Enhancing the Health and Welfare
of Central Bucks County and Surrounding Communities
Previous Events
The VIA is an active organization that relies on continued member-and-community support to hold events that engage our constituents. It offers educational programs at monthly meetings and fundraising events. Consider attending a meeting, enjoying an event or lending a hand to make it all happen. Membership meetings are held monthly October through June. Each meeting begins with an information or entertaining presentation and is then followed with on overview of VIA recent and upcoming activities.
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In the News: The Bucks County Civil War Roundtable and the James-Lorah Memorial Home Museum
March 1 - March 31
The Bucks County Civil War Roundtable and the Hames-Lorah Memorial Home Museum bring the Civil War to Life
For the past several years, the Bucks County Civil War Roundtable and the Village Improvement Association of Doylestown’s James-Lorah Memorial Home Committee have collaborated on a Halloween Civil War wake and tours of Doylestown’s Civil War history.
The event was celebrated in the Roundtable’s November 2023 newsletter, The Light Post:
“A marvel of post-Federal architecture, the 17 room, three-story mansion is the perfect venue for bringing the Civil War generation to life again. It is with this in mind that we team up with the JLMH every October for a Halloween Extravaganza, held jointly at their museum, and at ours, the Bucks County CWRT Library and Museum. With flickering candles and stained glass windows, dimly lit parlors and creaky floorboards, the JLMH is the perfect venue for holding a Victorian style wake, which we celebrate every year in honor of Lt. Ira Gensel, a Doylestown native mortally wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Guests are transfixed by Victorian funeral customs and superstitions, all brought to life by local guides.”
Click HERE or on the picture to view the full article (page 6 of the edition)
The James-Lorah Memorial Home is named in honor of Miss Sarah James, a founding member of the Village Improvement Association of Doylestown, and her sister, Mrs. Martha James Lorah. In her will, Miss James donated the grand mansion and its contents to the VIA as its headquarters. VIA volunteers maintain the home and property and present numerous events and tours during the year.