The town of New Florence will be celebrating their 150^th anniversary with a town-wide celebration on August 17, 2019. The New Florence Sesquicentennial Committee is planning a parade, car cruise, live music, Civil War Encampment, historical displays, pie eating and milk chugging contests, Corn Hole Tournament, fireworks and much more! Volunteers and/or financial donors are needed.  If you would like to help please contact the Sesquicentennial Committee using the information on the Community Organizations page.

As different events are finalized for the celebration they will be shown below.  Please check back regularly to see what changes have been made.  The below information is a little scattered but it will help you see what’s going.  Please enjoy.

Well the sesquicentennial is almost here.  Are you ready?  A lot of info was recently added to the Welcome and the News pages.  The information is being repeated here to help share the word.  The sesquicentennial day will start with the parade.  Here is an updated list for the Sesquicentennial Parade Participants Line-up 1.  A lot of great folks are participating.  The Grand Marshals for the parade are Grace Morus and Zayva McCachren. Please find more information on these two special ladies by reading the Grand Marshal’s write-up.  After the parade there will be the Opening Ceremony.  Please check out the agenda below.

To help everyone get around here is a map of where the events will occur.  This should help  you as you plan your day.

As part of the Sesquicentennial celebration a yearbook is being put together.  Further below is the call for photographs and such to put together the yearbook.  If you would like to order a yearbook please use this form.

In a previous update the Sesquicentennial committee posted information about the squished pennies acquired as very cool souvenir for the event.  Well the pennies are in and will be available Saturday.  Check out the information below to find out what’s available.

Finally, it’s going to be a busy day.  We are expecting lots of folks to show up for the event.  Here is a quick list of tips for the day that can help all of us out.  We want everyone to have a wonderful time.

Below is a map of the parking areas available for the day of the Sesquicentennial Event.  The subway will be open all day with a detour at 9th Street to Chestnut Street to 5th Street to cross the Conemaugh River.  Please share with your friends.

The Sesquicentennial committee acquired a very cool souvenir for the event.  As some may recall, during the centennial (yes, 50 years ago so you’re old if you attended) there was a New Florence commemorative coin available.  Those of us that have been around a while remember when the Pennsylvania RR had 4 sets of tracks going through town instead of the two sets today.  As kids, my siblings and I would squish coins on the tracks.  It was something to do.  Well the committee has contracted with The Penny Men to have squished pennies as souvenirs for the event.  The squished coins will be available with either a wrist band or a small collector’s book.  They will be available during the event for $5 each.  A big shout out to Todd Gable for doing the artwork for the design.  The one image shows how the Penny Men take a drawing to a final squished penny.  Also, many thanks to Rick Nesmith for posting images of a centennial coin on the New Florence (PA) Area Historical Society Facebook page.  I copied the coin images here so folks could see what they looked like in case you don’t use Facebook.  There’s images of the bands and booklet so you see what they look like too.  The bands will be in assorted colors.  Enjoy.  Greg Csehoski.

Next, a huge “THANK YOU” to Lodestar Bus Lines for donating a FREE bus shuttle, and to Chuck Payne for volunteering his time to drive, the day of our event. The shuttle will run all day, 9:00 am – 10:30 pm, from the New Florence VFW to the Library. You can park at the VFW and ride the bus to the fairgrounds for free!

Finally, Doug Hull is putting together a yearbook for the event.  Please look at the flyer below for more information.

Below is the Sesquicentennial Car Show Participation Flyer was posted.  Do you have an old car, truck, or military vehicle?  Do you want to join in the parade?   Here’s your chance to have some fun.  Check out the flyer for more details.

Please check out the preliminary Sesquicentennial Event Schedule Flyer to see which activities will be happening when and where.  The schedule will be updated as we get closer to the event.

The Sesquicentennial Committee has put out a call for organizations that would like to participate in the parade.  Please fill out and submit the flyer to join in the fun.  Sesquicentennial Parade Flyer

The Sesquicentennial Committee has put out their . You can print  out the form here by clicking on it and then printing or you can pick up an order form at the library.  The deadline for ordering T-shirts is 30 June 2019.

Please keep checking this event for more updates.  In the near future I hope to publish the schedule, parade participants, and the vendors who will be attending.  The webmaster.