Hempfield closed out a year of celebrations surrounding its 250th anniversary at a gala Thursday night.

About 200 township residents of all ages attended the event, held at Live Casino Pittsburgh’s venue space at Westmoreland Mall.

“We’re recognizing Hempfield Township as a part of the founding of Westmoreland County 250 years ago — that we certainly have been the crossroads of transportation through Westmoreland into the expansion of the United States in the west,” said township Supervisor Doug Weimer.

The gala featured a presentation of the township’s time capsule items, music by local country artist Gary Pratt, opening remarks from the Arthur St. Clair Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and invocation by Caroline Clifford — pastor for Harrold Zion Lutheran Church, one of the township’s oldest churches.

The casino venue space was chosen for the event to reflect on the township’s past while looking toward the future, Weimer said. The Westmoreland Mall has become a “town center” for Hempfield residents and the casino will continue to shape the township in years to come, he added.

The Hempfield 250 planning committee, which has organized events surrounding the anniversary over the past year, also organized a historical display.

“We’re bringing everything together,” Weimer said of hosting the gala in the mall.

The display, located on the first floor of the mall in front of the Joseph Jacob Jewelers store, will stay up until Oct. 26. It features items donated by Hempfield residents to the Baltzer Meyer Historical Society — including a model of Fort Allen, between Baltzer Meyer Road and Walton Tea Room Road, said historical society Advisory Director Tom Harrold.

The display also features an 1800s German Bible, a desk and books used in Hempfield schools between the 1780s and 1930s and a stove from around 1880, Harrold said.

“We’re quite proud to be able to put those pieces (on display),” Harrold said.

Funds benefit Hempfield parks

The gala was expected to raise more than $10,000 for the township’s Parks and Recreation Department, Weimer said, including the future Weatherwood Community Park.

The township has not yet broken ground on the park, but it is slated for about 14 acres of land along Route 30 near Mt. Pleasant Road. A plan for the park will be presented at the township’s meeting Monday, Parks and Recreation Director Marissa Haynes said.

“It’s just more funds to help support the parks and the community,” Haynes said. “That could be a small playground. That could be support throughout the park. It could be helping with our programs. It could be for some extra benches, some extra trees.”

Longtime Parks and Recreation employee Connie Madarish was honored with an award at the gala. She dedicated the award to her father, whose volunteer work in Yukon inspired her to “follow in his footsteps.”

Madarish of Greensburg has done preschool programming for the department for about 25 years, including Music Makers — a music class for ages 1 through 3 — and Super Scientist — a science class for ages 4 through 6.

The children Madarish has met have kept her coming back to the job.

“It’s just a lot of fun and rewarding working with those little ones, because everything is new to them,” Madarish said. “If you asked me where I want to be … it would honestly be working with the kids up there.”

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