North Attleborough Historical Society

September 2005

Sep 11, 2005

September Meeting
On Monday, September 19 at 7:30 PM at the Little Red Schoolhouse, historical society member and Historic New England Chief Operating Officer, and manager of the organization's Education and Public Outreach, Diane Viera presents "The
Homes of Historic New England" or "Windows on the Past, Four Centuries of New England Homes". Historic New England (formerly the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities) is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive
regional preservation organization in the country and offers a unique opportunity to experience the lives and stories of New Englanders through their
homes and possessions. A number of their properties are within a day trip?’s travel.

New Officers
The following officers were elected at the May Annual meeting of the historical society: Robert Lanpher, president; Nancy Campbell, vice president; Elizabeth Mansfield, secretary; Joan Tinkham, treasurer; and trustees: Sandra Burns,
Andrew DeMelia, Heather DeMelia, Susan Galligan, James Hale, Virginia Gilmore, Marilyn McDeed, Ross Pini, Richard Sherman, Tom Simms and Diane Viera.

New Members
Welcome to new members Roland and Wanita Jordan and Chuck and Lorie Veit.
Roland and Wanita attended our annual meeting in May and enjoyed the presentation. Chuck Veit is president of The Navy & Marine Living History
Association (www.navyandmarine.org), lives on Kelley Boulevard and will be our speaker in October.

Award Time
Elizabeth Mansfield and Joan Tinkham were awarded the William and Dorothy Rice Award for Service to the North Attleborough Historical Society at the annual meeting in May. Both are long-time Board of Trustees members and have held their secretary and treasurer offices so long that the by-laws had to be changed a number of years ago so that they could continue in their positions. Both are also very active in the third-grade programs and open houses and are all round supporters of the society.

Yard Sale
The society will hold a yard sale on Saturday, October 15th from 9 AM to 2 PM on the grounds of the Little Red Schoolhouse. Setup begins at 8 AM and early buyers usually arrive soon afterward. Spaces are available for $15. You provide your own tables and merchandise. You need not be a member to set up, so please let your friends and neighbors know about this event. They may want to take advantage of our very visible location. Call Bob Lanpher at 695-6649 for space reservations.
We are not actively looking for donations for this yard sale. We hope to get rid of items previously donated. We would accept donations of books as any of these that go unsold at the yard sale could be sold at the Christmas Fair or
donated to one of the local library sales. We would also consider donations of other more valuable items if we feel that they would likely sell quickly.

Another Eagle Scout Project
Local scout, Joe Germaine, approached the society looking for an Eagle project and the society was the fortunate recipient of his efforts. Over the summer, Joe, his scout masters and troop members replaced the herb garden wood boxes, regraded the area around the garden, expanded the garden space around the Sycamore tree including new plantings, and created a new garden space along the path to the kitchen front door. We look forward to more projects under consideration by prospective Eagle Scouts within Joe?’s troop.

What's Going On
Sept. 20 at 7:30 PM "One Hundred Years Ago in Norton" at the Norton Historical Society
Sept. 24 at 11:30 AM Victorian Tea at the Howard Estate $7 per adult / $5 seniors and children. For more information contact the Friends of the Council on Aging 508 699-0131
Sept. 28 at 7:30 PM " The Wampanoags and Sharon" at 1st Congo. Church of Sharon for the Sharon Historical Society

Dues
If you have not already paid your dues for the current season you will find a renewal slip enclosed in an envelope sent to you along with the current printed version of the newsletter. Dues were due June 1st but we are just getting around to sending out notices as we knew that there would be a new membership chairperson?’s address required. Thank you all that have already sent in your dues.

President's Letter
Well, first off I would like to thank outgoing board of trustee members Ron L?’Herault and Cheryl Kummer for their efforts on the board. Ron, former President and Vice-president of the society will continue to welcome guests at
the Garrison House open houses; no one else would fit into his costume! Cheryl will continue in her roll in maintaining the Gulski Garden, which thrives under her care.

If you live locally, you likely have seen the activity going on outside the schoolhouse and Garrison House or have read about the new siding going up on the front of the schoolhouse in the local paper. What started as a project to
putty the windows in the Garrison House and to paint the two buildings has expanded into a larger maintenance project as the painter discovered numerous rotted window and door frames, window sills and trim boards. Many of the
clapboards on the front of the schoolhouse were split and too far gone to try to spot-repair. Although there are some split clapboards on other sides of the building, we have decided not to reside any more of the building at this time.

At present we are using money raised by the wine tasting and auction, money specifically donated by a society member for repairs to the Garrison House windows and doors, money raised for a liner for the chimney in the Garrison House and other ?“general?” funds to cover the cost of the projects presently undertaken. We have signed contracts for nearly $22,000 worth of work so far.

We did get several pieces of good news. We had the chimney cleaned by a different chimney sweep that told us that the chimney is in good condition and that we should get many more years of safe service from it as long as we have
it cleaned annually, which we will do. We had become suspicious of the report by our previous chimney cleaning company as more and more people told us that the same company also had told them that they would need to have a chimney liner installed.

We also were told that money would become available to us from the Massachusetts office of travel and tourism through the efforts of Representative Elizabeth (Betty) Poirier. The process requires considerable paperwork, but will certainly be worth the effort. Thank you Betty!

