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On October 19, the Donora Historical Society welcomed 45 people from all over for our 4th annual Cement City Home and Walking Tour. It was our largest group to date, and this year's event was deemed a sellout.

We are expecting to have two tours in 2015, either one in the spring and one in the fall, or two in the fall. If you have any questions about Cement City or one of our tours please consult our website and click the "Cement City" tab, or call or email the historical society. If you are interested in one of next year's tours or would like to schedule a private tour for your group, please call or email the historical society and we will add your contact information to our list.

In collaboration with the California University of PA and the Heinz History Center, we held our 2nd annual Environmental Conference on Wednesday, October 29at the Donora Borough Building. The conference was a hands-on workshop and technology was supplied by Cal U and the Heinz History Center. Over 130 students and teachers from middle and high schools around the Mon Valley as well as interested citizens were in attendance.

The inspiration for this year's conference was a poem written in 1950, by a 21-year-old German man named Guenter Kunert who wrote a poem about the 1948 Smog titled "The Song of a Small Town." For him, what took place in Donora in 1948 paralleled his struggles of surviving WWII as a young German-Jew and what was taking shape politically in Berlin at that time. Later, this poem was translated by Penn State University languages professor Dr. Manfred Keune and presented to the Donora Historical Society, and Guenter Kunert would go on to become one of Germany's greatest contemporary writers.

On September 13, as part of the Heinz History Center Affiliate Ambassador's Series, Smog Museum curator Brian Charlton presented "Donora and the 1948 Air Quality Crisis" at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. The Donora Historical Society is a Heinz History Center Affiliate member. The subject matter of the presentation caught the attention of C-SPAN and they were on-hand to film. You can view Charlton's presentation by consulting our website and click on the "1948 Smog" tab. Charlton is expected to speak again at the Heinz History Center some time in 2015 on Stan "The Man" Musial.

The rotating exhibit at the Smog Museum will feature a comprehensive display to honor Donora war veterans for Veterans Day. If you like military artifacts, you will appreciate this exhibit.

There will be no formal presentation scheduled for Monday, December 1, as we will have our annual Christmas dinner at Campa's Restaurant in Donora. If you would like to attend, please contact the Historical Society. Each pays for their own dinner.

If you have additional questions about the subjects mentioned above, the society, museum, meetings or possibly volunteering, feel free to stop by or email us at DonoraHistoricalSociety@gmail.com or by calling 724-823-0364 and leaving a message. Or visit us on the web at www.DonoraHistoricalSociety.org.

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