Williamsport- The Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society will host a Society Program on Sunday, July 21, at 2:00 pm in its Community Room. The program will feature a lecture on two of Bob Salaki’s interests- his business of gilding and his hobby of privy pit (outhouse) digs. Salaki fields many requests to dig up the site of outhouses from the 19th century, often finding bottles, inkwells, marbles and other items that were discarded or lost by disappearing down the outhouse pit. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Salaki is widely known for beautifully-rendered wooden signs which are accented with gold leaf. They provide a striking accent to the many businesses within Williamsport and the County which feature his signage. Bob is also well-known for creating ice sculptures throughout the region. Recently, he participated in the Dr. June Baskin Art Camp held at the Taber Museum, where he demonstrated wood carving and ice sculpting for the attending students.
The Society Program continues a series of lectures which focus on the craftspeople, decorative arts, collections and collecting. As the Society Program coincides with the third Sunday of the month, admission to the museum is free. The Lecture Series combines the Sunday afternoon programs with Thursday morning Coffee Hours. Future talks will feature a lecture on Roan’s Auction and the highlights of its decades-long auctioneering, a lecture on Susquehanna Valley fraktur by Rich Nornhold and a fascinating lecture on forensic gemology by Gary Smith. The lecture series is generously sponsored by the Woodcock Foundation for the Appreciation of the Arts.
Located at 858 West Fourth Street, Williamsport, the Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society provides a history of the region with information about Native American culture, frontier exploration, the development of the Pennsylvania canal, immigration during the 19th century, and the logging and lumbering era of the nineteenth century. As well, the Taber Museum houses the world-class Larue Shempp Model Train Collection. The museum is open for touring Tuesdays through Fridays, 9:30am until 4:00pm; Saturdays, 11:00am until 4:00pm and Sundays, 1:00pm until 4:00pm. There is ample parking behind the museum and along the street. For further information, please contact the museum at 570.326.3326.