Galatia Historical Society hosts ice cream fundraiser

GALATIA - The Galatia Historical Society hosted an ice cream social Saturday evening to raise money for the group's mission.

The event, in the Galatia Community Park, included live musical entertainment and featured homemade ice cream sold by various members of the Historical Society to members of the public.

Mary Russell Finley, a 10-year member of the Historical Society, was present during Saturday evening's gathering.

"We have recently put a mural on the side of our new building," Finley said. "And this is a fundraiser for that mural and just for the upkeep of our new building. We're a very small group right now, but we're hoping to grow our membership the more activities we have."

The Galatia Historical Society hosts regular meetings the first Monday of every month. The meetings serve as the basis for event planning and community outreach on behalf of the Society.

Outside of a yearly service held in honor of military veterans, Finley says the Historical Society has been selective when deciding upon events to host in recent years.

"This is our first one in probably a couple of years," Finley said. "We're just trying to generate interest in our group."

The work of local artists Kris Killman, Missy Carstems, and Janet Bixler is on display in the mural prominently featured on the side of the Historical Society's new building. Bixler, a local lifelong artist who attended Saturday evening's gathering, reflected fondly on her time spent in collaboration with her fellow artists and the Historical Society.

"I'd worked with (Killman) on another mural," Bixler said. "So he called us, wanted to know if we wanted to work on it and we said 'We're ready.'"

Painting the mural from beginning to end took five weeks with the trio of artists working six hours a day, breaking occasionally from the midsummer heat.

"We started on it on Memorial Day and finished the second week of July," Bixler said.

Bixler says the theme of the mural is the preservation of Galatia's township and history. The mural transcends multiple generations, featuring old Galatian storefronts, automobiles, tobacco barns and numerous figures from the early 20th century into the present day.

Bixler says the addition of multiple figures from various moments in time came via the artists' inspiration and spontaneity.

"Those ideas just came along as we were working on it," Bixler said.

Bixler believes the most important element to the mural is community.

"I think it preserves part of their history," Bixler said. "I think it brings the town together as a community. It's shared memories for a lot of people that live here."

The evening's entertainment, made up of various local musicians who are friends of the Historical Society, termed by guitarist and singer Garry Schwartz as the "Pickers 'n Grinners", performed throughout the evening with a set list of songs ranging from gospel to bluegrass.

Finley said the evening also was a display of community pride.

"We're proud of our town," Finley said. "We want to continue letting everyone know our history and our heritage."<object id="Extra Pictures" type="x-im/image" uuid="F2627A11-943E-4645-B652-D520E121DA58"><links><link rel="self" type="x-im/image" uri="im://image/F2627A11-943E-4645-B652-D520E121DA58.jpg" uuid="F2627A11-943E-4645-B652-D520E121DA58"><data><title><![CDATA[