Friends of the Library: News

The Friday, April 4 book review will feature Mary Beth Kibbe, retired Jersey Shore High School English and literature teacher. Kibbe will review Nippenose Valley by local resident and author Wayne Welshans.

Welshans grew up in Jersey Shore, PA.  In summer, when school was out, he would stay with his Welshans’ grandparents, who owned a farm in the adjacent Nippenose Valley, a stretch of rural paradise.  As an adult, he and his family settled on that farm, and he and his wife live there to this day. As he came into his teens, he became curious about his family’s roots in the valley.  He chronicled interviews with his grandparents regarding his ancestors’ emigration from Germany to the farming Mecca of Central Pennsylvania.

His interviews expanded to include neighboring farming families.  He gathered oral history, photographs, family trees, birth, death, and marriage records, and land maps.  While still in his teens, he began curating these elements into a comprehensive history of the Nippenose Valley.

While collecting these stories, he turned his attention to the original inhabitants of the valley, the Nippenuce tribe, for whom the area was named.  He delved into the practices of the natives and noted their settlements and ceremonies, some of which are still being practiced.  Their spiritual connection with the land and water are shared by previous and more recent settlers. 

Finally, he tied the lives of natives and settlers to the unique, and often mysterious, geological composition of the valley.  He studied the honeycomb limestone structures of the valley that underlie the land.  While the limestone provides fertile soil for farming, it gives a tenuous base that frequently caves into sinkholes that are both fascinating and dangerous.  He has revealed centuries of human life and its connection with nature.

As a result of health concerns, Mr. Welshans has granted permission for Mary Beth Kibbe, a fellow Nippenose Valley resident, to present a review of his book.

The review begins at 12:15PM in the Lowry Room of the Welch Family Wing of the James V. Brown Library with a Q&A from 12:45-1:00PM. Complimentary snacks and bottled water will be available. Attendees are also welcome to bring their own lunch. Reservations are required due to space considerations.  Please call the library at 570-326-0536 or use the library’s online reservation calendar (calendar.jvbrown.edu) before 3:00PM on Wednesday, April 2.  Parking is available in the public lot off Market Street, adjacent to the Welch Wing.