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It’s “Staycation Destinations” on Family Life

A World War II soldier carried art supplies with him onto battlefields. When he could, he painted to find balance amid the violence around him. After his return home in western New York, Larry Griffis Jr. felt a tug between his budding career running a family business, and fulfilling his inner calling to be an artist. In this Family Life News Feature, you will hear how the choice he made led to an outdoor sculpture museum near East Otto, New York.

The Griffis Sculpture Park offers a unique collection of large steel sculptures, by Griffis and other nationally- and internationally-renown artists. As the founder’s granddaughter Nila Griffis Lampman tells us, this is an incredibly opportune day trip for anyone, but especially for families with young children. Unlike many art museums where young children might be bored (“don’t run…”, “don’t touch…”) this sculpture park encourages young guests to climb on giant animal sculptures and more. It’s all outdoors, with room to walk, play and picnic. Hiking trails connect the 250+ pieces throughout the 450-acre park.

Lampman tells the fascinating story of her grandfather’s life journey, artistic discoveries, and his philosophy on making the results of creative endeavors accessible to children.

Griffis Sculpture Park is in Cattaraugus County, about halfway between Buffalo and Salamanca on Route 219. (The park’s annual Summer Festival is Sunday afternoon, August 20, 2023. Night Lights happen selected weekends in September and October)

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“Staycation Destinations” is our weekly summer series, broadcast each Friday at noon on the radio and online, then posted to our News Podcasts page. Each offers a radio tour of a unique site in Pennsylvania or New York, close to home, relatively inexpensive, and good for a potential day trip or longer visit.

Each weekend, we also give you a “Sidetrip Suggestion” another place in our two states which stands out in a unique, quirky, or enlivening way.

Eckley Miners’ Village at Weatherly, Pennsylvania, offers a free walking tour (dawn to dusk) where you can stroll into the 19th Century at what was said to the largest concentration of anthracite coal in the world. Historic buildings show what a company town of the era looked like. A state commission oversees the attraction, and a museum and guided tours are scheduled. This is about 25 miles south of Wilkes-Barre, not far from the I-80 / I-81 interchange.

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Family Life’s “Staycation Destinations” for Summer 2023

“Ska-Nonh” translates into English, roughly, as “peace and wellness” or “I am glad it is well with you.”

That Native American vocabulary — and philosophy — gave the name to the Ska-nonh Great Law of Peace Center along the shore of Onandaga Lake in central New York. The Skanonh Center is a living museum which celebrates the culture, history and contributions of multiple nations which found unity they share as the Haudenosaunee People.

The Center is a project of the Onandaga Historical Association. Executive Director Lisa Moore offers us an overview of the Haudenosaunee stories, and she provides details of what visitors can experience.

• “The things we have a tendency to overlook take on a new level of importance. In Haudenosaunee tradition, being grateful and giving thanks is a regular practice in both everyday life and at special occasions. The Thanksgiving Address, or “The Words that Come Before All Else,” is delivered in Native Haudenosaunee languages at both the beginning and the end of social gatherings, celebrations, and council meetings; and it is recited each morning at the beginning of the school day.”

The Ska-nonh Center is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, and is located on the Onondaga Lake Parkway at Liverpool, northwest of Syracuse. Details and schedules are here.

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This week’s Side Trip Suggestion: 

The “Shoe House” in Yorklyn, PA.

“There was an old woman, who lived in….”

You probably already heard about that one, but elsewhere, an old businessman lived and worked in a retail-store shoe. “Colonel” Mahlon Haines became a millionaire selling shoes, but in the late 1940s at age 73, he decided to spend some of his money to build a 48-foot* shoe.  He sold work boots for $1.98 there. The Shoe House became famous, as Haines offered the shoe as a free honeymoon suite (with a butler and maid) to any couple who got married in town.  You can see the outside, but tours are no longer available — unless you arrange to be a paying customer. The Shoe House (in south central Pennsylvania) has become an expensive vacation rental home.

* (that’s a measurement, not a count)

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 Family Life’s “Staycation Destinations” for Summer 2023

Tucked into the Finger Lakes region of New York is the Women’s Rights National Historical Park. It’s so appropriate that this launching point of a major movement in American culture is this week’s “Staycation Destination”, because this week is the 175th anniversary which made Seneca Falls a historic site.

On July 19-20, 1848, more than 300 people gathered at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel for a first-of-its-kind Women’s Rights Convention. The event resulted in a “Declaration of Sentiments”, a document which paralleled the Declaration of Independence of 72 years earlier and which now is recognized as the founding statement of the women’s rights movement which eventually would spread through the nation and the world. The declaration was signed by 100 women and men.

Park Ranger Rebecca Weaver gives us the inspiring stories of that Convention which predates the Civil War, details of the 175th anniversary celebration there and throughout the Seneca Falls community (July 21-23, 2023), and an inviting glimpse into what the Park offers for its visitors year-round.

During scheduled programs, reenactors portray Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and other leaders of the movement. As part of the National Park Service, the Women’s Rights Park charges no admission fees, and it is open 362 days a year.

Seneca Falls is in the Finger Lakes region, near a midpoint between Syracuse and Rochester.

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This week’s Side Trip Suggestion: 

Sculptures made of old metal highway signs.

Go a mile or so east of the Meadville exit off I-79 in western Pennsylvania, and you will see a wide-ranging quarter mile of unique art. Sculptures and panoramas at the PENNDOT facility along the north side of Highway 322 have been made from out-of-service reflective metal road signs. See if you (and your travel companions) can find anything from hot air balloons, to a Ferris Wheel, to a singing cowboy, to 3-D flower gardens. (Park at a safe place nearby, and walk along the display called “Read Between the Signs”.)

[New this summer, each of our “Staycation Destinations” podcast posts will also describe one additional tourist site in the Family Life listening area. It could be a quirky attraction, a new activity, or something else that you may discover is worth seeking out.]