A unique historic resource, the only one known of its kind. An artifact of a time when our country and its communities thousand came together for that greatest cause. A challenge whispered across time: What would you do in our position?
Organized Oct. 7, 1941, two months before America found flung against her the brunt of the Japanese armada and thereby became a full participant in the Second World War, the Old Barn Rifle Club had in its sights nothing quite so highfalutin as being an emblem of the American spirit.
The club, chartered in Campbelltown’s old fire hall, identified at its first meeting goals of promoting sportsmanship, fellowship, firearm safety, and gun proficiency. The officers were president Marlin W. Dissinger, vice president Ira Basehore, secretary Clarence Kegerreis, treasurer Lee Flick, and executive officer Frank McCurdy.
By the time 1942 ended, the club was a 30-member strong affiliate of the National Rifle Association. That year, the Selective Service System saw 3 million men inducted into military service. That number would be 3.3 million in 1943; more than 60% of the 10 million inductions for World War II took place those two years.
According to historian Don Rhoads, who calls Campbelltown his hometown and whose book Campbelltown, Pennsylvania is the definitive history of the place, the scene for what came next – as more and more club members were drafted – was a Halloween party in 1943 where an idea was presented to the community: The club would establish a semi-monthly newsletter sponsored by the club to be sent free of charge to all service men and women of South Londonderry Township.
From its first issue on Oct. 30, 1943 (circulation 112) to its last on April 15, 1946 (circulation 525), and in each of the 56 issues between, the Semi-Monthly News Letter published by Old Barn Rifle Club brought to “those of our community in the armed services of our country” a small portion of home. Dissinger served as editor, producing the paper at first out of his house and store, a grocery he had taken over from his father at the site of the present-day A&M shop. Campbelltown’s postmaster from 1942 to 1975, Dissinger displayed for editing a similar preternatural gift as that great bifocaled Philadelphian with the same vocation.
The “news office” would later move to the lower portion of a house owned by Emmette Page, next door to the Campbelltown Fire Company and Community Building, current home of the Campbelltown Academy of Music and Arts.
“The whole first floor – living room, dining room and kitchen – were used for this unique but efficient operation,” reports Rhoads in his Campbelltown history.
Rhoads describes the scene thusly:
“The kitchen was the editorial office. Here Marlin and Mary Shirk would write editorials, view other articles either approving or rewriting them. Once approved they were posted on a sheet of paper and sent to the front room where Arlene Miller and Dorothy Dissinger typed the printing stencils for the press. The stencils were then given to W. Ray Clawser who was located in the corner of the room where he would print the various pages on a mimeograph machine. While Dorothy and Arlene would prepare the labels a crew of individuals including Esta Hainly and C. Lucielle Horst would come in to assemble the newsletter.”
The group raised money and sold sponsorships to pay for postage. A typical issue might be 16-pages of single-spaced copy.
Campbelltown resident and community advocate Pat Krebs, who unearthed two volumes of the newsletters for LebTown and made this report possible, calls the publication “an incredible primary source that describes life at home in Campbelltown and vicinity and life at war from those who were serving in many ways.”
Rhoads said there’s a whole generation that doesn’t know these newsletters existed. He learned about the publication when he was a teenager and spoke to a handful of people who were on the staff. As a historian, Rhoads recognizes that there are great articles in the newsletters from a historical perspective, but also that the publication is astounding from a community perspective – all those people communicating with each other and learning about each other. Rhoads said it’s amazing that they kept it going as long as they did.
“When you read those newsletters, you start to think: What could I do? How would I react? How would I contribute to that particular situation?” said Rhoads. “It was an honorable thing for those people to do what they did. Not many people would step up to the plate.”
Krebs points to a letter in the newsletter’s final issue that highlights the exceptional nature of this community effort. In that letter from 1946, Campbelltown native Dr. H.G. Enterline, a professor of business education at Indiana University in Bloomington, commended the publication and called it “a real contribution to the war effort.”
Enterline wrote:
“During the past four years I have witnessed many attempts on the part of home-town groups to publisher similar news bulletins. In almost every case the idea died with the first or second issue. The editor and staff of the SEMI-MONTHLY NEWS LETTER deserve a place in The Hall of Fame. It is my sincere hope that copies of the NEWS LETTER will be carefully preserved. These NEWS LETTERS represent a very significant part of the history of Campbelltown and vicinity–yes, of the nation–in our struggle for the preservation of our democratic ideals.”
The newsletters were preserved and bound into two volumes, sold at $5 each. Today, scant copies are known to exist. Krebs said she knows of only two sets, with a search ongoing for more. Thanks to work by Krebs and a loan by Liz Brandt, who owns one of the sets, LebTown was able to digitize both volumes, which are being shared here for the first time ever in digital form as a public resource.
LebTown has curated a selection of highlights from both volumes, which you can review here. You can find the full volumes available for download below.
Read More: Highlights from Old Barn Rifle Club’s WWII era Semi-Monthly News Letter
Volume 1 (Oct. 30, 1943, to Feb. 28, 1945)
Volume 2 (March 15, 1945, to April 15, 1946)
Staff of the Old Barn Rifle Club Semi-Monthly News Letter
Compiled by Don Rhoads| Editors | Marlin W. Dissinger* | C. Lucille Horst* | Betty Hainly |
| Mary E. Shirk* | Dorothy Flory | Lois Fetterman | |
| Ira B. Bashore | Harry W. Horst* | Joan Spangler | |
| Typists: | Arlene Long* | Morris Bachman | Harriet Miller |
| Dorothy Dissinger* | Mrs. Leo Simes | Jean Hitz | |
| Printer: | W. Ray Clawser* | Vivian Bachman | Hilda Flick |
| Business Manager: | Paul V. Kegerreis | Jay H. Long | Amy Clawser |
| Arlene Matieson | Samuel A. Kerr | Dorothy Long | |
| Treasurer: | Owen Hughes | Wayne Byers | Edward Climenson |
| Illustrator: | Sev Lakowski | ||
| Reporters: | Cathryn Horst |
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