Time Travel Guide
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP, Lawrence County — As Polly Shaw dons an old-fashioned bonnet, she morphs into her alter ego, Jenny McConnell, and weaves a crowd through history during a tour of the Old Mill.
Shaw wears a costume during these special tours, which she helped to develop as an 11-year volunteer at McConnells Mill State Park.
“If people say, ‘I’ve been on a mill tour,’ I say, ‘You haven’t been on this one,’” Shaw said. “It’s just something to give a different aspect.”
With more than 1,000 hours of service completed so far, Shaw began her work as a loyal volunteer in 1997 when her son David entered the seventh grade. She knew she would have more time to be away from the house with her children growing up, and decided to answer an ad for volunteers at the mill. She was then assigned to giving tours of the Old Mill.
“There is so much to absorb to be able to explain the equipment,” Shaw said. “My youngest was very interested in agricultural things and we went down for two weeks and followed every system, up in the attic, down in the basement, where does this chute go? I had to understand how it works.”
Shaw said that while knowing the functions of the mill were not in her immediate nature, explaining the functions to others is a deep part of her own background.
“I’m not mechanically minded naturally, but if I understand it, I am a teacher; I can explain it, and I found that to be very helpful and David just loved it,” Shaw said. “I learned a lot about the mill before I started giving tours, and then committed the history to memory.”
McConnells Mill includes 2,546 acres of the Slippery Rock Creek Gorge. The gorge was created when glacial lakes drained thousands of years ago, according to the park’s Web site. A gristmill built in the 1800s is the site of the tours that Shaw often leads herself on the weekends. The park is open from sunrise to sunset.
Shaw, 57, a first grade teacher at Haine Elementary School in the Seneca Valley School District, grew up in Butler and now lives in a 100-year-old house in Portersville, just three miles from McConnells Mill. The house once belonged to a doctor, and Shaw said it wouldn’t be far-fetched to believe that the McConnell couple had set foot in her own home.
Shaw also has written a history of Portersville, and said James McConnell was a Sunday school superintendent at the Portersville Presbyterian Church, the same position she herself served in for five years.“They are buried at Portersville Presbyterian Cemetery, and some years ago my husband and I bought plots and we are within spitting distance of the McConnells,” she said.Shaw also helped to develop the Corn Grinding Tour at the mill, and also gives the general tour, Grinding the Grain.When she is not giving tours every Saturday, Shaw picks up litter near the Old Mill and along the base of the hiking trails.“I believe that if a person is a leader, you should also be a follower,” Shaw said. “There is no job that is not important.”She also answers any questions the park goers may have. Connecting with a large variety of people during the tours is what she loves most about her volunteering experiences.“I have met people from all over the world, from every continent,” Shaw said. “We are in a lot of tour books so they will come there, or people are hosting and they’ll take them.”During one tour, an Amish family of 12 came for a tour of the mill. With a large scale on the main floor, it was a perfect setup for a little brother to cause mischief when the family stepped onto the scale, and the older brother attempted to measure the weight.“The little brother was just off the scale, and he’s got his foot and he is pushing down,” Shaw said. “The 14-year-old is looking at it, and the little one takes his foot off. This kid did it two times and the father caught the little kid’s eye. But any other little brother would have done that. In that situation, I can talk to anybody.”She said her best tour groups are students from Grove City’s George Junior Republic.“I have gone to them after and ask if they are GJR kids, and I said, ‘I am a Slippery Rock parent and my kids play you in basketball,’ and that gives me a rapport with them too, because I am talking and have been there for games,” Shaw said. “Their teams always win.”Shaw said the beauty of the job is that she gets to have an exchange with people who she might not ever get a chance to have a conversation with otherwise. In 2007 she was honored with the Governor’s Take Pride Appreciation Award for her volunteer work.The 11-year volunteer is married to her husband, Bill, and has three adult children. She said she believes her dedication to McConnells Mill has affected both her family and her students.“I think that it sets an example for young kids that volunteering is important,” Shaw said. “Yes, I have a paid job, and I love it, but with my family and my students, I talk with them about the importance of volunteering. You take a responsibility and you do it because you like it, not because you are going to get paid.”She said that when her students ask her why she volunteers, she simply says, “I do what I like to do.”“It’s a good family example and for my students that you do work because it’s enjoyable,” Shaw said.She also said that in the end, she grows each day from her volunteering experience and finds out more about the mill each weekend.“Sometimes, we learn as much from the people coming in,” Shaw said.The park has six core volunteers, according to Jeremy Rekich, assistant manager at the park. It opened as a state park in 1957 and operates on a $340,000 budget.
<b>Address: </b>RR 2, Portersville<b>Volunteers: </b>Six core volunteers<b>Budget: </b>$340,000 a year<b>Acres: </b>2,546<b>Manager: </b>Dan Bickel<b>Phone: </b>724-368-8091<b>Web sites: </b>www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/mcconnellsmill.aspx
