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Greene authors to present at Cornerstone Genealogical

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WAYNESBURG – The subject matter of more than a dozen books is as diverse as the authors themselves, and this will be evident at an authors day to be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 21 at Cornerstone Genealogical Society on East Greene Street in Waynesburg.

From a mystery writing minister to a pair of local historians, these authors offer a wide range of books. They will be present to discuss, sell and autograph their work.

Sketchbook artist Leslie Fehling sees the world as one big canvas to be captured and shared through illustration and verse. Fehling’s book, “Sketch Book Journeys, Italy,” is one such piece, covering the journey she took to the Tuscany region of Italy in 2013.

“At the end of each day, I wrote a journal entry from notes I jotted down throughout the day,” Fehling said. From eating gelato to the sights of her surroundings, Fehling brings to life her trip in watercolor sketches.

“What is so cool about the illustrated journal is in the 15 minutes or so it took to do a drawing I was absorbing the sights, smells and sounds in a way that really made me embrace the experience and enrich it,” Fehling said, noting journaling helped her to “prolong the trip” well beyond her return home.

She has been invited to teach an illustrated watercolor journaling workshop for 10 days this June in Florence and Tuscany.

Historical retrospectives among the titles at the genealogical society’s event will be abundant with multiple books inspired by small towns in and around Greene County.

Michele Buday Murray’s book, “Around Greensboro,” looks at the early days of the town and its surrounding villages. Murray includes a section dedicated to the Election Day Flood of 1985 that wreaked havoc along the Monongahela, the river that helped build the town and nearly destroyed it. Murray has peppered the work with photographs that help the uninitiated garner a better understanding of Greensboro and its history.

“A Village Named Brave,” written by native Jim Hoy, focuses on the compressor station of the People’s Natural Gas Co. that operated for more than 50 years. For those who lived in Brave during this period, the compressor station was the driving force behind the village’s economy. If residents didn’t work at the station, they worked in businesses operating in support of it. Hoy shares their stories.

Just across the state line, winding down Route 218 to Route 7, one weaves in and out of Greene County in Pennsylvania and Monongalia County in West Virginia, and back again. Many family names also crossover from one side of the line to the other and and much more is to be learned from Betty Lemley Wiley’s “Blacksville.” It also includes photos and information of the town, its businesses and people.

Historians Glenn Toothman and Candice Buchanan take readers on a trip in time with “Waynesburg,” as it highlights the evolution of High Street from the days when it was a dirt path to whne it became a brick road.

“The most difficult part of putting together such a book was narrowing down the photos to be included,” Buchanan said.

“Glenn and I have deep Greene County roots on both lines of our family tree. It was really exciting how the pictures from the different collections came together and made sense to tell a story,” she said. “We started with 590 photos as candidates and had to narrow it down to 219 in the final book. We tried to represent the town with the best and most interesting photos. In the end, I’m very pleased with it.”

Songwriter turned novelist L. E. Hewitt will bring his first three novels to the table for the event. Hewitt switched gears from lyrics to stories in 2008 with his debut novel, “Life Between the Raindrops.” Since then, he has produced “My Wonderful Chaos,” and “Chasing the Silver Lining.”

Although the stories in Hewitt’s books are true and reflect heavily on his upbringing in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the names of the individuals in them have been changed to protect their privacy, said Hewitt, who now resides in Indianapolis, Ind.

Composed of short, true stories, the books were written with the intention to entertain, uplift and inspire the reader by either pulling on their heartstrings or by making them laugh, Hewitt said.

Jim Weinschenker, an authority on the Waynesburg and Washington Railroad, has had a fondness for trains since he was a little boy. His latest book, “Waynesburg & Washington Railroad, Second Locomotive 4,” focuses on this 1916 locomotive from its inception through today. The book includes the builder’s detailed specifications more than 125 historical photographs, many available to the public for the first time.

“Everybody knows I’m the ‘train guy,’ in Waynesburg,” Weinschenker said, giving much credit to others who have helped him complete his research. “Somebody talks to somebody else and says, ‘I’ve got this photograph or that paper,’ and (it ends up in my hands).”

A timely publication by Thaddeus Charles Swestyn, “Oil & Gas Well Locations, Greene County, Pennsylvania 1863-2013,” traces the history of the oil and gas storage fields in the county via topographic maps that show the placement of oil and gas wells. It is of particular interest to surveyors, engineers, developers and landowners seeking detailed information about the locations of the various wells within Greene County.

Moving from the land to the air, photographer Jerry Hardy’s “Greene from the Blue,” gives a full-color bird’s-eye view of Greene County from the neighborhoods to its covered bridges, churches, farms, industrial parks, rivers and more.

Completing his trilogy of murder mysteries with “Justice in Greene,” The Rev. John Dorean gives readers an opportunity to consider events as they might unfold in the hamlets in which they make their home.

In her books, “The Sleigh and the Key,” and “Family in Poetry,” author Marilyn Eichenlaub offers readers an opportunity to meet her family members as Eichenlaub portrays them through a specific incident involving a hand-made sleigh and in witty poetic vignettes.

” “The Sleigh and the Key” is a true story about my grandfather, James A. Brewer, a Ruff Creek blacksmith. He made the sleigh in 1888. He died when I was about 3 or 4 years old,” Eichenlaub said. Although it was a difficult decision, needing money, when a man approached the family wishing to purchase the sleigh it agreed. Eichenlaub’s book traces the journey the sleigh made after it was sold.

“I wrote the poetry book primarily as gifts for my family. Each of the poems has a cute, funny or surprise ending,” she said.

Other titles that will be available for purchase include: “Bates History of Greene County, Pa.,” by Samuel Bates; “History of Greene County, Pa.,” by Dr. G. Wayne Smith; “Local History of Greene County & Southwestern Pennsylvania,” by Andrew J. Waychoff; “Westward of Ye Laurall Hills,” by Helen Vogt; and the “Caldwell’s Atlas of Greene County, Pennsylvania 1876.”

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