Mercer Co. veteran joins Library of Congress project

HERMITAGE, Pa. -- William T. Evans of Shadyside Drive will be the first Mercer County resident to present the story of his World War II service to the Library of Congress Veterans Oral History Project.
Evans, a former manager of the Shenango Valley Water Co. and a consultant to its successor, Consumers Pennsylvania Water Co., kept a diary of his Army service and has agreed to tape-record it for the Library of Congress project.
A copy of his audiotape will also be kept in the Joe Shafran Oral History Project.
Shafran, a Sharon native and former local radio and television broadcaster, launched the local project several years ago to record Mercer County's oral history. Its recordings are housed at the Mercer County Historical Society in Mercer.
Evans will read his diary at 1 p.m. Thursday in the community room of Holy Cross Church at 950 Maple Drive.
Ginny Shank, a director of the Joe Shafran Oral History Project, will record Evans. Laura Polo of the Crawford County Library System, the regional representative of the Library of Congress project, will be on hand.
The Library of Congress project coincides with the building of a World War II veterans memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It will be dedicated on Memorial Day 2004.