Congratulations, PTM volunteers!

On Saturday, April 5, 2025, the volunteers and members of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum gathered to celebrate their accomplishments over the past year.  First up was a behind-the-scenes tour.  Scott Becker, our Executive Director & CEO, led attendees on a journey through our Artifact Preservation Building, our Reliance Warehouse, and the Kathryn & David Black Transit Archives.  The first building is home to several trolleys both pre and post-restoration along with some of our maintenance supplies.  Our warehouse contains additional streetcars waiting for restoration as well as our mobile equipment vehicles.  Stored in our archives are countless artifacts from the Trolley Era such as maps, blueprints, uniforms, and more.

Later that evening, we gathered for our annual Volunteer Appreciation Banquet.  This year’s theme was We “Shore” Appreciate You, and attendees enjoyed the sun-sational decorations and took home some groovy PTM-branded sunglasses.  Angelo’s Restaurant provided an Italian dinner, and it was delicious!

This event was held in memory of Art Ellis Sr., a founding member of the museum and longtime volunteer, who passed last November at the age of 105.  Art’s friends and family shared stories about his life and his time here at the Museum.  They also put together a wonderful table of memorabilia from throughout Art’s life.

To end the evening, we presented our annual volunteer awards.  PTM President Mike Kendlick presented the President’s Award to Gary Malaskovitz, and Scott Becker presented the Executive Director’s award to Ralph Ciccone.

We also presented the following volunteers with awards in appreciation of their work: Ed Bonner, recipient of the Special Events Award, George Gula, recipient of the Interdepartmental Award, Tim Gump, recipient of the first-ever Behind-the-Scenes Star Award, Don and Linda Grimm, recipients of the Rookie Award, and Dom Frizzi, recipient of the Next Generation Award.  Finally, the 2024 Operator of the Year Award was given to Brett Freithaler. 

Additionally, we were proud to announce, that our team of more than 180 volunteers served for more than 28,000 hours last year!  We then honored volunteers who contributed a remarkable number of hours with the President’s Volunteer Service Award.  This awards program, run by the nonprofit Points of Light, recognizes individuals across the country for their volunteerism.  You can see a full list of these award winners at the end of this blog post.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered at or supported the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in 2024!  We could not have had such a successful year without the help of each one of you.  Please enjoy the following photos of this momentous day.

Interested in joining our volunteer team?  Click here to learn more!

Full list of 2024 President’s Volunteer Service Award recipients: