SLIPPERY ROCK — The Slippery Rock Heritage Association's book is one step closer to reality.

Jerilyn McDowell, association president, said the 275-page book likely will be available at the end of May.

“We're kind of excited,” McDowell said.

“The Way We Were” will cover mostly the 1930s and 1940s, as well as part of the 1920s, in Slippery Rock and some of the surrounding area.

The book features 20 interviews with people from the Slippery Rock area, said Slippery Rock Mayor Ken Harris, secretary and past president of the association.

“There are 20 interesting people in the book,” Harris said. “A lot of fascinating stories in it.”

Interviewees include John West, a longtime member of the borough's road crew, and Pete Watson, a former Butler County sheriff.

Joe Riggs, a retired Slippery Rock University history professor, conducted 18 of the interviews and Jim Mennell, another retired SRU history professor, did the other two.

The idea for the book came about several years ago when some association members decided that the interviews should be transcribed. McDowell spent about 18 months transcribing them and Harris spent 15 months editing them.

In addition to the 20 interviews, the book also will feature three essays on fondly remembered things that are no longer in the area.

The first is on the merry-go-round that used to be in Rock Falls Park, which now can be found in Wheaton Park in Maryland. The second is on the Roxie Theater, which burned down in the late 1970s. The third essay is on three silent movie theaters that were in Slippery Rock before the Roxie was built.

The book also will feature a few photographs that had never been published.

“There's just tons of information on the history of big and small things in Slippery Rock,” Harris said.

The book is being printed by Mechling Bookbindery of Oakland Township.

The association was concerned for a while about being able to pay for printing solely on funds raised. However, the group received a donation from the Alberta Rodgers trust fund recently, allowing the book to go to the printer.

The association is printing 200 copies at a cost of $4,000.

“It's really all we can afford to print,” McDowell said.

However, McDowell said it is likely more will be printed if the books sell out quickly and there is demand for additional copies.

McDowell said she expects the book to cost $30 plus tax and shipping if preordered and $35 plus tax and shipping after the preorder period.

She said the association soon will send out preorder forms to people whom it believes would be interested in buying the book.

The association already has 14 new interviews for a second book, but McDowell said she isn't promising a follow-up work so soon.

“I need a break,” McDowell said.