The Oil City Heritage Society has planned a tentative schedule of public programs for the year.
Nick Hess will present a program on “Dig It – Found in a Dump” at the Venango Museum on Seneca Street in May. It will focus on an assortment of historic artifacts retrieved in various digging explorations.
In June, a brief history of Oil City gasoline stations and a tour will be held at Short Street Motors on the city’s South Side. The car dealership and automotive repair shop, owned by Bob Fry since 2005, are complemented by classic cars and a large collection of gas station memorabilia. It was the former Lilly & Rudolph gas station.
A program on Monarch Park by Mong will be held in Oil City Library in October.
The installation of a refurbished Reid gas engine in front of the PennDOT office on Elm Street will be held at midyear.
Restoration of the Reid gas engine, an industrial oil engine manufactured in Oil City in 1923, has been completed.
The Heritage Society obtained the engine and it is being restored by oil and gas students under the direction of teacher Ryan Lehnortt at Venango Technology Center.
The organization recently re-elected the following officers: Dave Anderton, president; Dave Heinzer, vice president; Betsy Kellner, secretary; and Taunee Smith, treasurer.
The Heritage Society is a nonprofit organization affiliated with Oil City Library. The organization’s “Looking Back” tabloids and the 1968 “Our Town” film can be purchased at the library.
