Lady Farm Fundraisers At Risk
By Deborah Fitts
April 2002
GETTYSBURG, Pa.
The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association
(GBPA) has been dealt a blow in its efforts to preserve the
140-acre Daniel Lady Farm near the battlefield. Officials from
Straban Township said the nonprofit would have to stop holding
fundraisers on the property because the farm is zoned for agriculture.
Five times last year GBPA hosted filmmakers from Greystone Communications
on the property, allowing them, for a fee, to use the rural
landscape to film footage for five different episodes of the
History Channel's "Civil War Combat" series.
Kathi Schue, co-chair of the GBPA's Lady Farm Committee, said
if the township bars the association from similar ventures in
the future, GBPA's ability to pay off its mortgage and restore
the historic home will be severely handicapped.
The filming brought GBPA nearly $10,000, according to Schue,
enabling them to begin to reduce the $400,000 mortgage they
incurred in buying the property. The total has been shaved to
$392,000 in recent months, thanks to fundraising efforts.
The farm also attracts runners and walkers every April for Rep.
Harry Readshaw's annual "Monument Challenge," which
raises funds to restore Pennsylvania monuments on the Gettysburg
battlefield.
According to Schue, the township found out about the activities
when the film company built a fake brick house out of plywood
as a set, and it was spotted by passers-by on Hanover Road.
The township supervisors have said that the farm would be limited
to two events a year, by special permit. The supervisors also
suggested keeping the land in farming. But two years of renting
to a soybean-grower, Schue said, brought GBPA only $1000 a year.
The supervisors have also barred GBPA from bringing in reenacting
units, Schue said.
GBPA is hoping to win a special "historical zoning"
category for the farm that will enable them to continue their
activities, Schue said.
"We want to be a good neighbor," said Schue, but GBPA
also wants to be able to save the Lady Farm.
"We're going to have to convince them [the supervisors]
that we want to bring things to the township that are good and
wholesome and educational, and that we won't turn the property
into a shopping mall or parking lot.
"We want to protect this property and bring people here
and teach them history."
Even the Straban supervisors said the association's cleanup
efforts have made a noticeable improvement to the long-neglected
property.
Schue said the effort to secure historical zoning would be a
three-month process. Meanwhile, GBPA has been at work restoring
the farmhouse (see related story).
Schue said contributors to GBPA's "own a piece of the farm"
campaign — now totaling 139 from all over the U.S. —
had kicked in about $8500 by late February. The association
also received a $2500 grant from a Florida foundation for restoration
of four windows in the farmhouse. The 19 windows need to be
removed and rebuilt painstakingly, saving the old wood and glass
wherever possible.
In July 1863 the farm witnessed a cavalry skirmish and was occupied
by the Confederate left flank, while the house was used as a
hospital. Some of the Confederate dead were buried on the farm.
Tax-deductible donations for a "piece" of the farm
start at $25. More information is available from GBPA at 986
Hanover Rd., Gettysburg, PA 17325 or e-mail: Gettysburg@pahouse.net
