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Box 212 Monroe, CT 06468
February, 2002 Newsletter Housatonic Railroad History About 90 people attended an entertaining and informational slide presentation and talk by area author Susan Del Bianco on the Housatonic Railroad historic sites. The event took place at the Rexford House on February 7. Many sections of the original Housatonic Railway are now part of the Rails-to-Trails . To walk this trail in Monroe you can park at Great Hollow Lake, pick up the trail at its start in Monroe, and walk to the Newtown town line. You will need a resident parking sticker to park at Great Hollow Lake. There is a parking lot at Cutlers Farm Road and Pepper Street that does not require a sticker. From there you can walk south into Wolfe Park and Great Hollow, or you can walk north toward Newtown. Monroe resident John Babina has prepared a map of the Rails-to-Trails that points out many of the historic sites along the way. This map is available at the Town Hall. Tag Sale We are planning a Tag Sale for Saturday, June 15 on the grounds of the Old Schoolhouse. Tentative hours are 9:00 a.m.2:00 p.m, which will coincide with the Strawberry Festival at the Congregational Church. As you are doing your spring cleaning, please keep the sale in mind and donate any collectible or household items. Call 268-5511 or 261-2554 to arrange for delivery or pickup of your unwanted treasures . A Letter from Jean Loveland Some Gifts from Texas Marvin Lodge, a former area resident who resides in Texas, has been sending me a number of very nice things for our Society. Included are some beautifully preserved deeds, 30 or more; a lovely little book of poems by Eliza Beardsley, maps, photographs, etc. One very special gift is a large wooden toolbox from a former boot maker in East Village, and all of the tools that go in it. This is in need of cleaning and labeling and then it can be displayed - quite unusual to have it all together. I have thanked Mr. Lodge as each of the packages arrived, but sometime when we get a complete list together, we should send him a formal thank you. He should also get a letter stating what value these things represent. It has been very expensive for him to ship these to Connecticut. Stay tuned;we'll let you know more about these possessions. Jean Loveland Reverse Glass Painting< We will be holding a workshop for adults on Reverse Glass Painting on March 17 at 2:00 p.m. in the Beardsley House on Great Ring Road. This is always one of the most popular activities at our summer workshops for children. Now is the chance for adults to try their hand at this colonial craft. Because of space constraints, enrollment is limited so please call Nancy Zorena, 261-8554 to register. The Christmas Fair November 30, December 1 and 2, 2001 A very special Thank You to Ed and Marcia Coffey for all their hard work on the Christmas Fair this year. It was both a visual and a financial success. Thank you to everyone who donated items for sale, to everyone who gave their time to help in preparing, setting up and working on the days of the fair, and to everyone who came and started their Christmas shopping with us. The Christmas Fair has been one of our most important fund raisers over the years and has enabled us to continue to maintain our buildings in good condition.. Its never to early to start preparing for this year's fair. Please contact us if you would be willing to coordinate the event or hold a workshop to make items for sale.
Open Hearth Cooking On February 9, Ed Coffey, his granddaughter Jennifer, and Nancy Zorena participated in an Open Hearth Cooking class sponsored by the Connecticut Historical Society held in Guilford by the Guilford Keeping Society. Reports were that the food was VERY good and they all had a great time. We hope to offer Open Hearth Cooking classes of our own at the Beardsley House. We have a working fireplace with an oven and now we have trained teachers! Please give us a call if you would be interested in such a program. Open House The Beardsley House and Barn will be open to the public on April 21, Sunday afternoon, from 1 - 3 p.m. The Beardsley House is located at 31 Great Ring Road. Please take the opportunity to see where our money goes! Directions from Monroe Center: Take Route 111 north to Hammertown Road. Turn left onto Hammertown Road and continue on to Great Ring Road. Turn right onto Great Ring Road. The Beardsley House will be the first house on your left. There is parking on the street or in the parking lot just before the barn Web Site Activities The following press release was received through our web site. Over the past months we have gotten all sorts of interesting questions and observations from people who find us online. Some are previous residents, many are students doing research, people from all over the globe tracing their ancestors, and all are interested in history. If you have email and would be interested in helping to answer these inquiries, please let me know. Email judy@geometricdesigns.com and let me know your area(s) of expertise. Visit our website at www.monroehistoricsociety.org and please forward any material that you feel would be of general interest for inclusion on the site. We can also scan photographs or upload jpg and gif files. New Series of Hands-On Building Conservation Workshops Announced January 20, 2002 -- Heritage Conservation Network will be conducting a series of hands-on workshops designed to teach