Showcasing Strasburg.

That's the objective of a new monthly happening that will take place in the historic hamlet.

Third in Strasburg will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. the third Friday of each month beginning May 15 and will run through December.

The event is sponsored by the Strasburg Marketing Association (SMA), which is composed of local businesses and civic organizations. During Third in Strasburg, Joe Deevy, the president of the Strasburg Heritage Society, will be seated on a bench discussing history with interested visitors.

"Strasburg is rich in history, and each month will feature a new story and location for the story bench," the organization's Kay Graybill said. "Participating businesses will stay open until 8 p.m. or later if they already have extended hours and will offer specials and discounts. The goal is to encourage more residents to explore and support Strasburg businesses while discovering everything the town has to offer."

SMA will also plan scavenger hunts in conjunction with Third in Strasburg. "The Strasburg Marketing Association is a group of local merchants and organizations with a shared interest in the success and development of Strasburg and the surrounding community," Graybill said. "We pool resources, share ideas, and support one another in our individual and collective goals as we use our platforms to add life and vitality to our beautiful community."

Each Third in Strasburg event will be unique. "What businesses offer could be different," Graybill said. "They could be having a special event at their place, which they wouldn't have each month, like a music group. I think it's a fun way to show off our town a little bit with all different kinds of activities going on in all the businesses that belong to the association. We just want people to get out and enjoy your neighbors and learn a little history."

For more information, email strasburgpa@gmail.com or go to http://www.strasburgpa.com or the group's Instagram and Facebook pages. "There will be a link to Third in Strasburg, and then they'll have a list of all the people that are participating each month. People need to do that in order to find out where to go or what to do or get the deals."

Deevy's first story bench activity will take place in the town square at Main and Decatur streets. The topic of his talk will be the origins of Strasburg. "The road through Strasburg started out as a trail for the first people that were here and later became the Conestoga Road," he said. "The first Conestoga wagons went down this road, and the town grew up here because it was a convenient stopping place between the Susquehanna and Philadelphia. People needed to stop and rest and stay overnight in taverns. I'm going to talk about those beginnings."

Deevy's presentations will have a different theme each month. "I'm going to have a coloring page for kids," he said. "I'm going to adapt what I'm talking about to the interests of the people who show up."

The Strasburg Heritage Society has also established a self-guided walking tour of the borough titled Strasburg's Hidden History. QR codes have been placed in front of historical sites, and people can watch a short video lesson about the location after scanning the code.

The Strasburg Heritage Society has been around since 1972. "We want to use the history of Strasburg as kind of a framework for connecting people, for building community," said Deevy. "We see Strasburg's historical assets as something that's really the Strasburg superpower. Strasburg has all these physical remaining historical assets, and we have this long history, with lots and lots of stories, and the stories that people were building over, the whole history of Strasburg, is still going on today. The people today are living stories that are going to be part of Strasburg's history, and we're trying to make that connection and use this to leverage this history asset to build communities."