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BRADY TWP — One chapter in the Old Stone House's long history will end this month when Jennifer Melnick finishes her postgraduate work at Slippery Rock University. Since August 2010, Melnick has been the graduate assistant in charge at the historic inn and tavern at Routes 8, 173 and 528 in Brady Township.
She is in charge of programming events at the Old Stone House, coming up with new programming, coordinating the staff of 30 volunteers and supervising the tour guides.
The Palmerton, Carbon County, native will earn her master's degrees in park and resource management and environmental education at the end of July.
“My goal would be to go into some sort of environmental education, working with the young, particularly school gardens,” Melnick said of her future plans.
“Jen has gone above and beyond the call of duty for the Stone House grad assistant position,” said Aaron Cowan, assistant professsor of history at Slippery Rock University and curator of the Old Stone House.
“She has made my job as curator much easier — I can always count on her to manage the details of the day-in and day-out operations of the site. She has brought innovative ideas to the Stone House and worked with our volunteers to develop new programming and educational initiatives,” he said.
In the meantime, looking back over the people who have stopped by the Old Stone House, Melnick said her favorites weren't from very far away.
“My favorite type of visitors are the locals from Butler County who stop in and say 'I've driven by this place my whole life and I've never stopped in,'” she said. “I think it's important to connect with the local visitors. They have a history in their own back yard.”
She urged anyone who has ever thought about stopping but never done so to visit.
Melnick said the summer is when “we run most of our programs, our living history events, our cooking events and ghost-hunting tours.”
The ghost-hunting tours, conducted by the Center for Paranormal Study and Investigation, have proven very popular, she said. The next is scheduled to run from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. July 21.
But Melnick said she hasn't been surprised by any ghoulie or ghostie, but by something even more disturbing: economics.
“I think the budget has surprised me the most. It's really forced the Old Stone House to be creative,” Melnick said. “We are supported by a wonderful community of partners and volunteers. They are the ones who make the programs possible.”
And the programs are what she credits with drawing 3,200 visitors to the historic site, double what it drew in 2010.
“So far this year, we are ahead of our numbers from last year. I think it increased from marketing efforts. We've done a lot more advertising,” she said.
“She has been instrumental in bringing more visitors to the house, developing new sources of funding and increasing awareness of this important historic landmark,” said Cowan.
“Living history events are our main visitor attraction,” she continued. “We draw 15 to 25 visitors on a normal day, 250 to 700 on an event day.”
She said the Taste of History program is her favorite.
“We bring our students to come in and hear the techniques of historical cooking. They spend the morning preparing the meal, and in the evening they eat the fruit of their labor,” she said. “It's one of the programs where we really allow our visitors to get their hands in history.”
Old Stone House• Open from May to October• Hours of operation:Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Sundays: Noon to 5 p.m.• Other times by appointment only• Listing of events: www.oldstonehousepa.org
