Meetings

“A Walking Tour of Titanic”

12 April 2022

Photo of the RMS Titanic110 years ago, the world was shook as the largest and grandest ocean liner of its day sank on its maiden voyage after colliding with an iceberg. Capturing the imagination of millions for over a century, get an inside look at R.M.S. Titanic as never seen before. Painstakingly recreated in a digital format by the “Titanic Honor and Glory” group, you will get to see the opulent and lavishly appointed rooms and spaces of First and Second class, as well as a look into 3rd class and crew accommodations. Reconstructed down to the screws and light switches, walk the decks of the doomed liner, just as she was in 1912.

Tyler Strzałkowski, a forth generation resident of Scotch Plains will present this insightful program. Tyler is a graduate of the local High School and has carried an interest of history with him since he was young, his particular area of interest being Oceanic and Maritime history. An active member of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood, he is often involved with local activities, and is always working to further his knowledge of all things bygone and antiquated. Going on to further his education, he has taken to studying welding at the Lincoln Tech Trade School.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26th at the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Road (at the corner of Plainfield Avenue) in Scotch Plains. This upcoming meeting is free and all are welcome. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the presentation.

Share

Relics Of The Past… Revolutionary War Era Homes In Westfield

12 March 2022

Photograph of Robert WeldelThe dwindling collection of Westfield homes that stood during the time of the Revolutionary War will be the topic of a presentation by Robert Wendel at the next meeting of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood on Tuesday evening March 22nd. Although there were no major battles in current day Westfield, there were several significant battles throughout what was once the greater West Fields of Elizabethtown, notably in present day Fanwood and Scotch Plains. Skirmishes often took place outside some of the homesteads that will be discussed at the March 22nd meeting. Mr. Wendel will discuss the history of these homes, their role during the Revolution and the importance of standing up for their preservation. Westfield, Fanwood, and Scotch Plains have seen the destruction of many of our Revolutionary homes in the past 30 years. Our historic fabric is unraveling with their demise as we lose the architectural and cultural history of our past.

 
Robert Wendel served for over 25 years in the insurance industry in a variety of positions ranging from Home Office Segmentation and Technology Enterprise Resource manager. He additionally worked at D & B as an information sales manager and subsequently in the Predictive Modeling Division of Deloitte Consulting as senior manager in Insurance Predictive Modeling Consultation. Since leaving the corporate world, Wendel is now the Chief Operation Officer of his family’s Financial Advising firm with clients worldwide. However, he also makes significant time for his love of history which started in college when he served as assistant manager for the Pabst Mansion, the beer baron’s home in Milwaukee.
 
Since moving to Westfield in 1991, Wendel has been integrally involved with the Westfield Historical Society as VP of Membership as well as past Curator of the Historical Society Archives and continues to serve on the Historical Society Board currently as the Society’s Archivist at the Miller Cory House Museum Board. He is a past member of the Historic Preservation Commission for the Town of Westfield and former Town Historian.
 
This upcoming meeting of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood is free and all are welcome. It will begin at 7:30p.m. on Tuesday, March 22nd, at the Shady Rest Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Road (at the corner of Plainfield Avenue) in Scotch Plains.  Refreshments and fellowship will follow the presentation.  For further information, please contact Connie Klock at 908-232-9489. 
 

 

Share

The Winter of Tears: The 1779 Sullivan/Clinton Expedition against the Iroquois Confederation

12 February 2022


In one of the largest and least-known military actions of the Revolutionary War, General John Sullivan led a large army deep into the Iroquois homeland and in a scorched earth campaign, broke the power of the Iroquois Confederacy that opened the western frontier to settlement after the was was won.

At the February meeting of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood, historian and attorney John Orzel, Esq. will explain the background to this battle that encompassed Northwestern New Jersey, Southern New York and Northern Pennsylvania in flames in the winter of 1778-1779.

John Orzel, a practicing lawyer, was born on what was once the largest reservation into which the Seneca Tribe, the mighty and most warlike of the Iroquois Confederacy, had been placed by the new government of the United States, outside of Buffalo, New York.  Living outside of Buffalo and working in Manhattan, his thirty years of travel over much of the route of the Sullivan Expedition, peeked a keen interest in the expedition that is the genesis of his talk. John Orzel, a partner in Kennedys, an international law firm has practiced international transportation for over thirty years and has studied military history since learning to read.

The upcoming meeting is free and all are welcome. It will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 22, at the Shady Rest Country Club (known formerly as Scotch Hills), 820 Jerusalem Road (at the corner of Plainfield Ave) in Scotch Plains.  For further info, contact Connie Klock at (908) 232-9489.

Share
« Previous PageNext Page »