History

Eighteen hundred acres of orchard. It was part of a vast agricultural empire built by General Harry Trexler in the early years of the twentieth century. It nearly surrounded the village of Schnecksville. It was perfect orchard land, with sharply rolling hills and a breeze that never quit. The breeze prohibited early season frost from forming on the buds and assured a good crop of peaches, apples and pears. It was beautiful. In spring, when the trees were in blossom, the landscape was painted in shades of white and pink, for as far as the eye could see. The immaculately groomed orchards also provided a way of life for many of the local inhabitants, but now the pressures of suburban sprawl and commercial development were becoming too great for the orchards to survive. It was decided to cease orchard operations and market the land for development.

The first party to express an interest in some of the newly available land was the Schnecksville Fire Company, located at the center of the village. It was growing out of its quarters and had no room for expansion. In 1980, the fire company bought a tract of land a few feet off Main Street and in September of that year, decided to build a large open air pavilion and hold a carnival to financially help support the building fund. That fall, many of the trees were cleared and a road was graded back to the site of the pavilion. Next spring the pavilion was erected.

The carnival was held in August of 1981. Although it was enjoyed by young and alike, in the strictest sense of the word, it was nothing like a carnival. The bed of a 1932 Ford Fire Truck was outfitted with hay bales, which provided the only ride. The ride included a journey around the perimeter of the fire company's new land. The Ladies Auxiliary provided lots of home-cooked food and the bands performed on the back of a flatbed trailer supplied by George Husack Trucking. Joe "Pappy" Horwith was the man in charge and after the carnival was over a net income of $4,986.44 was reported and applied against the $23,727.00 cost of the pavilion.