The Millbrook Society was founded in 1984 at the request of the late Mrs. Charles Harper Smith of Horsham Township, PA.  The vision of Mrs. Smith and the Society's founders was to honor the legacy of Charles Harper Smith who was a renowned local historian, educator, and author.    The original intent of the Society was to receive and hold in trust the land and buildings that make up the Kenderdine Mill tract called "Millbrook." They also were tasked with continuing the late Charles Harper Smith's work in the areas of preservation and education of local, state, and national history. Unfortunately, the only thing they obtained was the name "Millbrook". Although they did not obtain any land, the mission of the society has not changed. They continue to work for the preservation, protection and education of history. Currently they are planning to scan many very old documents to preserve the information for the future. All members of the Society are volunteers. What is their mission?

PRESERVATION…collecting and maintaining artifacts, documents, manuscripts, and maps.PROTECTION… archaeology, and recording and researching historical data on buildings and other assets.EDUCATION… presentations, programs, publications, reenactments, and related activities.

You may see members of Millbrook at Moland House on an Archeological Dig, participating in reenactments, history fairs. researching old homes and buildings in Hatboro, giving classes on the history of areas in Hatboro to school children and adults as well. Growing out of their current spaces, they will be moving to space in the Pennypack Community building in the near future. Many of their archives will remain in their spaces at the Baptist Church. Millbrook does interact with MANY other organizations (a listing is on their website.) As with many organizations, they are looking for new members as well as active volunteers to assist in their many projects. 

Would you like to know more? Click the link to the website to see a list of events, publications, news of the society, other organizations and membership information. http://millbrooksociety.org/mbs/links.ashx

Rotary Moment 6/7/23

The Rotary International Convention was held in Melbourne, Australia in May. The convention was organized around this year’s theme “Imagine Rotary” and attendees participated in sessions that focused on promoting peace, protecting the environment, and eradicating polio. Next year’s convention will be held in Singapore and will revolve around the 23-24 theme “Sharing Hope With the World”.

At the convention, Rotary International President, Jennifer Jones, announced the recipient of the third annual Programs of Scale award. This year’s recipient is United to End Cervical Cancer in Egypt, an initiative to reduce the number of cases while raising awareness and improving women’s access to preventive care. The four-year program in and around Cairo will vaccinate more than 30,000 girls ages 9-15, provide cancer screenings for 10,000 women, and launch a public awareness campaign to reach 4 million people.

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Gaby Morena performed at the convention. She also traveled to Guatemala with Rotary International President Jennifer Jones as part of Jones’ Imagine Impact Tour. Their trip to Guatemala included visits to the schools supported by The Guatemala Literacy Project (GLP). The GLP is one of the largest grassroots, multi-club, multi-district projects in Rotary. The focus is to improve education for underserved students in Guatemala. To date the program has served more than 278,000 students.