OKTOBERFEST 2008 - October 10 & 11
It is time for another OGSGS Oktoberfest! We have a program that should interest you, and important news about our Society. Also, this year our meeting will include a very special treat, a tour of one of Orangeburg County’s most beautiful and historic old homes, the Dantzler Plantation.
First, we have an opportunity that we hope will encourage you to bring your friends and family to become members of OGSGS. New members who join OGSGS with their Oktoberfest registration will receive a full day for free! This is a $15 gift to welcome newcomers to our society.
Our speaker on Friday is evening is J. R. Fennell, Director of the Lexington County Museum. The Lexington County Museum emphasizes the early history and lifestyle of Swiss and German settlers in South Carolina. Saxe-Gotha Township, a sister township of our own Orangeburgh Township, was located in modern Lexington County. The Lexington County Museum is an important resource for anyone interested in the Swiss and German settlers of South Carolina.
On Saturday morning we’ll begin with our business meeting, followed by discussion of a very important cooperative initiative. OGSGS possesses collections of archival documents and published materials that have been housed in recent years at the Southern Methodist College Library. We very much appreciate the College’s help, but it has become clear that the collections would be more useful to researchers at the Salley Archives of the Orangeburg County Historical Society. Therefore the boards of the two societies are negotiating an agreement for donation of OGSGS collections to OCHS. More details will be provided at the meeting. We hope that this is the beginning of an era of productive cooperation between the two societies.
We are also very fortunate to have Brent Holcomb, genealogist and publisher of many critically important volumes of South Carolina records, as a speaker on Saturday morning. Karl Becker will tell us about recent research on the Connor family and their relatives. A representative of the Barnwell County Historical Society will tell us about their exciting project, Salkehatchie Stew, in which members collect family stories so that they can be preserved forever. We hope this will inspire OGSGS members to collect and preserve their own family histories.
At lunch we will hear from Elizabeth Johnson, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer, on the National Register of Historic Places and Orangeburg County. The Register is an important, but often misunderstood, tool for preserving our historic heritage and making it known to others. We will hear about Orangeburg sites that are already listed on the Register, about how sites are listed, and about the implications of Register listings. After lunch we will have time for family tables from 1:45 to 3:00 PM.
And finally, DeeDee and Mike Kullenberg have generously agreed to open their home to us for a tour! Their home is the Dantzler Plantation, a National Register of Historic Places property. It was built around 1846 by Dr. Lewis Dantzler and is a beautiful example of the best of Orangeburg County’s history and architecture! Directions will be provided at the meeting, and car pooling will be encouraged.
Please plan to attend, and bring your friends and family!
Lynn Teague, President, OGSGS
| 
| 