Published Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1999 The Annapolis, Md., public relations consultant and Sharon native will also be looking for someone or some organization to coordinate his Mercer County Oral History Project.
Since 1995, Shafran has spent his spare time recording remembrances of local residents over the telephone at his Annapolis office.
The project has grown beyond his expectations, Shafran said. More recently, 12 local volunteers have been recording face-to-face interviews, he said.
So far, 175 interviews are stored at the Mercer County Historical Society museum in Mercer.
Getting volunteers is not a problem, Shafran said. He realized the project needed local coordination when one of his tape recorders seemed to walk on its own through three reunions.
About 1 1/2 months ago, one of the project's tape recorders was loaned to the Sharon High School Class of 1949 reunion, where alumni recorded their remembrances of school days, he said. From there, the tape recorder was turned over to the Farrell Area High School Class of 1949 reunion and then to the reunion of former residents of the North Flats in Sharon two weeks ago.
Although pleased at the interest in oral history, Shafran hasn't seen that tape recorder or its tapes, he said.
A coordinator is not needed to record interviews, but to oversee the volunteers and the use of the tape recorders, Shafran said.
The volunteer coordinator could be either a local individual or an organization, such as a service club or historical group, he said.
Mercer County Historical Society has been helpful in the oral history project, but its volunteers are busy with the county's bicentennial activities in the coming year, Shafran said.
When a local coordinator is in place, Shafran will direct the program and continue to record oral histories from his Annapolis office, he said.
The Mercerx County Oral History Project caught the eye of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museums Commission Bureau of Archives and History. A bureau representative will hold a community meeting in the Shenango Valley this fall, Shafran said.
