The Heritage Center of the Western Pocono Community Library held its second annual History Expo over the weekend, promoting and preserving the wealth of the area's antiquity.

Organized by Jessica Reitz, curator of collections for the Heritage Center, the event - which coincided with William Penn Day - featured numerous tables devoted to local historical societies, archives and artifact displays."Today, we have about 15-plus organizations here. They're all historical, mostly from Monroe County - we do have a couple from Northampton - and they are here showcasing what they do, and what's so important about their history," Reitz said.The Heritage Center came into being when the library's executive director, Carol Kern, hired Reitz in early 2014 to organize the project, focusing on educating the community on the storied pasts of Chestnuthill, Eldred, Polk and Ross.Reitz worked tirelessly to get the center open by April 15 of that same year, exhibiting a diverse collection of local antiques and memorabilia.The History Expo came into being as an extension of the Heritage Center's mission to preserve and promote local history."It was something we wanted to do just to get more people interested in what history is, and the history of the area, and it's gotten bigger as the second year has rolled around," Reitz said.The vast collection of historic items, along with well-versed historical society members, provided visitors with plenty to pique their curiosity for Monroe and Northampton's pasts."I like history. That really appeals to me," Jacqueline Mock said. "I wasn't going to come. I have such a busy day, but I thought, 'I'll run down for two minutes,' and here I am half an hour later."The Monroe County Archives table, run by B.J. Bachman, drew in visitors with some historical documentation, including campaign pledge letters, as well as a bill for materials related to the execution of murderer Charles Grether from Feb. 24, 1903."I saw that there was going to be a history expo. I'm a fan of history … so I figured, why not come down and check it out?" visitor John Boylan said as he perused the execution bill, which highlighted material costs for building gallows, transportation of Grether, and the death warrant."It's a good chance to expose a little of what's in the archives," Bachman said of the expo, pointing out an antique book of records. "There's the jail register there, their names are in there and what they were charged with. The earliest we have is from 1876."The Palmerton Area Historical Society's table, manned by board member Peter Kern, drew attendees and fellow exhibitors to discuss the preservation efforts, town histories and more."The Palmerton Area Historical Society is proud to be here today with our peer groups, to explain to visitors why we exist, and why the history of Palmerton is so important," Kern said. "It is a unique community that has a story to tell, so we like to go on tour occasionally and tell the Palmerton story, and people find it interesting."One of the highlights of the exposition was a fairly recent acquisition, the 9/11 World Trade Center artifact file number F-0021.068, which served to honor five Monroe County residents who were lost on that day."That is a great piece that Carol Kern actually just received recently, and we put all of the documentation together, and it was the last artifact given out from the World Trade Center," Reitz said.Other attractions included the Buffalo Fire Engine, which was displayed on the front lawn of the library, an archaeology table with local Native American arrowheads and other pieces, and the Monroe County Historical Society's "selfie station," where people could dress up in historic garb for a photo in front of a backdrop of Stroud Mansion."What we're doing with 'Ye Olde Selfie Station' is we're trying to get all age groups interested in history, so this is a way to reach out to younger ages and make them realize that history can actually be fun," Monroe County Historical Society administrative assistant Anna Underwood said. "We just want to cultivate a love of history to everybody."The Embroiderers' Guild of America, Pocono Mountain Chapter table featured beautifully detailed examples of needlework from members Pat Foucalt, Hilda Rowlands and Dotti Oakley, who kept on stitching as they explained their art to visitors."We like to get the word out that we like to teach these different techniques of stitching to the people," chapter president Oakley said. "It's unique to the heritage, because it was always a part of what women did in the early days and throughout the history of the country."They taught young girls their alphabet through samplers, and that's the way they learned their alphabet and numbers.""It's absolutely beautiful, a gift from God," Ann Frehulfer said as she examined the ladies' craftwork.The newly established Ross Township Historical Society was on hand as well, with chairwoman Kathryn Koch-Villoresi spreading the word to raise funding and recruit volunteers for an abundance of future projects."My biggest thing right now is to get members, and to get interested people to come on board," Koch-Villoresi said. "We do have to plan for the bicentennial, which is next year."I believe that we're going to do two events this year. We're thinking about getting tradesmen to set up booths, doing a parade, all different kinds of historical-minded, fun things to do."While foot traffic was relatively light for the day, history buffs trickled in throughout the event, and members of the societies were able to mingle and network."It's good to get these guys together and let them network and talk. We don't get many opportunities to get all the organizations together in a room and share ideas," Reitz said as the expo wound down. "It went well for our second year, and we grew from last year."