We had a visit from Jay Hobson and son Seth recently. They visited in response to a newspaper article that showed that two small window openings had been covered up during a previous siding of the front of the schoolhouse. Jay was a
student at the Adamsdale School and brought us several class photos and other material to copy. The two windows were put in when the school gained ?“indoor plumbing?” and were removed after the building was moved to its present site and
the addition containing the kitchen and bathrooms was added. The bathrooms between the front doors were removed and the cloakroom re-established to its original state, which allowed us space to hang the Steamboat Hotel sign.

We lost another faithful member of the society this summer. Harlan (Gil) Gilson passed away on July 18th. Harlan was active right up to his last day, having driven to his routine swim at the YMCA that day. Gil died very peacefully at
home. Gil was a previous recipient of the Rice Award and was President during the schoolhouse move. I?’m sure that he is smiling down on the restoration project.

Sincerely,
Bob Lanpher

Program 2005-2006
North Attleborough Historical Society
362 North Washington Street
P.O. Box 1102
North Attleborough, Mass. 02761-1102

Officers
President Robert Lanpher
Vice President Nancy Campbell
Secretary Elizabeth Mansfield
Treasurer Joan Tinkham

Trustees
Sandra Burns Andrew DeMelia
Heather DeMelia Susan Galligan
James Hale Virginia Gilmore
Marilyn McDeed Ross Pini
Richard Sherman Tom Simms
Diane Viera

Curators
Claire Harrison
Dorothy Conroy

Dues
Dues are payable in June. Members not current thirty days after the second notice will be dropped from the mailing list.

Meetings
Please see your copy of the Smoke SIgnals each month for more details of the meetings.

Monday, September 19 7:30PM "The Homes of Historic New England" or "Windows on the Past, Four Centuries of New England Homes" presented by Diane Viera, Historic New England's Chief Operating Officer, and manager of the organization's Education and Public Outreach. Historic New England (formerly the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities) is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional preservation organization in the
country and offers a unique opportunity to experience the lives and stories of New Englanders through their homes and possessions.

Monday, October 17 7:30PM "The Sailors of the Civil War" A look at the war between the states as seen from the bow of a ship; presented by Chuck Veit

Monday, November 21 7:30PM "The Developmental History of Spectacles": through slides and exhibits from his own personals collection, Dr. David Fleishman, M.D. will show us the history of eyewear. Attendees are encouraged to bring
examples of their own.

Sunday, January 15, 2006/February 5, 2006 2PM "A Look at Our Area in the Year 1911" Through ads, directories, and almanacs, we will study what businesses were here, and who lived where, as presented by James Hale.

Monday, March 20, 2006 7:30PM "The Chartered Cities and Towns of Massachusetts" Don and Nancy Doucette have visited (as of this printing) 339
of the 351 chartered cities and towns in Massachusetts. What did they find, and what stories do they have to tell us?

Monday, April 17, 2006 7:30PM "A History of the Willard Clockmakers" John Stephens, curator of the Willard House and clock Museum will tell us a history of the clock makers and the museum's collection of over 80 clocks. Clocks created by contemporary North Attleborough clock makers will also be on exhibit.

Annual meeting in May, date and topic to be announced.


The North Attleborough Historical Society programs are supported in part by a grant from the North Attleborough Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Open Houses - To be scheduled

Members are invited to call Claire Harrison (508 384-2082) or Dorothy Conroy (508 695-6748) to arrange a private tour of the Garrison House if they have guests from out of town who would like to see our house. Please call them a few days ahead, if possible. There will be a small admission charge for non-members.

COMMITTEES

COLLECTIONS - (Claire Harrison, Marilyn McDeed, Beth Mansfield, Dorothy Conroy,
Nancy Campbell, Judy McCormack, Ginnie Gilmore)

DEVELOPEMENT - (Nancy Campbell, Heather DeMelia, Claire Harrison, Bob Lanpher,
Don Ouellette, Tom Simms, Diane Viera)

FINANCE - (Bob Lanpher, Joan Tinkham, Marilyn McDeed, Andy DeMelia)

GENEALOGY - (Nancy Campbell, Dorothy Conroy)

GULSKI GARDEN - (Cheryl Kummer and Claire Golembewski)

HOSPITALITY - (Dorothy Conroy, Susan Galligan, Ginnie Gilmore, Ross Pini)

MEMBERSHIP - (Marilyn McDeed)

NEWSLETTER (Smoke Signals) - Claire Golembewski

OPEN HOUSES - (Claire Harrison, Dorothy Conroy)

PROGRAM - (Sandi Burns, Jim Hale and Claire Harrison)

PROPERTY - (Jim Hale, Cheryl & Kyle Kummer, Bob Lanpher, Ron L'Herault)

PUBLICITY - (Sandi Burns, Bob Lanpher, Richard Sherman)

SUNSHINE - (Heather DeMelia)

THIRD GRADE PROGRAM - (Claire Harrison, Dorothy Conroy, Nancy Campbell)

WAYS AND MEANS - (Heather DeMelia, Lynn Gariepy, Bob Lanpher)


HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE
CHRISTMAS FAIR IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE
November 20, 2005 - 10 AM to 4 PM

MAY BREAKFAST AND OPEN HOUSE
May 7, 2006 - Breakfast 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Open House: 9 AM to 12 Noon

SPRING CLEANING YARD SALE
Some time in May 2006 - 9 AM to 2 PM