Peters Township Public Library marks 60 years
Donaldson's Service Station, 1925
Harry Funk / The Almanac Accepting a creation from balloon artist Vanessa Weber is Gillian Fee, with her mother, Tara, and siblings Joshua and Allison.
Harry Funk / The Almanac Peters Township resident Vanessa Weber, who doubled as disc jockey and balloon artist for the event, signs one of her creations.
Harry Funk / The Almanac Retired library director Pier Lee, lefrt, greets Scott and Barbara Schnabel.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Richard Easton, president of the Peters Township Public Library board, presents a framed photograph to director Myra Oleynik showing her visiting the library as a youngster. The gift obviously came as a surprise.
The color print may be blurry, but the general outline of the person in the photo, coupled with the U.S. flag attached to the distinctive vehicle in which he is riding, make his identity clear.
“Oh, that was Kennedy coming through the crossroads,” Robert Donaldson explained matter of factly.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Helping to celebrate 60 years of Peters Township Public Library are, from left, township manager Paul Library, library director Myra Oleynik, and longtime township residents Robert Donaldson and Patty Donaldson Stutzman.
Among the hundreds of photographs he and family members had on display at Peters Township Public Library during its 60th-anniversary celebration on Oct. 22 was one he took in front of his house in 1962. It shows President John F. Kennedy, waving to well-wishers from his Lincoln convertible and he made his way from Pittsburgh to Washington.
Home for the Donaldsons was a two-story structure catercorner from the shopping center that bears the family name, a residence that stood well into the 21st century before succumbing to yet another commercial plaza.
While he lived there, Robert liked to chronicle whatever might be happening outside, such as when a Beechcraft went down on Route 19 in 1972.
Robert Donaldson took this photograph of President John F. Kennedy in 1962 as he made through Peters Township to speak at the Washington County Courthouse.
“I was sitting eating supper, and I heard this crash. I grabbed my camera and ran out. By the time I got there, three people had gotten out,” he recalled.
His family photographs present a history of Peters Township going back to portraits of his grandparents, who were born in the mid-1800s. Along the way are images of everything from teams of horses traversing dirt roads to since-demolished buildings to people who are gone but not forgotten.
Walter Donaldson with his horses in the early 1900s
That includes Walter Enlow Donaldson (1876-1950), who was struck by a vehicle in front of his house at a time before a traffic signal was at the Washington-McMurray roads intersection.
“They didn’t get one until my dad was killed,” Robert recalled. “He fought to get a light at the crossroads and had to die in the place before they got one.”
On a happier note, he has photos of the original Pleasant Valley School, which still stands on East McMurray Road, and he enjoys telling students at the new Pleasant Valley what it was like when he attended the predecessor.
“I told them, ‘If you wanted a drink of water, you had to have a buddy to pump the pump. And if you had to go the bathroom, you went to the outhouse.” They didn’t know what that is, so he explained: “That’s like a port-a-potty, only it’s a shed.”
Now 85, he was in his mid-20s when Peters Township Public Library opened in 1957, through the efforts of the local women’s club, at Peters Township High School.
During the 60th-anniversary event, director Myra Oleynik gave a presentation about the history of the library, which moved four times before arriving at its current location in 1999. At that point, it was 23,000 square feet, and a 2008 expansion tacked on another 4,800 to meet the needs of the ever-growing community.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Showing the anniversary cake are Peters Township High School sophomores, from left, Kelsey Auld, Maggie Kriz and Megan LaBarbera.
Oleynik acknowledged the efforts of Pier Lee, who served as director from 1974 through 2015 and now is director emeritus, for her constant efforts in moving the library forward:
“To this day, we have so much to be thankful for, thanks to Mrs. Lee.”
Further bolstering the celebration of the past was Robert Moore, valedictorian of the Peters Township High School Class of 1968, who presented “A Sampling of Peters Township History and Resources for Finding Much More.”
Also among those also attending the event were county commissioners Larry Maggi and Harlan Shober, who presented a certificate of recognition from themselves and Commissioner Diana Irey. In part, it reads:
“We applaud the commitment to serving the public and commend you for being an educational resource for the residents of the community.”