Planning a Reception

Many of you may think that once the planning for the exhibit is finished, there’s no more planning to do.  If you believe that to be true,  you are, in the kindest way possible, wrong!  There are other plans to make for an exhibit opening, the  most important being the exhibit reception.

I enjoy a good party complete with snacks and good company, but what makes a good party great is the addition of some kind of entertainment.  In the case of an exhibit reception, the exhibit itself is the entertainment to go along with the friends and snacks.  Traditionally with an exhibit reception, guests gather in and around the exhibit, enjoy the exhibit, talk with people who created or had a hand in the exhibit, and make comments about the exhibit with their friends or strangers, all while enjoying plates of themed refreshments and beverages.  Sometimes, there is a short presentation to go along with the socializing, but that is not required.  

For the reception for “From Indigenous Tribes to Colonial Revolutionaries,” I invited my friends from the reenactment group IBWCP or Proctor’s Militia (a Revolutionary War group located out of Hanna’s Town that represents one of the original militia units of Westmoreland County) to add ambience to the reception.  I feel that the addition of these reenactors drew people to the reception who otherwise may have passed it by.  However, it seems that a few of the guests who attended were hoping for a reenactment or some other kind of program to accompany the exhibit, and that is something that had not been part of the original plan.  Again, traditionally, an exhibit reception is a simple social gathering around a new display or exhibit and doesn’t necessarily need to include a program.  Yet I can understand how a short program would have added further to guests’ understanding of the exhibit itself, and more to the point, the importance of this community to the patriot’s success in the Revolutionary War.

All that said, while it is crunch time now for installation of our next exhibit, “Building a Nation, Building a County,” the final plans need to be made for the organization of the exhibit reception.  While there will not be a lengthy “program” to accompany the exhibit, the committee is trying to secure reenactors to portray the original three trustees who were responsible for the creation of Indiana County.  This would be a short presentation on their role in the formation of the county and what they were able to accomplish.  If we are not able to secure these individuals, rest assured that the exhibit itself will speak volumes on how the county was formed and what the early residents were able to build.  

What about the snacks, you may ask?  Well, the theme for the first exhibit was the things that a frontier family would have had access to.  If you were able to attend that reception, you would have been privy to bread, cheese, pickles, and apples.  The theme for the upcoming reception is simply “tavern fare.”  Why?  Because inns and taverns played a very important role in the formation of the county. They served as meeting places and places of business as they were usually the first and larger buildings in a town.  What is included in tavern fare?  You will likely see bread again, but there were other foods that tavern owners would have had available that the local housewife likely would not have.

The exhibit reception for “Building a Nation, Building a County” will be held on Friday, August 21st, 2026, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Armory.  Feel free to visit for a few minutes or stay the entire two hours.  Either way it will be entertaining and educational, and you will be able to socialize with old friends and new while you support your local Historical Society.  Hope to see you there!