MILFORD, PA — The Pike County Historical Society and Museum will host a mayor’s reception at the Columns Museum to launch two days of silent films, historical shorts and a nod to Milford’s roots in science fiction.

Beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday, October 9, the museum’s main floor will host an opening reception led by Milford mayor Candace Mahala. Afterward, there will be a screening of two silent films shot in Milford in 1912 and starring Mary Pickford: “The Informer” and “A Feud in the Kentucky Hills.” Both films feature a new musical soundtrack by Jane Mangini, who also plays organ at the area’s Smoky Joe softball games.

On Saturday, October 10, attendees can head to the museum’s Sgt. Milton W. Bailey Foundation Room for some classic science fiction and at 1:30 p.m., the historical short film “Warriors Beyond the Battlefield: African Americans in the Armed Forces,” a documentary highlighting the untold stories from multiple generations of brave African American soldiers who have served in the United States military since the Civil War.

“A more fitting place to host this film cannot be found, as the museum features an exhibit dedicated to two members of the Buffalo Soldiers, Sgt. Milton Bailey, who lost his life in Korea and his great-grandfather Abraham Davis, who served for the U.S. Colored Troops in the Civil War,” a press release reads. “Four generations of the Davis-Bailey Family called Milford home, and the museum is proud to highlight their extraordinary lives and times through exhibits and programs.”

A Q&A session will follow.

Also on Saturday, the Columns will show some of the “best worst” science fiction films from the 1950s—starting with “Attack of the Giant Leeches” at noon and ending with old favorite “The Wasp Woman” at 2:30 p.m.

Intros will be offered by Milford’s Science Fiction Agent Extraordinaire Christine Cohen of the Virginia Kidd Agency and Arrowhead SF Foundation.

Admission costs a suggested donation of $10 per person.

Concessions will be available for purchase on Saturday, including popcorn and Coney Island Dogs.