Community Learning

Donna Selfridge Spangler will lead a workshop to teach the historic art of the fraktur, a Pennsylvania German tradition to decorate documents such as birth or marriage certificates. Using pens, ink and watercolors, and their choice of laid or woven paper, both used during the time period of fraktur, participants will learn basic fraktur lettering and what […]

First program in the 3-part lecture series, Penn’s Woods Over Time. Presented by Dr. David Foster, Professor of Biology & Environmental Science, Messiah College (photo). A local author and forager, Foster spent over a year and a half living outside, and has studied the plants of the world from Pennsylvania to Washington state, Alaska, Florida and the desert […]

Location Change: We have moved this popular series to a larger venue: Social Room of the Church of the Apostles, 336 Barnett Avenue, Waynesboro, Pa.  Second program in the 3-part lecture series, Penn’s Woods Over Time. Presented by Dr. Beth Brantley, Associate Teaching Professor of Forestry, Mont Alto Campus Penn State University, where she teaches plant […]

Location Change: We have moved this popular series to a larger venue: Social Room of the Church of the Apostles, 336 Barnett Avenue, Waynesboro, Pa.  Final program in the 3-part lecture series, Penn’s Woods Over Time. Presented by Dr. Steve Jasinski, Curator of Paleontology and Geology, State Museum of Pennsylvania. Was Tyrannosaurus rex roaming Pennsylvanian […]

Geologist Jeri Jones In partnership with the Franklin Co. Rock & Mineral Club, geologist Jeri Jones presents a fun and educational program. There have been many reports of gold found in southeastern Pennsylvania and Maryland, where commercial mines operated into the 1940s. Also, learn how fossils are formed and how to find them. Jones will […]

Lane Whigham with an Eastern Hellbender, a species of salamander that live in Pennsylvania waterways. Find out “What’s Up With the Chesapeake Bay?” during a free program on Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m. in the visitors center at Renfrew Park. The program is presented by Renfrew Institute in partnership with the Antietam Watershed Association […]

Wild, wonderful West Virginia will be the destination of this year's fossil-hunting field trip. Renfrew Institute member discount: $5 per seat. Geologist Jeri Jones will lead the “Almost Heaven Fossil Trip” on Saturday, May 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sponsored by Renfrew Institute in partnership with the Franklin County Rock & Mineral Club, […]

As reports of increasing numbers of snowy owl sightings emerged across Pennsylvania and other northern states in the winter of 2013–14, a team of researchers gathered to learn more about these owls, calling their effort Project SNOWstorm. Steve Huy is a co-founder of Project SNOWstorm, and co-director of Project Owlnet, a long term study of saw-whet […]

NEW DATE: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13 This winter excursion, led by former Renfrew Institute staff member and naturalist, Lori Schlosser, is for participants aged 15 and up. The activity is free (donations accepted), but registration is required and limited to 60. Spaces fill up quickly for this popular event, so anyone wishing to join the walk […]

Dr. Lawrence Marschall, Professor of Physics Emeritus, Gettysburg College, discusses what astronomical conditions can affect the climate of a planet. He asks, “How do we know that current climate change is not caused by astronomical changes?” Come to this free program to learn more about this “hot topic.” Night sky viewing after the program, weather […]

Presented by Roger Swartz, Author, Educator & Historian and Deborah ‘Turtle’ Swartz, Native American Living Historian & Authority An illustrated overview of the history and way of life of Pennsylvania’s Native Americans will be presented. Covering the period from circa 1525 through 1800, the Swartzes will talk about the major groups of Native Americans living […]