The Johnstown Area Heritage Association hosts a broad range of special events throughout the year. Check back often for updates on our calendar of special events, and other JAHA news.

Special Events & News
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Visit the Press Room section of this Web site to access media articles about JAHA museums, programs and activities, as well as an archive of downloadable press releases in PDF format; scroll down below the Calendar of Events for more JAHA news.
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Upcoming events at the Heritage Discovery Center - Details about all upcoming events will be posted here as they become available. All events, including children's museum programming, are listed on our Calendar of Events for easy reference. To stay up-to-date on JAHA events and news, to sign up for our e-newsletter, join our Facebook page, and/or follow us on Twitter.
All events listed below will take place at the Heritage Discovery Center unless otherwise indicated. Currently, our schedule includes:
Sat., Sept. 4 - Open House at the Wagner-Ritter House & Garden -- JAHA is pleased to offer free admission to the Wagner-Ritter House & Garden on Saturday, Sept. 4, during the Cambria City Ethnic Festival (which is the Fri., Sat. & Sun. of Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3-5). The 1860s house tells the story of an immigrant family who lived and worked in Cambria City. The house will be open during its normal hours of 11:00am-4:00pm. It is located at 418 Broad Street, but is also accessible from the back door of the visitors center, facing Brallier Place (which runs parallel to Chestnut and Broad Streets). Please come out, support the festival and stop by to see us!
Saturday, September 18, 10:00 am-1:00 pm - Teaching the Johnstown Flood of 1889 - A New Curriculum - An Act 48 workshop for teachers! For more, visit the Special Events & Workshops page on the Johnstown Children's Museum portion of jaha.org. Sat., Sept. 18, noon-4:00 pm - Discovery Dome Event with The Learning Lamp -- JAHA is pleased to be partnering with The Learning Lamp on this special event for kids! Kids actually go inside the Discovery Dome to experience high definition, full-dome movies that take them on a multi-sensory journey exploring the earth, the universe, and the edge of the solar system. For more, visit the Special Events & Workshops page on the Johnstown Children's Museum portion of jaha.org.
Friday, September 24, 5:00 pm - Last Friday at the Ethnic Social Club with Tree -- Tree is a group of Johnstown area musicians who combine elements of traditional Irish, Celtic rock, bluegrass, and old-time music into a lively sound all their own. Maintaining a vigorous practice and performance schedule, Tree has performed at a wide variety of local and regional venues and festivals (including the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival 2009) since their debut in early 2005. For this band, success comes with the sheer enjoyment of the music they play, which shines through each time they hit the stage. Tree's consists of Matt Harnett on vocals and acoustic guitar, Jen Harnett on fiddle, Jason Pinto on bass, and Mike Dixon on drums. Doors open at 5:00 pm, with music starting around 5:30. No cover.
Saturday, September 25, 10:30-12:30 - A Day in the Life of an Immigrant Child -- A workshop for kids in grades 4-6 about what life was like for immigrant children at the turn of the century. The workshop will be held at the Wagner-Ritter House & Garden. For more, visit the Special Events & Workshops page on the Johnstown Children's Museum portion of jaha.org.
>Saturday, October 16, 10:30 am-12:30 pm -- German Heritage Day -- A kids' workshop for grades 4-8 that's all about German heritage! For more, visit the Special Events & Workshops page on the Johnstown Children's Museum portion of jaha.org.
***JAHA News***
JAHA acquires original Johnstown streetcar -- Car 362 of the Johnstown street rail system, which ceased operation in 1960, has been acquired by JAHA. Restoring it may take years - but we are excited to have brought it home! Johnstown was one of the last small cities in the United States to use streetcars, which date back to 1883, when a horse-drawn street railway with eight miles of track began operations. In 1891 the system was electrified and greatly expanded - at one point it was possible to take a streetcar all the way to Windber. Car 362 was manufactured in 1926 by St. Louis Car for Johnstown, and was heavily used before its 1960 retirement. Although the car has been stored inside for the most part, it was never restored or put on display. At one point it was vandalized and is in very poor repair. The car was most recently owned by the Fox River Trolley Museum of South Elgin, Ill., which ran out of storage space for it and contacted Scott Becker of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, Pa. Becker called Richard Burkert, JAHA president, to see if JAHA was interested in the trolley. The above photo shows the streetcar in the 1940s.
Johnstown Flood Museum theater dedicated for Robert S. Waters Charitable Trust -- On June 18, 2010, a special ceremony was held at the Johnstown Flood Museum theater to name it for Robert S. Waters, who was president of the National Radiator Corporation. His niece, Alice Waterman Eastman, was in attendance and spoke about her memories of Mr. Waters, and a commemorative plaque was unveiled. The assembled company watched museum's Academy Award-winning documentary, "The Johnstown Flood," which has been placed in a high-def format and captioned. Other renovations to the theater include newly reupholstered seats and new carpeting. The Robert S. Waters Charitable Trust provided funding for these vital improvements to the visitor experience. Other supporters of Johnstown Flood Museum upgrades include: Allegheny Ridge Corporation; Community Foundation for the Alleghenies; Mr. & Mrs. Byron K. Custer, III; Kongsberg Defense; Mr. & Mrs. Richard Meyer; The Richard King Mellon Foundation; and PA Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources.
