A Youngstown original inspires fundraiser

By Ashley Luthern | December 4, 2011 at 12:01a.m.

Wendell August Forge

The Mahoning Valley Historical Society has teamed up with Wendell August Forge.

Fleming, one of 110 employees at Wendell August Forge, spends his days expertly hammering metal, imprinting intricate designs on everything from holiday ornaments to platters.

He crafts each piece one at a time, following it from repousse — hammering to create a raised design — to the final polish.

Fleming and Wendell August President Will Knecht maintain that each product is unique. Only one is helping to preserve the history of the region the forge calls home.

Fleming is one of a few craftsmen who make Harry Burt Donor Bars, plaques that are sold to raise money for the Mahoning Valley Historical Society.

The metal plaques are imprinted with an ice cream bar on a stick and will be

displayed at the new Mahoning Valley Historical Center, 325 W. Federal St. in Youngstown, which was once the home of Harry Burt’s Good Humor ice cream and confectionery shop.

“We’re very proud of Youngstown and Good Humor, and Harry Burt is a great symbol of the Mahoning Valley because his business was in Youngstown, and he was from Bazetta in Trumbull County,” Cheryl Lewis, campaign director for the historical society.

The society already has raised $4.4 million of its $6 million capital campaign and it would like to raise $100,000 through the sale of the Harry Burt Donor Bars, which are engraved with donors’ names, Lewis said.

“We also hope people consider getting others a donor bar for Christmas. They’ll forever be a part of the historical center,” she said.

The center is slated to open next fall. Signs throughout the building will tell the story of Harry Burt and James Ross, founder of Ross Radio, which was housed in the West Federal Street building after Burt’s company left, said H.

William Lawson, executive director of the historical society.

Lawson said the partnership with Wendell August began in 2007 and seemed like a natural fit.

Knecht agreed, calling the arrangement a “unique marriage.”

“Our family has deep, deep roots in the Mahoning Valley, and we absolutely love the area. We’re proud to be preserving the great history of the Valley,” he said.

Wendell August was founded in 1923 in Brockway, Pa. by Wendell McMinn August and moved to Grove City in 1932. In 1978, F.W. “Bill” Knecht, III acquired the company from Wendell’s son, Robert August.

A fire in March 2010 destroyed the flagship store in Grove City and now the forge is temporarily lodged in an industrial complex on Lincoln Avenue. The site was operating less than two weeks after the fire.

As with the historical society, Wendell August hopes to have a new home in 2012, Knecht said.

Inside the shop, reminders of the fire remain. The wood base of anvil used by Fleming is now black, charred by the flames.

As Fleming raises his hammer to finish framing the donor bar, Knecht eyes the piece of copper.

“It’s like original artwork like an oil painting and this is a print. The creation of the die is the artistry and the hammering is the craftsmanship,” Knecht said.

Not only are the donor bars works of art, he said, they will be a part of history.

“It’s fitting that this is about the heritage of the Mahoning Valley because we’re all about heritage. We’re the stewards of the American history of craftsmanship. We’re about preserving the core of Mahoning Valley history,” Knecht said.