cap the day with a crafts rodeo and a building condition assessment exercise, all under the guidance of NPS experienced preservationists.
Another facet of the Youth Initiative was added in 2022, when HGAC began its Civil War Hospital Sign replacement project. HGAC tapped students from the Gettysburg Area High School to create new Civil War hospital markers, as many of the signs in the area had fallen into disrepair. Students in the Technology Education program at GAHS, under the guidance of instructor Stan Licharowicz, used the latest computer-aided design — specifically a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine to precisely cut, drill and shape the signs based on programmed software instructions — to produce these weather-resistant, long-lasting signs. The signs were then installed by HGAC volunteers. The last of these replacement signs were put up in January by the HGAC’s Civil War Signs project coordinator Mike Koziski.
As 2026 began, HGAC’s Youth Initiative took a significant step forward. ACTI Building Trades students — under the supervision of HGAC Barn Preservationist Specialist David Maclay and Building Trades instructor Dave Snyder — are helping to repair the historic Ditzler Barn, home of the National Apple Museum in Biglerville.
The work on the barn began in November 2025 and is expected to continue into the spring. The east gable end needs repairs, and the ACTI students are assessing conditions and as necessary, replacing posts and beams, siding, and insulation. This collaborative effort provides the students with educational, hands-on experience to use their skills to make much needed repairs to the aging barn. We are thankful to the Biglerville Historic and Preservation Society and the Gettysburg Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution for their financial support of this work and to the National Apple Museum for supporting this project.
Bonnie passed in 2023, but her vision lives on in the continued success of the Bonnie Braun Investing in Youth Initiative. Donations to keep growing this important HGAC endeavor can be made at www.hgaconline.org
—Greg Kaufmann, HGAC vice president