The five-member Book Committee charged with putting together a hard-bound, photographic history of Maytown for the 2010 celebration of the village's 250th birthday has submitted a manuscript to the publisher on November 2, 2009. The manuscript calls for a book of at least 178 pages with almost 450 photographs. While the publisher has yet to provide feedback concerning the formating of the book, we are confident that the finished product will be something like that. An initial order for 343 books (plus 26 more "patron" complimentary books) has been placed. Now, we are prepared to receive additional orders on a very limited time basis.

If you did not already order a copy of "'Round the Square: A 250th Anniversary History of Maytown , Pennsylvania 1760 - 2010", you have until January 15th, 2010, to place your order. Books ordered at this time will cost $53.00 each ( $50 for the book and $3 for tax ). You can send your check, made out to "Maytown 250 Event", to PO Box 96, Maytown, PA 17550 , from now until January 15th. Books so ordered will have to be picked up in Maytown, at the celebration, April 29 - May 2, 2010 or later. There is no home delivery option available with these books nor will they be numbered or personalized, as those ordered earlier might be.

A limited number of books will probably be on sale at the event, itself, but there is no guarantee that you will be able to buy one, so, if you want to be sure that you have a copy of this superb book, you must act and act now.

The book is really far more than a photo album. It is an illustrated history of our town. The "Forward" section describes why the book was written and how it, and the celebration, came about. The main section of the volume is the history of the town,itself, which contains lots of text and photographs old and new....and which covers the period between 1608, when John Smith first encountered the Susquehannock Indians to the present time. Next, the "Maytown Marvels" section features one (and in some cases two) page biographies of town celebrities...together with photographs. The ten luminaries featured are : Sally Hastings, Simon Cameron, John K. Miller, Miss Rose Shuman, MR Hoffman, Ralph Shireman, Doc Harter, John Scott, Rhoda Kauffman, and Cameron Mitchell. "Maytown Tales" are a collection of over 30 anecdotes and stories from town history that do everything from explaining the origin of the name of "Coffee Goss Road" to detailing the 1967 bank robbery in which our police chief, Marvin Foltz, was killed. Tales go back to the 18th century, with "Romeo and Juliet in Maytown" to "Are We Yokels Or What"---the recent furor about the TMI generators. Finally, 31 churches, businesses, groups, schools, families, and individuals tell their stories in "patron pages" that are not simply commercial ads...but truly mini-histories...complete with photographs!

The book will be hard-bound, 8 1/2 x 11" in size, with a full-color dust-cover featuring a wonderful painting of Maytown's square, on Memorial Day, in 1983, done by the later Lancaster watercolorist, Mary Emma Lefever. Interior photographs are black and white, with the exception of 3 patron page colored photographs.

Should you have a question about the book, please feel free to contact its main author, Bob Lescallette, at 426-1643 or at PO Box 473, Maytown, PA 17550, or via e-mail at cartouche1948@embarqmail.com.