STAN MUSIAL PLAQUE EVENT 2022
STAN “THE MAN” MUSIAL
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC)Historical Marker Plaque Dedication
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC)Historical Marker Plaque Dedication
Saturday, July 30, 2022
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FANS and FRIENDS of STAN “THE MAN” MUSIAL nighttime gathering: Friday evening, July 29 at 6:00 p.m. - Donora’s Croatian Club, 329 Castner Avenue (Fourth Street and Castner Avenue) - Mingle with other Musial fans and share stories. Some food will be provided while other food and beverages will be available for purchase. Join other club members for their monthly drawing night.
HISTORICAL PRESENTATION - Stan "The Man" Musial: Saturday at 10:00 a.m. – Donora Borough Building Banquet Hall, 603 Meldon Avenue (Sixth Street entrance) - There was a time in America when it seemed as though even the most casual baseball fan knew that Stan Musial was from Donora, Pennsylvania. That's a testament to the personality and character of Stan Musial, who made it his business to intentionally tell people that his hometown was Donora. A few days after the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Yankees in the 1942 World Series, the 21-year-old Musial was back in Donora, clerking at Labash's Store on McKean Avenue. Even though Stan lived most of his life in St. Louis, he never forgot his roots in Donora. Stan loved Donora and he remained connected to it throughout his life. This historical presentation is not so much a statistical review of Stan's career, but rather the arc of his life. The presentation itself will contain photos, game footage and stories from Donora Historical Society archivist and curator Brian Charlton. Allow 1 hour.
Q&A and STORYTELLING: Saturday at 11:00 a.m. – Donora Borough Building Banquet Hall, 603 Meldon Avenue (Sixth Street entrance) - After the Historical Presentation, through audience participation, all will have the chance to share their Stan Musial memories, stories or memorabilia. Allow 1 hour.
PHMC MUSIAL HISTORICAL MARKER PLAQUE BLESSING: Saturday at 12:00 p.m. - 600 Meldon Avenue (Meldon Avenue and Sixth Street) - The “Stan ‘The Man’ Musial” PHMC Plaque will be blessed by Fr. Kevin Dominik of St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church of the Mid-Mon Valley (Donora). Fr. Dominik is also a Polish American who studied in Krakow, Poland while in seminary.
PHMC MUSIAL HISTORICAL MARKER PLAQUE DEDICATION: Saturday at 12:05 p.m. - 600 Meldon Avenue (Meldon Avenue and Sixth Street) - The “Stan ‘The Man’ Musial” PHMC Plaque will be unveiled and dedicated with comments by the Donora Historical Society, the PHMC, Donora native Wayne Stewart and the Musial Family.
MUSIAL / DONORA BOOK AUTHORS: Saturday at 12:30 p.m. – Donora Borough Building Banquet Hall, 603 Meldon Avenue (Sixth Street entrance) - Various book authors that have written about Stan Musial, the Musial family or the history of Donora will be on hand to answer questions and sign and sell their books that include Donora native Wayne Stewart who wrote "STAN THE MAN - The Life and Times of Stan Musial" and Kathleen Shoop who wrote "The Strongman and the Mermaid" and "The Magician." Other books and authors may be on hand.
RECEPTION: Saturday at 12:30 p.m. – Donora Borough Building Banquet Hall, 603 Meldon Avenue (Sixth Street entrance) - After the PHMC Plaque is unveiled, we’ll return to the Donora Borough Building Banquet Hall for a Musial plaque dedication reception to mingle with other Musial fans, talk to the book authors and share refreshments and food.
FOOD: Donora Fire Department, 605 Meldon Avenue - additional food prepared by the Donora Fire Department with their food truck and grill outdoors will be available for purchase.
SMOG MUSEUM OPEN HOUSE: Saturday at 1:00 p.m. - 595 McKean Avenue - Visit the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum to see our Stan “The Man” Musial memorabilia and other Donora artifact collections.
