Pienpack Presentations

The Pienpack Company offers a number of presentations to historical, church, and civic groups for those with a general interest in the subject matter. The most popular are the slide and PowerPoint programs that run about forty-five to fifty minutes in length (unless otherwise noted) and can include a question and answer segment following the presentation. The presenter, Peter Osborne, brings all of the equipment required to conduct the program unless the location is unusual in its configuration. Presentations have been made to as few as fifteen people and as many as three hundred. To learn more about fees for the programs please call 845-551-0417. Payment is due on the day of the program.The following programs are currently available

Theodore Roosevelt: The Champion Of The Strenuous Life

Theodore Roosevelt was one of our nation’s most important presidents (1901-1909) in the twentieth century. TR, as he was known, was “The Conservation President,” setting aside millions of acres of land for future generations to enjoy. Roosevelt also believed that the federal government needed to be a powerful counter balance to the large and powerful corporations that were being created at the time. He was beloved by many of his fellow citizens until his death in 1919.

Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of Courage

This PowerPoint program chronicles the life of one of the twentieth century’s most important women. She was an ardent supporter of the disenfranchised, civil rights, the poor and an able political partner of her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She was the author of the United Nations Statement of Universal Human Rights, a document she considered to be one of her most important contributions. She wrote more than twenty books and was the author of the daily newspaper column called My Day.

Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny

This PowerPoint program looks at the life of one of the twentieth century’s most important leaders. He led America through the Depression and then through World War II, the greatest conflagration that the world has ever seen. His influence on the twentieth century was profound and still impacts each of us even to this day, sixty-three years after his death. His policies provide a basis for how our country might address its serious economic problems today.

We Can Take It: The Roosevelt Tree Army 1933-1941

This PowerPoint program explores the rich legacy left by the Civilian Conservation Corps across the country. The CCC boys built much of the existing landscape in many parks, forests and wildlife refuge areas including dams, roads, vistas, lakes and buildings. The CCC was one of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s passions and among his New Deal’s most notable successes. It provided much needed employment for millions of unemployed young men and was the most important conservation work project ever undertaken in America’s parks and forests.

Lewis and Clark and Me

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803–1806), headed by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, was the first American overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back. In 2008, the presenter spent twelve weeks following the trail of the most famous expedition in U.S. history. Find out what happened to Lewis and Clark during the expedition, and how the Corps of Discovery is interpreted today. This presentation is made by a costumed historian and includes a PowerPoint presentation with handouts and other visual aids.

An Evening with the Journals of Lewis and Clark

This program explores the journals which Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark wrote during their epic journey with readings by the presenter along with photographs of the scenes described. Excerpts are read while images from the locations are displayed. This presentation is made by a costumed historian and includes a PowerPoint presentation with handouts and other visual aids.

While New Jersey Slept, New York Was Wide Awake

The program explores the various issues surrounding the most significant boundary dispute in colonial America. It began in 1664 between the colonies of East and West Jersey and New York and was not finally resolved until 1884. Additional parts of boundary demarcation were not resolved until a Supreme Court decision in 2000. The program includes a handout of maps that demonstrate the complicated nature of the dispute.

Great Graves

This PowerPoint program explores the various styles of graveyard and cemetery art from the 1700s to the present day. Examples of many styles are drawn from cemeteries throughout the region. This program will encourage the viewer to visit cemeteries and graveyards for years to come. The program also includes a handout of material related to cemeteries, epitaphs, and preservation.

The Silent Cities: Graveyards, Churchyards and Cemeteries

This program reveals the story of how graveyards and cemeteries developed in America beginning with simple family plots on farms to the elaborately designed cemeteries. Examples of the various stages of development are shown in this Power Point program which includes a handout of material related to cemeteries, epitaphs, and preservation.

So Many Brave Men: A History of the Battle at Minisink Ford

For the first time in more than thirty years a new history has been written about the only Revolutionary War battle to take place in the Upper Delaware River valley. This new book, by Mark Hendrickson, Jon Inners and Peter Osborne, reveals new archival material that has been discovered. This PowerPoint presentation explores the history of the battle and the importance of it on the lives of the settlers who lived in the valley during the Revolutionary War.

Perseverance and Vigilance: The History of the Decker Stone House

The Fort Decker Museum of History, owned by the Minisink Valley Historical Society, is a stone house that is one of the most historic buildings in Port Jervis and the surrounding area. It was built by a Revolutionary War patriot, Lt. Martinus Decker, burned by Tory Mohawk Joseph Brant in 1779 and then used as a canal hotel during the 1820s. It served as a private residence until 1958 and it remained vacant until the Society purchased it in 1970. This PowerPoint presentation takes the viewer through its historic journey from a French and Indian War trading post to a Revolutionary War fortification to its present use as a museum with exhibits and eighteenth century cooking demonstrations.

The Blessings of Liberty: Celebrating the Declaration of Independence

This program reveals the history of the events leading up to the passage of the Resolution for Independence as the Declaration was then called. The Declaration of Independence is then read in its entirety. This presentation is made by a costumed historian and includes a handout, and other visual aids.

When Bluestone Was King

This program explores the history of the bluestone industry in the Delaware River Valley region and how it is making a remarkable comeback in the twenty-first century. Bluestone is a greyish-blue sandstone quarried in New York and Pennsylvania that has been used for construction projects around the country since the early nineteenth century. The history of mining techniques is also illustrated.