Stone Bridge Project to be named for the late Rep. John Murtha -- At the April 10 Heritage Preservation Awards, JAHA Executive Director Richard Burkert announced that the Stone Bridge Project will be named for the late Rep. John Murtha, who was one of the evening's honorees. The project will refurbish the facade of the famous Johnstown landmark, and light it with energy-efficient LED fixtures (as shown in the rendering). All but about $120,000 of the project's $1.2 million has been raised. To find out more about this project and how to support it, visit the Stone Bridge Project section of this website, or the project's page on Facebook.
Wagner-Ritter House & Garden opens for the season -- On April 1 the Wagner-Ritter House & Garden re-opened for the season! The house is open from Wednesday-Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday). Hours are 11:00 am-4:00 pm. Welcome!
Johnstown Discovery Network brochure printed -- JAHA is proud to unveil a new brochure promoting the Johnstown Discovery Network. The brochure, which was designed by A to Z Communications of Pittsburgh, includes information on all attractions in the network (Johnstown Flood Museum, Heritage Discovery Center, Johnstown Children's Museum, Wagner-Ritter House & Garden, and Inclined Plane) as well as the National Park Service sites of the Johnstown Flood National Memorial and Allegheny Portage National Railroad. The brochures are available at JAHA museums and will soon be distributed through Pennsylvania welcome centers and other outlets. Public service announcement about Heritage Discovery Center premieres -- A new public service announcement about the Heritage Discovery Center and all its amenities has begun running on WJAC Channel 6 and Atlantic Broadband cable channels. The PSA was produced by Chuck McIlhenny of Chazzbo Media. JAHA extends its sincere thanks to WJAC, Atlantic Broadband, and Chazzbo Media for donating their time and effort to help promote all we have to offer. Click here to see the PSA on YouTube.
Johnstown Flood Museum documentary remastered -- On September 16, a digitally remastered, high-definition version of the Johnstown Flood Museum's Academy Award-winning documentary will be installed, along with a new projection system, enabling a perfect presentation every time! The film is now captioned for the deaf and hearing impaired as well. These vital improvements to the visitor experience were made possible by the Robert S. Waters Charitable Trust and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.
Johnstown Flood Museum featured in AAA World Magazine -- The Johnstown Flood Museum was one of six museums featured in "The Hidden Gems of Pennsylvania Museums," an article in the Sept/Oct issue of AAA World, a bimonthly color magazine published by AAA. The article also mentions other attractions in the Johnstown Discovery Network, including the Wagner-Ritter House & Garden, Heritage Discovery Center, and new Johnstown Children's Museum.
HDC courtyard named for James V. Saly -- The courtyard in at the Heritage Discovery Center was named for the late James V. Saly, a longtime JAHA supporter. A sign reading "James V. Saly Courtyard," along with a photograph of Mr. Saly, was unveiled in a short ceremony attended by Mr. Saly's relatives and other dignitaries on May 31, 2009. The courtyard is used for special events like the Johnstown Film & Wine Festival.
Path of the Flood brochure now available -- A new brochure mapping a trail that follows the path of the 1889 flood is now available! The trail is surfaced by limestone and is intended for hiking and biking. Six wayside exhibits and kiosks give detailed histories of various sites along the way. The Path of the Flood trail is a cooperative effort of the National Park Service (which owns and operates the Johnstown Flood National Memorial in St. Michael, the site of the dam that failed), Cambria County Conservation & Recreation Authority, and JAHA. Support was provided by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the National Park Service Rivers & Trails Program. Copies of the brochure are available at the Johnstown Flood National Memorial and the Johnstown Flood Museum, as well as at the Ehrenfeld Park Trailhead and Staple Bend Tunnel parking lot.
MetLife Foundation supports JAHA capital campaign -- The MetLife Foundation has made a $10,000 donation to the JAHA capital campaign, "Preserving Our Heritage: Revitalizing Our Community," in support of the upcoming Johnstown Children's Museum. JAHA gratefully acknowledges MetLife for its support!
"Press Room" added to www.jaha.org -- JAHA is working to make this Web site a valuable resource to anyone interested in our museums, programs, or themes covered in our museums. Recent additions to the site's content include a revamp of the Press Room section to include a hotlinked archive of media articles about JAHA museums, programs and events.
Help JAHA every time you do an Internet search! -- The Johnstown Area Heritage Association is now a member of GoodSearch, an Internet search engine that makes a direct donation to us for every Internet search our supporters perform! The concept is simple: all search engines are funded through advertising revenue, and GoodSearch directs 50% of its advertising revenue to the charities designated by its users, including JAHA. You can even download a special toolbar so that GoodSearch (which is powered by Yahoo) becomes your default search engine, and profits are automatically directed to JAHA. Visit www.goodsearch.com to get started -- just type "Johnstown Area Heritage Association" in the box that says "Who do you GoodSearch for?" You can bookmark the page, or download the toolbar to have GoodSearch available at the top of your browser window. Thank you!