RSVP: If you’re interested in attending any of the above events, please send us your name, number in your party, email address and phone number to be added to a list so that we can start to get a head count. The indoor events may have an attendance limit.
HOTELS: If you’re interested in staying in a hotel local to Donora, we have a blocked room rate of $70.00/night for July 29, 30 and 31 at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites at 181 Finley Road, Belle Vernon, PA 15012 which is 3.5 miles away. When booking your reservation, tell them that the Group Name is Stan Musial Event. Other hotel choices can be found here: Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum - Smog Museum.
PHMC MUSIAL HISTORICAL MARKER PLAQUE BLESSING: Saturday at 12:00 p.m. - 600 Meldon Avenue (Meldon Avenue and Sixth Street) - The “Stan ‘The Man’ Musial” PHMC Plaque will be blessed by Fr. Kevin Dominik of St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church of the Mid-Mon Valley (Donora). Fr. Dominik is also a Polish American who studied in Krakow, Poland while in seminary.
PHMC MUSIAL HISTORICAL MARKER PLAQUE DEDICATION: Saturday at 12:05 p.m. - 600 Meldon Avenue (Meldon Avenue and Sixth Street) - The “Stan ‘The Man’ Musial” PHMC Plaque will be unveiled and dedicated with comments by the Donora Historical Society, the PHMC, Donora native Wayne Stewart and the Musial Family.
MUSIAL / DONORA BOOK AUTHORS: Saturday at 12:30 p.m. – Donora Borough Building Banquet Hall, 603 Meldon Avenue (Sixth Street entrance) - Various book authors that have written about Stan Musial, the Musial family or the history of Donora will be on hand to answer questions and sign and sell their books that include Donora native Wayne Stewart who wrote "STAN THE MAN - The Life and Times of Stan Musial" and Kathleen Shoop who wrote "The Strongman and the Mermaid" and "The Magician." Other books and authors may be on hand.
RECEPTION: Saturday at 12:30 p.m. – Donora Borough Building Banquet Hall, 603 Meldon Avenue (Sixth Street entrance) - After the PHMC Plaque is unveiled, we’ll return to the Donora Borough Building Banquet Hall for a Musial plaque dedication reception to mingle with other Musial fans, talk to the book authors and share refreshments and food.
FOOD: Donora Fire Department, 605 Meldon Avenue - additional food prepared by the Donora Fire Department with their food truck and grill outdoors will be available for purchase.
SMOG MUSEUM OPEN HOUSE: Saturday at 1:00 p.m. - 595 McKean Avenue - Visit the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum to see our Stan “The Man” Musial memorabilia and other Donora artifact collections.
RSVP: If you’re interested in attending any of the above events, please send us your name, number in your party, email address and phone number to be added to a list so that we can start to get a head count. The indoor events may have an attendance limit.
HOTELS: If you’re interested in staying in a hotel local to Donora, we have a blocked room rate of $70.00/night for July 29, 30 and 31 at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites at 181 Finley Road, Belle Vernon, PA 15012 which is 3.5 miles away. When booking your reservation, tell them that the Group Name is Stan Musial Event. Other hotel choices can be found here: Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum - Smog Museum.
STAN “THE MAN” MUSIALPHMC Plaque Fundraising Drive
PHMC IN DONORA: Donora currently has two blue roadside plaques with raised yellow lettering commemorating the “1948 Smog” and “Cement City.” The "1948 Smog" plaque stands in front of the Donora Public Library on Meldon Avenue and the "Cement City" plaque stands to the left of Chestnut Street and the Donora Veterans Memorial off Route 837 close to the Stan “The Man” Musial Bridge. These plaques were cast and erected years ago by the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC) to recognize two things that give Donora incredible historic depth, but as we all know, Donora’s historic depth is deeper than just these two subjects. With your help, Donora is now about to get a third plaque.
