PORT ROYAL -Port Royal residents and anyone else with an interest in that Juniata County community have the opportunity to become a part of an historic project.
The Port Royal Bicentennial Planning Committee, also known as Port Royal 200, is offering residents the chance to purchase engraved pavers to be laid at the site of the former Airy View Academy, Port Royal High School and Tuscarora Valley High School.
Not only will the pavers serve to immortalize those whose names are inscribed on them, the purchase of the bricks will raise funds for a three-day celebration of Port Royal's 200th birthday in mid-May 2012.
Article Photos
Members of the Port Royal Bicentennial Planning Committee displaying pavers that are ready for placement are, from left, Ray Kohler, Dorice Pontius, Carlen McClure, Sheila Yorks and Wayne Taylor. Other committee members are Leon Kepner, Port Royal Mayor Barb Bergstresser, Kay Leach, Connie Fenner and Jeff Haines.
Sentinel photo by
JANE CANNON MORT
The committee met this week to show samples of the inscribed pavers and to announce the details of what they call the Engraved Brick Project.
Committee member Carlen McClure said the brick project was the brainchild of Ray Kohler, who was from Port Royal but now lives in New Jersey. He joined the bicentennial committee, proposed the brick project and is developing a photo sharing Web site that will feature pictures of Port Royal and its people.
The brick project entails the purchase of 8-inch by 4-inch bricks, at $40 each, or 8-inch by 8-inch pavers, at $100 each, which will be inscribed as desired by the purchaser. The small bricks will hold three lines; each line can contain up to 15 characters. The larger pavers can hold four lines, also with a limit of 15 characters per line.
In addition, anyone purchasing a brick or paver may also purchase a personal commemorative brick for an additional $35. The commemorative bricks are 8 inches by 4 inches, but are only 1/2-inch thick, and may be used as a veneer on a concrete base, a paper weight, door stop or garden ornament at the home of the purchaser.
The inscribed pavers and bricks will be placed in four rectangular plots on land where the schools once stood and the Port Royal Borough office is now located, at the corner of Eighth and Main streets.
"The Port Royal Borough Council owns the land and has given permission to have the pavers at this location," Kohler said. "The pavers will be accessible throughout the bicentennial celebration and, hopefully, for many years thereafter."
Borough council has agreed to place blank pavers in the rectangular areas until all the inscribed pavers are sold, so the plots will not look unfinished, Kohler said. As bricks and pavers are sold and made, they will replace the blank bricks at the site.
The committee hopes to sell 1,000 engraved bricks.
Proposed plans for the bicentennial celebration in 2012 include a ball, parade, exhibit of period clothing through the decades, and a new history book, but the committee is open to ideas.
For more information, or to order pavers, call McClure at 527-9910, or stop at McClure and Wayne Taylor's book stand at the Juniata County Fair Sept. 5-12.
