Apple Creek Historical Society also a community center

Apple Creek may be a small town, but its historical society is big.

The Apple Creek Historical Society is nearly 25,000 square feet and features a variety of community services and programming not usually seen in most historical societies.

“Since we first broke ground in 2004, we have continued to grow, and try to become more than a historical society, more of a community learning center,” said Gary Rogers, president of the society.

According to trustee Ken Thomas, the society is more accurately representative of East Union Township as a whole. It includes a large, impressively furnished conference room; a smaller lounge; a full service, independent community library; a food bank; a media room; a workshop complete with woodworking and makerspace facilities; and last but not least, an area featuring thousands of historical items exhibited.

A third floor currently under construction will include space for gathering for parties and receptions, complete with a full-service kitchen.

A spacious ADA-accessible deck offers a view of the meadow, which according to trustee Mike Buss, features more than 35 varieties of natural Ohio prairie grasses. A log cabin that is thought to possibly be the first in East Union Township is being reconstructed on the site.

The society does receive some grants but is largely funded by local individuals and businesses.

“We estimate nearly 85% of all our construction has been provided by volunteers,” Buss said.

“We would not exist without the support of the community, which has been exceptional,” Rogers said.

The historical society newsletter indicates that in 2019 more than $25,000 was spent on the building.

The building was engineered locally and was complemented by local professional interior designer Daisy Shamp, Rogers said.

The large conference room, which is lavishly appointed, includes leather chairs, a large audio-visual screen and a large wooden table that originally was used at the Apple Creek Development Center.

“We also have our lobby reception area desk and a grandfather clock that came from ACDC,” Rogers said.

The library had to be closed this year due to COVID-19, but in 2019 it saw a lot of programming for its first year, Thomas said.

It is managed by librarian Linda Davis, who is retired from the Wayne County Public Library.

“We like to have a variety of programs that bring children and their parents in,” Thomas said.

A story time for 3- to 6-year-olds was popular, and in the future the library will offer a summer reading program. The society is working with the two other community libraries in the Southeast Local School District, Fredericksburg and Prairie Township, and the Buckeye Book Fair to bring all second-grade students in the school district to the library.

Thomas said nearby parochial school teachers have especially enjoyed the library as a source of books for their classrooms, and the computers have been popular with the Amish community. A currently make-shift genealogy lab will eventually be housed in the third floor.

A food bank supply operation, “Whole Community,” operates out of the first floor and collects area farmers’ imperfect produce and sorts and boxes it for 55 local food banks.

“Our goals are to reduce food waste and increase getting fresh, local vegetables and fruit to those who need it,” the food bank program’s Abigail Rahz said.

In the exhibit room, the society boasts a considerable gathering of historical artifacts from the area.

Thomas said the environmentally controlled room will have continually changing displays.

Current exhibits include displays featuring Pep’s Service, a local gas station and Marguerite’s Beauty Shoppe. Miscellaneous items range from an Apple Creek World War I veteran’s uniform, to old newspapers, to a trundle bed that came to the area on a Conestoga wagon.

What started as a workshop with wood-working tools and equipment was growing into a makerspace just as the pandemic hit.

A makerspace is a room that contains tools and components that allow people to enter with an idea and leave with a completed project, according to Thomas. It allows people to work together to learn, collaborate and share.

Rogers said Vic Schantz, Barry Romich, Jim Dietzler, Van Vanek and Tom Hammond all helped with the makerspace.

“We were going to allow people to use our CNC router to make projects for free,” Buss said. “We realized that we couldn’t keep this great space to ourselves; we had to share it with the community. And to the extent we have people use it, that will be the measure of our success.”

Rogers echoed Buss’ sentiment. “One of our biggest goals is to build family, and this allows them to build projects together,” he said. “When you build families, you build community.”