Dale Freudenberger was barely a teenager when he attended a “Show and Tell” organized by the Tamaqua Historical Society.

It was quite an event, he recalled, with residents displaying collections of all kinds - antiques, historical artifacts, rocks and geology, dishes and more.

“I kind of found myself very interested,” he said. “I was really kind of taken by it.”

Sensing his interest, the society invited the then 14-year-old Freudenberger to their next meeting.

Fifty years later, he continues to volunteer with the society and other community groups.

Freudenberger, who has served as the society’s president for many years, called the five-decade volunteerism anniversary “a milestone.”

“It all started with the historical society,” he noted.

In 1974 - the year he joined - the society was only a year old, and was in the midst of undertaking its first project, the restoration of the 1848 Hegarty Blacksmith Shop on Hegarty Avenue.

The Hegarty family donated the shop to the society, whose members spent time readying it for the opening of the United States Bicentennial Celebration in 1976.

“It was the first landmark in town to be preserved and opened to the public,” Freudenberger said.

The society continues to maintain and upgrade the shop, and hopes to open a Wagon Works museum there in the near future.

Still a teenager, Freudenberger volunteered with Tamaqua’s Bicentennial Celebration Committee, helping to organize a memorable parade and other activities.

“Everyone else there was an adult. I was the only kid in the room but they were all very respectful to what I had to say,” he said.

He never left the historical society, and remembered appearing before the Tamaqua Borough Council in 1981 to beg leaders to save the Tamaqua Train Station from the wrecking ball.

The station, built in 1874, had been vacant for years and was in poor shape. When it was destroyed by fire in 1981, Tamaqua’s leaders ordered that it be torn down.

But after hearing the society’s plea, council canceled demolition, and society members spent many long hours boarding doors and windows, cleaning fire debris, patching gaping holes in the roof and clearing the surrounding property.

They’d keep with the maintenance, worried that if they didn’t, the station would be decimated by the wrecking ball.

“We spent 10 years buying time for a bigger plan to restore the train station,” Freudenberger said. Community members were behind them, helping with donations and support.

And then the Tamaqua Save Our Station group, led by the late Ken Smulligan with Freudenberger as his “right hand man,” formed in 1990 to continue saving the station.

“It was Ken’s idea to pick it up and move it to the next phase,” Freudenberger said.

In 2004, Tamaqua SOS was able to reopen the station - a community landmark and site of train excursions, a restaurant and a gift shop. The historic station was featured on a United States Postal Service stamp in 2023.

In 1984, Freudenberger started the first Tamaqua Heritage Festival with help from the society. It would later be joined by a sister event, the Tamaqua Summerfest. The festivals continue annually, and Freudenberger serves as organizer and chairman for both.

In 1987, the society began looking for a place for a museum. It acquired the former First National Bank, 118 W. Broad St. Adjoining properties at 116 and 112 W. Broad St. would be added and all contain impressive collections of Tamaqua area artifacts.

In 1996, the society purchased Burkhardt Moser log home on East Broad Street. The 1801 property was owned by Tamaqua’s first resident. It went through a round of renovations, and Freudenberger said work is continuing there.

With the Tamaqua Main Street Program, Freudenberger chaired the Downtown Design Committee and did design work for more than 140 façade projects.

He served with the Tamaqua 2004 Partnership, taking a seat on its Historic Preservation and Tourism Committee. He helped to place more than 40 historic markers in the area, and design brochures to promote history and attractions.

Freudenberger joined a committee to establish the National Historic District in Tamaqua, which encompasses 55 blocks. He continues to serve as chairman of the Historic Architectural Review Commission, which oversees projects in the district.

He also began volunteering in the nearby Panther Valley, with groups including the Panther Creek Valley Foundation/No. 9 Coal Mine, where he serves as a board director and secretary; the Lansford Historical Society, where he is the secretary; and on a committee formed to preserve and restore the former Lehigh and New England Railroad Station in Lansford.

“I did get involved as a volunteer all around the Coal Region because of my interests in anthracite coal heritage and culture,” he explained.

He joined with the Schuylkill River National Heritage Corridor in the 1990s, volunteering his time to coordinate activities in Schuylkill County.

“One of the neatest projects that came out of that was the Molly Maguire Auto Tour,” he said. Drivers can follow a route to every Molly Maguire site in Schuylkill, Carbon, Luzerne and Columbia counties with the help of a book and audio CD.

The tour is still available, and the blacksmith shop, train station and Moser home still stand.

“Most of these things still exist today so the good news is that none of them went by the wayside,” he said of the projects undertaken by volunteer groups.

Freudenberger also served on the board of directors for Eckley Miners Village, Anthracite Heritage Alliance, and the Anthracite 250th Committee.

He volunteers with the Coal Miners Heritage Festival in Lansford, and is volunteer museum curator of the Tamaqua Historical Museum and the No. 9 Coal Mining Museum.

“It has been a labor of love,” he said.

Freudenberger recently retired but juggled his volunteer duties with a full-time job for many years.

“It has been very rewarding, however I also gave up and neglected many personal things in my life to keep up with all the projects for the benefit of the greater good,” he said.

He admitted that after 50 years, he is slowing down.

“I will tell people that. I am at the point because health issues are catching up with me,” he said. “It’s just a fact of life. I can’t do as much as I used to do. I am getting a little less involved in some activities.”

He’s hoping that others will step up to the plate and volunteer wherever they feel most comfortable.

“I feel everyone should volunteer a portion of their time to an organization, cause, or project that is important to them or at least support these causes financially if they cannot volunteer their time,” he said. “Together, we can all make a big difference.”