~by Chuck Offenburger for the Greene County Historical Society
The Greene County Historical Society is hosting a “museum party” this Saturday, Aug. 24, to help welcome those coming to Jefferson on the re-enactment of the trans-USA 1919 military vehicle convoy.
The historical museum at 219 E. Lincoln Way will be open for its normal Saturday visitor hours from 9 am. to 12 pm. Then it will be re-opened from1 to 4 pm for the special “museum party.”
More than 50 restored military vehicles are now on their way across the nation on the Lincoln Highway. They are re-enacting a 1919 military convoy, which was led then by a young Lt. Col. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later became president of the U.S. The troops were explaining how effective the Transcontinental Highway, as it was becoming known, would be for moving soldiers and equipment. That experience is said to have shaped Eisenhower’s thinking three decades later in directing the construction of the interstate highway system.
The convoy of re-enactors in their restored vehicles left York, PA, on Aug. 10 and is traveling about 150 miles per day en route to a Sept. 14 finish in San Francisco.
These vehicles will be crossing Greene County this coming Saturday, Aug. 24, arriving in Jefferson at about 3 or 3:30 pm for a stop of up to an hour. The public is encouraged to turn-out and cheer on the convoy participants, who’ll be parking around the courthouse square in Jefferson.
At the museum, Janice Harbaugh, of Raspberry Ridge Publishing here in Jefferson, will be displaying and selling her line of historical re-publications, which include vintage postcards and other early books that portray the settlement and development of this area. The Greene County postcards have been especially popular with visitors here.
There will also be free refreshments during the afternoon at the museum.
“The idea for the museum party is to give people a place to gather as we get ready to welcome those coming in on the convoy,” said Margaret Hamilton, a board member and program director for the Historical Society. “We’ll welcome the re-enactors to stop-in at the museum, too, after they get parked around the courthouse square.”
The military vehicles convoy will then go on to Denison for an overnight stay Saturday.
A second convoy across the U.S. on the Lincoln Highway is expected to arrive in Greene County on Sept. 7. It will feature antique and customized civilian vehicles.
