FACES & PLACES AROUND TOWN APRIL 2009   New Hope Historical Society Speaker Series The New Hope Historical Society has announced its line-up for the seventh annual Speaker Series that is slated for Mondays in April.  The speakers include three local authors and a long-time New Hope resident and native. On Monday, April 6, Roy Ziegler, author of the new publication, New Hope, Pennsylvania—River Town Passages will discuss his experiences writing his first book and the fascinating things he learned about New Hope’s history during the process.  Ziegler is the immediate past president of the New Hope Historical Society and currently serves on its board of directors. New Hope native and long time resident, John Brillman, will be featured on April 13.  He was born in an early nineteenth century house on Old Mill Road in New Hope.  John has a passion for native plants and has become a self-taught, expert landscaper.   He had worked on many homes of Quaker families in New Hope, and has a wealth of information and stories of his own and from his father and grandfather about the homes and families to relate. Herb Millman and John Dwyer, The Deco Guys, and theater critics for the Bucks County Herald, are back by popular demand to continue their story about the Broadway Theater in New Hope from the 1950’s to the present time on April 20.  They promise a special surprise for the audience. Millman and Dwyer are authors of books on Art Deco lighting. This discussion will be held on the stage of the Bucks County Playhouse courtesy of Ralph Miller. The Speaker Series will close on April 27 with a discussion about New Hope in the Civil War era by Reverend Joseph F, DiPaolo, pastor of the United Methodist Church in Wayne, Pennsylvania.  He had been pastor of the United Methodist Church in New Hope prior to his current assignment.  Reverend DiPaolo is an avid historian and serves as president of the Historical Society of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church.  He is the author of A Hotbed of Secession:  New Hope in the Civil War, That They May Be One, and Not Built by Human Hands. The Speaker Series is held each Monday in April at 5 PM.  The April 20th session will be held at the Bucks County Playhouse and the April 27th talk will be given at the Thompson Memorial Presbyterian Church on Aquetong Road.  The other two events will be held at the Parry Mansion at 45 South Main Street in New Hope. Admission to the New Hope Historical Society’s Speaker Series is free to members.  The cost for non-members in $15.  Reservations are required and may be obtained by calling the Historical Society at 215-862-5652 or at newhopehs@verizon.net