Staff writer

agillooly@observer-reporter.com

HOUSTON - If he ever writes a third book on the history of Beaver Falls, Kenneth Britten said he won't have to worry about a title.

He would call the book "Scandal by the Falls" - one he said bookstores wouldn't be able to keep on the shelves.

"It will be a bestseller because they would ban it across the country," he said.

Britten, 59, who grew up in Beaver Falls and lived there much of his life, moved to Houston following his mother's death about three years ago. He said he decided to move to Washington County to be closer to friends.

While researching "Beaver Falls" and "Beaver Falls: The Gem of Beaver County" he said he's uncovered more than one so-called skeleton in some local family closets.

He's got the dirt on illegitimate babies and mysterious deaths. Then there were Ku Klux Klan rallies in the city that maybe weren't as mysterious as they should have been.

Britten said his grandmother was always fascinated by these downtown rallies because, despite the robes they wore to protect their identities, the cars the Klansmen drove always gave them away.

"She'd wave at them," he said. "It just didn't make sense to her."

After all, there were only so many people in town who owned a Packard.

Britten said it was from his grandmother that he gained an appreciation for history. Her stories, he said, intrigued him from an early age.

As a sick child unable to play outside, he would often sit and listen to his grandmother tell stories about their family's history. Although he was enamored with these stories, one of his uncles called them nothing more than tall tales.

From then on he made it his pastime to sift through the stories to uncover what was fact and what was fiction.

But life led him to the Garfield Business Institute in Beaver Falls, where he received a degree in accounting and business in 1968. He began working for Green Stamps in 1969 - a post he retired from in 1979 to help care for his ailing mother.

It was during this chapter of his life that he got a phone call from an old teacher. She told him the Beaver Falls Historical Society was inactive.

Before long, a meeting was called and Britten found himself at the helm of the organization after he was voted its new president.

He's been the top-ranking official ever since.

Britten has also become active in many local Washington County causes since moving to this area.

In addition to serving as King Lion of the Greater Canonsburg Lions Club, he is on the board of directors of the Chartiers-Houston Library and secretary of the George Washington chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. He also is secretary of the Geneological Society of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

When he took over Beaver Falls Historical Society, Britten said some of the items on display were dusty or moldy. What was worse, he said, was that the public never got the opportunity to explore the history museum.

Despite making a schedule each week, the volunteers who were supposed to man the building would inevitably cancel at the last minute.

Then came Bertha.

Britten said he sought an employee through an organization that places senior citizens with jobs. It was through this organization that the society came to know Bertha Treco, whose wages were paid through the nonprofit.

Britten said her employment there allowed the society to set regular hours. But after the nonprofit threatened to cut off funding, Britten and the 15 members of the historical society decided to take matters into their own hands.

They decided to write a book about the city. It was ultimately titled "Beaver Falls" and published in 2000 by Arcadia.

Britten said it took about six months for the group to research, write and choose pictures for the book, all 1,000 copies of which sold.

There was enough interest in the book to warrant a second printing.

In the end, the historical society netted enough money to pay Treco's wages. A subsequent $5,000 grant through the Laurel Foundation in Pittsburgh helped further fill its coffers, securing the woman's continued employment.

But as time passed, the money began to run low.

So Britten decided to write a second book on the city in which he grew up, this one titled "Beaver Falls: Gem of Beaver County," in 2002.

Although he penned the book himself, he was assisted by several of his grade-school teachers - women he said would argue over every comma in the manuscript.

"I said to Bertha, 'I'm not dealing with adults anymore, I'm dealing with 75-year-old children,'" Britten said with a laugh.

That book, also published by Arcadia, had a first run of 1,000 copies and brought in enough money to pay Treco's wages through the beginning of 2008.

Britten said he hopes to arouse enough interest in the book to warrant a second printing to help continue Treco's employment.

Treco, who has worked as the historical society's hostess for more than 13 years, said she has "no complaints" about working with Britten.

She called him "great." She called him "terrific."

And more than anything, she said that she's grown attached to the job she's held for more than a decade.

"When I have to leave, it will be hard," she said.

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