The Centre County Historical Society will honor several individuals and organizations this weekend for their dedicated efforts to preserve and interpret local history.
The 36th annual John H. Ziegler Historic Preservation Awards will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19, at the American Philatelic Society headquarters in the Match Factory building, 100 Match Factory Place in Bellefonte. RSVPs are required to attend and can be made at centrehistory.org/events/awards/ or by calling 814-234-4779.
Here’s a look at this year’s award winners.
PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION
Liz Grove, owner of Pine Grove Hall, will be recognized for the restoration of the historic Old Oak Tavern in Pine Grove Mills. Originally constructed in 1900 as the Odd Fellows Lodge, “Pine Grove Hall now enhances the community as a dining and gathering place with live music, craft cocktails and local beer,” CCHS wrote in a news release.
HISTORY AND HERITAGE
The Potter Township Heritage Day Committee will be honored for planning and hosting Potter Township 250 Heritage Day, a celebration for the 250th anniversary of the township’s founding.
EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY
The Bellefonte Chapter National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and “Centre County American Revolution Soldiers and Patriots” by Nancy Stover will receive this award “for their notable contribution to research, compile and publish an extensive index to raise awareness of Centre County soldiers and patriots of the American Revolution.”
SUPPORT AND VOLUNTEERISM
Renea Nichols will be recognized “for significant contributions to historic preservation in Centre County through her gifts of time, talent and project leadership to numerous county historical organizations and efforts.” Among those are work on the Bellefonte Union Cemetery and “Black History in Centre County, Pennsylvania,”a collaborative public history and arts project centering Black experience in Centre County from 1800 to 1950.
JACQUELINE J. MELANDER AWARD
Philip Ruth will receive this award “for the outstanding and long-term commitment to historic preservation activities in Centre County as an architectural and public historian. Ruth will be recognized for leadership in several local historical organizations, including the Bellefonte Historical Architectural Review Board, the Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association and the Roland Curtin Foundation.
CCHS PRESIDENT’S AWARD
The Penn State Alumni Association will receive this award for its historical “for the preservation and interpretation of Centre County and Penn State history through the Penn
State historical marker program.” The initiative has to date developed 68 historical markers at University Park and 17 at commonwealth campuses and other locations, including most recently in 2024, the Centre Furnace Mansion.