PHMC IN DONORA: Donora currently has two blue roadside plaques with raised yellow lettering commemorating the “1948 Smog” and “Cement City.” The "1948 Smog" plaque stands in front of the Donora Public Library on Meldon Avenue and the "Cement City" plaque stands to the left of Chestnut Street and the Donora Veterans Memorial off Route 837 close to the Stan “The Man” Musial Bridge. These plaques were cast and erected years ago by the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC) to recognize two things that give Donora incredible historic depth, but as we all know, Donora’s historic depth is deeper than just these two subjects. With your help, Donora is now about to get a third plaque.
STAN MUSIAL: The exploits of Donora and St. Louis baseball great Stan “The Man” Musial need no explanation as they speak for themselves. To recognize an individual for a PHMC roadside plaque, that person would not just need exemplary qualifications, but be deceased for at least five years. When Stan Musial died in 2013, the requirement at that time was that a person need be deceased for ten years. In 2020, the Donora Historical Society learned that requirement had changed to just five years, so we decided to submit an application to nominate him for a PHMC plaque. This application process is extremely comprehensive and resulted in us submitting 20 copies of a 20-page application documenting why Stan Musial is worthy of his own PHMC roadside plaque among the 2,300 others that already exist throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
OUTCOME: In March of 2021, we learned that out of the 39 applications submitted to the PHMC in 2020, our application was accepted among a group of 22 others that included people like Pittsburgh artist Andy Warhol. While the PHMC reviews and approves the applications and casts the plaque, they do not pay for it.
FUNDRAISING: Now that our application was accepted, our next order of business will be raising the necessary money needed to have the plaque cast, in this case $2,150.
Our goal is to not only raise the necessary money for the plaque, but also host a nice reception for those attending the plaque dedication. Any monies in excess of the $2,150 for the plaque, will go towards some sort of refreshments and food for the reception. Any additional monies above that will be used to print a souvenir postcard to commemorate the day and to give donations to Donora organizations that Stan would have supported like he did in the past. While ambitious, we hope we can honor Stan and give those in attendance a nice experience in Donora.
The Donora Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization that is eligible for tax deductible donations to the fullest extent allowed by law.
If you’re interested in helping with a donation toward the plaque and dedication festivities, please send a check with a note saying the donation is for the “Stan Musial plaque.”
Please make checks payable to: Donora Historical Society
Please mail to: Donora Historical Society P.O. Box 522 Donora, PA 15033
FUNDRAISING: Now that our application was accepted, our next order of business will be raising the necessary money needed to have the plaque cast, in this case $2,150.
Our goal is to not only raise the necessary money for the plaque, but also host a nice reception for those attending the plaque dedication. Any monies in excess of the $2,150 for the plaque, will go towards some sort of refreshments and food for the reception. Any additional monies above that will be used to print a souvenir postcard to commemorate the day and to give donations to Donora organizations that Stan would have supported like he did in the past. While ambitious, we hope we can honor Stan and give those in attendance a nice experience in Donora.
The Donora Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization that is eligible for tax deductible donations to the fullest extent allowed by law.
If you’re interested in helping with a donation toward the plaque and dedication festivities, please send a check with a note saying the donation is for the “Stan Musial plaque.”
Please make checks payable to: Donora Historical Society
Please mail to: Donora Historical Society P.O. Box 522 Donora, PA 15033
QUESTIONS: Please contact the Donora Historical Society with any questions, ideas or interest in volunteering for this particular event, by contacting us by phone 724-823-0364 and leave a message or email DonoraHistoricalSociety@gmail.com.
FACEBOOK: Follow us on Facebook for future updates by searching on the “Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum.”
FACEBOOK: Follow us on Facebook for future updates by searching on the “Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum.”
FANS and FRIENDS of STAN “THE MAN” MUSIAL nighttime gathering: Friday evening, July 29 at 6:00 p.m. - Donora’s Croatian Club, 329 Castner Avenue (Fourth Street and Castner Avenue) - Mingle with other Musial fans and share stories. Some food will be provided while other food and beverages will be available for purchase. Join other club members for their monthly drawing night.
