FORTY FORT – It may seem absurd to pay money for a single stone. But what if it were part of a local 200-year-old structure?

Members of the Forty Fort Meeting House Preservation Committee never thought of selling stones from the building’s original foundation. But when a man came in and asked to buy one, he sparked the idea to market the stones to raise money for the meeting house.

“The sale happened purely by accident,” said Lillian Smith, chairperson of the Forty Fort Meeting House Preservation Committee. “Someone came in and asked Mr. Packard (project manager) if he could buy a stone. He gave us $25 and that is the price we decided on for the sale.”

Since original plans to renovate the building did not include putting in a new foundation, costs for repairs to the building are higher than previously anticipated. Smith says that because there will be a new foundation, if the stones were to be used they would protrude onto the sidewalk. Selling them will not only give people a piece of history, but will provide some much-needed money to fix the building. “There are people who are collectors of this type of thing and we want to reach them and give them that opportunity,” said Smith.

Sue (Dantona) Jolley of Larksville is eager to purchase one of the stones. “I think Forty Fort is a town that has a lot of community spirit,” Jolley said.. “The preservation of the area near the cemetery and the meeting house is important.”

Jolley grew up in Forty Fort just two-and-a-half blocks from the Forty Fort Meeting House. She remembers riding her bike as a child near the house, on the levee and through the cemetery. In 1976, Jolley’s family volunteered to give tours of the meeting house as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebration. Thirty-one years later, Jolley is now a member of the meeting house bicentennial committee and is helping with the gala dinner scheduled for this fall.

“I think it’s a really important thing to show our kids that the valley has a very rich history and that it needs to be preserved,” said Jolley.

Smith can’t say for sure how many stones are for sale, but added that work crews will retrieve as many from the excavation as possible. Some stones are also too large for people to take home unless they bring a truck, she says. Vance Packard, project manager and member of the preservation committee, says the stones range from 20 to 200 pounds. Though Smith is not exactly sure when the sale will end, she suspects it will be over by the conclusion of the meeting house’s bicentennial celebration in early October.

To purchase a stone

Call Lydia Hirner at the Forty Fort Cemetery Association at 287-5214 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. (or click here)

©The Times Leader 2007

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