New museum focusing on the people of Gettysburg opens this weekend

• Scott LaMar
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  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.
  
  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of The Spark program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.
  
  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program, Smart Talk.
  
  In addition to his on-air duties, LaMar has moderated political candidate debates, including those for candidates running for Pennsylvania governor and the U.S. Senate and was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
  
  LaMar often emcees or moderates local events and has gone as far as California to emcee a national event.
  
  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. He has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
  
  LaMar and The Spark have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.
  
  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

Airdate: April 12th, 2023

 

The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the Civil War.

There are many museums and memorials in Gettysburg telling the story of the battle itself and especially the military aspects of what happened on July 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd, 1863.

A new museum opens April 15 and 16 that doesn’t focus on the battle, but rather on Gettysburg’s history and especially the people of Gettysburg.

It’s called Beyond the Battle.

The museum has unique exhibits, including an interactive room of what a family lived through during the battle and a rare actual program from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Andrew Dalton, Executive Director of the Adams County Historical Society was interviewed on The Spark Wednesday and pointed out the museum is more about people than the battle,” I think those stories are even more gripping, the human interest stories. And increasingly, we’ve heard from visitors and from local residents that there’s this missing piece in Gettysburg, and that is what was it like for these people and and how did they deal with these life or death decisions where they had to, as the battles approaching, decide, should we stay in the basement and weather the storm of what’s to come? Should we try to to leave and get out? Is there enough time? Where do we go? And then you have the on top of that, the stories of African-Americans who lived here, who are dealing with a whole different set of factors. Are they going to be captured by the Confederates, taken South into slavery? Will they survive the battle? There’s all these layers to the story. And so we’re kind of presenting a multidimensional look at Gettysburg that hasn’t really been explored in detail before.”

Filmmaker Jake Boritt described exhibits, including the interactive the Caught in the Crossfire exhibit that recreates a family hunkered down in their home during the battle,”It’s an immersive experience, it’s a storytelling experience, it’s character driven. And so you’re meeting these characters and we’re talking about thousands and certainly hundreds of years. We’re talking about hundreds of years of human history here and and thousands of years. And so you want to capture that. And what are the stories? Where are the emotions? What are the characters? And that’s what sort of I come in is telling that in a visual and audio way that is gripping to, you know, hopefully students and kids coming through here as well as grandparents that bring them in.”