CASTING OUR HISTORIC MARKER
CASTING THE ACTUAL PLAQUE: After working with the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC) to decide on the wording of our Stan "The Man" Musial historic marker, we were turned over to Sewah Studios, Inc. from nearby Marrietta, Ohio to actually cast the plaque. Historic markers are the only thing that Sewah Studios does, and they do them extremely well.
CASTING THE ACTUAL PLAQUE: After working with the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC) to decide on the wording of our Stan "The Man" Musial historic marker, we were turned over to Sewah Studios, Inc. from nearby Marrietta, Ohio to actually cast the plaque. Historic markers are the only thing that Sewah Studios does, and they do them extremely well.
Sewah Studios was started in 1927 by E. M. Hawes (Sewah in reverse) to develop roadside markers in his metal foundry for a new phenomenon called automobile tourism. Around that same time, state and local historical societies confined most of their activities to research and compiling data. History was being preserved but not publicly shared. That was all about to change by Mr. Hawes with his roadside markers that could tell a tale while you travelled through the countryside. This activity slowed during WWII.
After WWII, more people were traveling more than ever before and each of our 50 states was doing its upmost to entice vacationers by making highways as attractive as possible. A study had proven that informative and interesting markers was one of the surest ways of achieving this goal. The value of marking historical sites was widely recognized and a large number of states adopted such programs, including Pennsylvania.
After WWII, more people were traveling more than ever before and each of our 50 states was doing its upmost to entice vacationers by making highways as attractive as possible. A study had proven that informative and interesting markers was one of the surest ways of achieving this goal. The value of marking historical sites was widely recognized and a large number of states adopted such programs, including Pennsylvania.
Mr. Hawes retired in 1953 and sold the company to Gerald E. Smith who he met while making propellers for the war effort when business slowed during WWII. Gerald's son David ran the foundry next and now his son Brad has run the foundry since 2003. Brad is who we worked with.
Today, Sewah Studios produces more than twelve hundred historic markers per year for 44 states including our state of Pennsylvania.
All Sewah Studio plaques are made using cast aluminum which proved to be more practical and durable than bronze (too expensive), wood (rot) and ferrous metals (rust). They are still made the same way that Mr. Hawes did them in 1927 by typesetting each plaque on a foundry mold and casting them double-sided with molten aluminum. The photo above is the proof that we approved of the typeset mold that would be used to press into the casting sand to make our Stan Musial plaque. Each plaque is powder coated in each state's paint colors, in our case yellow letters on a blue background.
Click Sewah Studios Plaque Process to get an in-depth look of the work and effort involved with casting our Stan "The Man" Musial historic marker.
Our plaque and pole arrived on September 21, 2022, from Ohio. The pole went into the ground that day and the plaque was mounted on September 25, 2022. All work was completed by the Donora Historical Society's volunteers.
Today, Sewah Studios produces more than twelve hundred historic markers per year for 44 states including our state of Pennsylvania.
All Sewah Studio plaques are made using cast aluminum which proved to be more practical and durable than bronze (too expensive), wood (rot) and ferrous metals (rust). They are still made the same way that Mr. Hawes did them in 1927 by typesetting each plaque on a foundry mold and casting them double-sided with molten aluminum. The photo above is the proof that we approved of the typeset mold that would be used to press into the casting sand to make our Stan Musial plaque. Each plaque is powder coated in each state's paint colors, in our case yellow letters on a blue background.
Click Sewah Studios Plaque Process to get an in-depth look of the work and effort involved with casting our Stan "The Man" Musial historic marker.
Our plaque and pole arrived on September 21, 2022, from Ohio. The pole went into the ground that day and the plaque was mounted on September 25, 2022. All work was completed by the Donora Historical Society's volunteers.
To Donate to the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum, please use our PayPal option to the right.
If you would like to add a note along with your donation, please consider sending an email to:donorahistoricalsociety@gmail.com
If you would like to add a note along with your donation, please consider sending an email to:donorahistoricalsociety@gmail.com