historic building conservation skills to professional conservators and interested laypersons alike. Whether you are a historic homeowner wondering how to repair your stone cellar or a professional consultant looking to add adobe restoration to your repertoire of skills, you can join a team of volunteers on a preservation project in progress and learn how to get the job done. As an added bonus, you will be helping conserve a piece of the past, whether its an old mill, an early homestead, or other vernacular structure. Workshops in adobe conservation, stone and wood frame conservation, and wood frame and log conservation are currently planned for spring and summer 2002 in a variety of locations. Additional information and registration forms can be obtained from www.heritageconservation.net or by contacting Heritage Conservation Network at 1557 North Street, Boulder, CO 80304 USA (303) 444 0128. Heritage Conservation Network is dedicated to conserving architectural heritage around the globe. Founded in 2001 by two heritage conservation specialists, the organization aims to further historic preservation by enabling people to learn building conservation skills and share those skills with others. Thank you to Country Hearts and the Town Clerk's Office We want to extend a heartfelt Thank You to Country Hearts, Route 25, Clocktower Square in Monroe and to the Town Clerks Office in the Monroe Town Hall for handling sales of our Historical Society collectibles. Please visit them to purchase our throws, bottles, and wooden building collectibles. Call 261-1383 and leave a message if you would like to purchase the David Merrill print. Christmas Fair Workshop Please call Judy Standerford, 268-5511, if you are interested in attending a workshop where we will be making these fleece ornaments to be offered for sale at this year's Christmas Fair. These workshops are for all ages. Directions and all supplies will be made available. The dates will be set to accommodate as many as possible. Excerpts from Fanny Burr's Diary February and March, 1894 22nd A beautiful day-there is that subtle indefinable something in the air that tells of a spring that is coming. . .helped Mamma with her black silk dress, to smooth it, etc. Mamma called on Hellen and Mrs. Theodore. . .Grange night but more of us went-Papa wasn't interested in the subject of the meeting-"Bookkeeping on the farm." 23rd Lena and Eva called. . .We cooked almost all the forenoon. Doughnuts and fries. . .We had a great scare-a load of hogs got turned over on Frank, but strange to say he wasn't much hurt. . .Jennie and I slid down the big hill in the old road after supper. 24th Thermometer 4° below in the morning. I tried to write a letter to Mr. Hartshorn, but I didn't get on very well-my ideas seemed to be hibernating. . . Jennie and I skated a little while before supper. . .In the evening Jennie read "Pomona's Travels" - a few chapters-aloud. It is very entertaining. 25th Thermometer 6° below zero this morning-it was thought to be "too cold" to go to church so Jennie and I bundled up and walked over, we got paid, too. Mr. Lutz preached a good sermon-there was a good deal of spiritual truth in it-it was helpful. He seems to know something of human life, and what it is to work and wait and suffer. I like him. 26th Snowed all day and still snowing-sort of a blizzard. . Jennie and I drew in the studio. . .I'm thankful for yesterday's sermon, I'm sure I worked better today for it. 27th The snow is deep-from 18 in. to 2 ft. Papa, Frank and Dwight broke and dug a path to the Center. Pearly is lucky he managed to get through the banks for eggs in the afternoon. 28th We made fries, etc. I worked on Youth's Companion drawing. March 1st Warm and Pleasant-the snow is melting beautifully . . .I wrote to Mr. Hartshorn. 2nd Nice spring day. . .I finished my letter to Mr. Hartshorn, Mamma and I went to the Post Office with Billy in a sleigh-the roads are a mixture of banks and bare ground. We also went after the clothes and called on Lizzie Griffin, she was sitting up-she has been sick all winter. . .I mended and finished my green waist. 3rd Beautiful day. . .I fussed around-painted canvases, stretched canvasses, made walnut candy, etc. 4th We all went to church, Mr. Lutz preached a good sermon against emptiness. A vote was taken to see what people thought of hiring him-19 for and 9 against. The frivolous element are opposed to him. How I wish he might come. It's hard to light one's own fires and keep them burning all alone. . .We went up with the clothes. 5th. Beautiful spring day. I went out sketching the first time this spring- commenced a snow landscape in the old road. Tired and blue. 6th Thermometer 70°in the shade. . .I worked on my snow landscape-snow is going fast-I wasn't cold. . .Blue birds and robins singing. 7th Another wonderful spring day-it makes one feel better spiritually if not physically. . .I went out sketching-worked on my snow scene-the sun burned my face badly, its really quite painful.. .Lena called. 8th I spent the day writing a paper on "Grange Influence" which I read at the meeting in the evening-the master and lecturer asked me to keep it to read some time when we go visiting-Jennie and I were asked to sit in some absent officers chairs-a pleasant meeting-its pleasant to have a little notice taken of one, when one deserves it more than lots of others who are put upon a pedestal and worshipped-almost. |
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