Vestal Man Plays Crucial Role in Fighting "Second Battle of Gettysburg"

Harrisburg - A Vestal man is credited by a Pennsylvania lawmaker for providing invaluable assistance to his campaign to restore and preserve the monuments on the historic battleground at Gettysburg.

State Rep. Harry Readshaw, D-Allegheny, said Tim Traver of Vestal, a Civil War re-enactor and American history enthusiast, provided crucial help in getting word of the preservation campaign out on the Internet.

Readshaw is the prime sponsor of a bill (H.B. 1863) in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives that would create a state panel to develop and implement a permanent program to provide for repairs and preservation of Pennsylvania's 111 monuments and markers in the Gettysburg National Military Park in Adams County, located in south central Pennsylvania.

Early in the effort, Readshaw's office created a page on the Internet to promote the preservation effort.

Readshaw said Traver contacted his office via e-mail, offering to contact Civil War organizations and interested individuals who have Web sites and ask them to provide instant links to the Gettysburg preservation page.

"Within two days after Tim contacted us, the readership of our Web page jumped dramatically," said Readshaw. "We went from a couple of 'hits' per day to well over a dozen, sometimes more than two dozen.

"Correspondingly, the calls, letters, and e-mail from across the nation have greatly increased, too."

Virtually all of the more than 1,300 monuments and markers at Gettysburg were built through the efforts of Civil War veterans and the states from which they came. New York State has more than 80 on the battle field, second only to Pennsylvania.

In addition to spearheading the effort in Pennsylvania, Readshaw has written the governors of all the states with monuments in the park to establish similar programs.

States that have expressed interest thus far include New York, Virginia, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Florida, Connecticut, Maine, and Tennessee. Maryland and Delaware already have established programs for their monuments on Civil War battlefields.

Readshaw said he has received information from House majority leaders and Gov. Tom Ridge that they will be supporting enactment of his Gettysburg legislation.

A ceremony to mark the formal introduction of the bill will take place at noon on October 23 in the Rotunda of the Main Capitol Building in Harrisburg.

Hundreds of supporters are expected to attend.

"I hop Tim Traver will be among them," Readshaw said. "I've sent him a personal invitation."

The Web site for the Gettysburg monuments project is----- http://members.aol.com/Readshaw/4score.htm, though work is underway to move it to a new location, http://www.fourscore.com. E-mail can be sent to Rep. Readshaw at Readshaw@aol.com.