Sadsbury Friends Meeting, a Quaker house of worship, is observing its 300th anniversary this year with special events.

In January, the meeting hosted a wedding re-enactment. The bride and groom were portrayed by students from Delaware Valley Friends School, who filled the roles of Joseph Miller and Jane Kirk, the first couple to be married at Sadsbury Monthly Meeting in 1738.

The next scheduled event will be a talk by historian and educator Harold Finigan of Darby Meeting, who will speak about the Lenapi and Minquas Trail. The free lecture will be offered on Saturday, March 30, at 10:30 a.m. in the downstairs community room at the Meeting.

According to Meeting member Connie Webster, the trail from the Susquehanna River to the Schuylkill River was used for trade with Native Americans by Dutch and Swedish settlers.

"Before the Quakers came to Pennsylvania, the Dutch and Swedes settled around Philadelphia and Wilmington. They were interested in getting beaver pelts to sell to the people in Europe. The native people were the ones who got the pelts," she explained. "(Finigan) will talk about the history of the trail and how they transported the pelts along the trail from central Pennsylvania down to the Philadelphia area."

She noted that the trail is also called the Great Minnequa Pass and that a historical marker was posted at the location of the trail near Gap. The inscription on the marker reads, "An Indian trail, which was later the original Conestoga Road, passed through Gap, half a mile south of here. Over it, in the 17th century, Minquas (Conestoga) Indians carried quantities of beaver skins from the Susquehanna Valley to trading posts near Philadelphia."

"Strasburg Road vaguely follows the path of that early trade route between the two rivers," Webster added. "When William Penn came over, the Quaker settlers had the same trade agreement with the native people."

Additionally, the Meeting will hold open worship on Good Friday, March 29, from noon to 3 p.m. The silent worship is held to commemorate the three hours of Jesus' crucifixion. "This is a drop-in - drop-out event," Webster said. "Some of us will be there for three hours, but anybody can come during that span of time and stay as long as they want."

The next scheduled anniversary event at the Sadsbury Friends Meeting is a high tea, set for Saturday, May 11.

Sadsbury Friends Meeting is located at 1089 Simmontown Road, Gap. More details about the programs are available by searching for "Sadsbury Friends Meeting" on Facebook. To learn more about the Meeting and its history, visit http://www.sadsburyfriendsmeeting.org.