Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association

Founded, 1959 -- The nation’s oldest Civil War battlefield preservation organization

P.O. Box 4087, Gettysburg, PA 17325

GBPA artifacts show was chock-full!

(July 6, Gettysburg) – The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association depends on its annual Artifacts and Collectibles Show as its major fundraiser, and June’s 43rd annual show came through again.

The largest show yet, with exhibitors from all over the nation, the number of display tables approached 400. Items for sale ranged from a buck to more than $100,000.

Attendance was down a bit from last year. GBPA President Barb Mowery blames it on the weather.

“The last few shows, we were helped by either torrential rain or blistering heat,” said Mowery. “This year, the weather was beautiful for outdoor activities, so, for some people, we came in second.”

Still, according to GBPA Board of Directors member Brendan Synnamon, the show again raised more than $20,000, as it has every year for the last decade.

“This year's show included over a dozen educational displays from personal collections,” said Synnamon. The topics ranged from Admiral Farragut to specific regiments to individual battles.”

The show’s organizer, Brendan’s father, Bill Synnamon, has been at the helm during those 10 years, bringing in more than a quarter-million dollars for the GBPA. The elder Synnamon is also a GBPA board member.

The vast majority of the funds raised go to maintenance and improvements at the restored Historic Daniel Lady Farm. The 145-acre farm on Hanover Road anchored the left flank of the Army of Northern Virginia and the initiation of the Confederate attack on Culp’s Hill.

The house and barn served as a field hospital for wounded and dying Confederate soldiers. Bloodstains still mark the floors of the house.

In addition to supporting the GBPA’s efforts, this year’s show provided a boost to the organization’s campaign to avert a proposed roadway extension designed to place big box stores and other commercial development on open land that was directly involved in the battle and its aftermath.

Several hundred exhibitors and attendees at the collectibles show signed the GBPA petition that calls on the Straban Township Board of Supervisor to reject the plan.

A portion of the proposed project property is adjacent to the Daniel Lady Farm. The plan includes extension of Camp Letterman Drive extension that would bring the road just 25 feet from a stretch of the Lady Farm’s northern property line.

“We didn’t even have to push the petition that much. People sought it out. They’re incensed at such disregard for the Gettysburg battlefield, Mowery said.

The 44th annual Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association Artifact and Collectibles Show will take place on June 24 & 25, 2017.

The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association website is www.gbpa.org.

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Formed in 1959, the GBPA is the nation’s oldest Civil War battlefield preservation organization. It has secured hundreds of acres of privately-owned battlefield land that is now part of the Gettysburg National Military Park.

It owns and operates the Historic Daniel Lady Farm, including the fully-restored farmhouse and barn. The GBPA sponsors a Boy Scout Venture Crew providing Civil War field music and dozens of other scouting units camp at the farm.