North Attleborough Historical Society

May 2005

May 08, 2005

May Annual Meeting
The society's annual meeting will be held on Sunday, May 15th at the Masonic Hall, 46 South Washington Street. We will have our annual business meeting promptly at 12:30 PM. At 1:00 PM, we will once again enjoy a wonderful meal prepared by the Order of Eastern Star: choice of chicken or seafood salad, macaroni salad, vegetable, desert and beverage for $10 per person. For reservations please call Joan Tinkham at 508-695-9346 by May 12 and indicate ypur choice of chicken or seafood salad.

At 2:00 Dorothy Thayer, director of the Middleborough Historical Museum, will present an illustrated talk on "General & Mrs. Tom Thumb"; Charles Sherwood Stratton and Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump, famous "little people" who performed for P. T. Barnum in the mid to late 1800's. Lavinia was born and raised in Middleborough and after their marriage she and Tom built a mansion in Middleborough. The museum houses a major collection of Tom Thumb artifacts. You need not attend the luncheon to attend the presentation.

Nominating Committee Report
The nominating committee will present the following slate at the annual meeting: President - Robert Lanpher, Vice President - Nancy Campbell, Treasurer - Joan Tinkham, Secretary - Elizabeth Mansfield, Trustees - Sandra Burns, Andy Demelia, Heather Demelia, Susan Galligan, Virginia Gilmore, James Hale, Marilyn McDeed, Ross Pini, Richard Sherman, Thomas Simms, and Diane Viera.

Yard Sale
The society will hold a yard sale on Saturday, June 11th from 9 AM to 2 PM. We will also be accepting donations of good, clean, new and used, salable items. We don't accept clothes, stuffed furniture, and baby furniture. Please only donate items that you would be willing to buy yourself! If you can help in any way, please call Lynn Gariepy (695-6463) or Cathy Lanpher (695-6649).

If you, your neighbors, and/or relatives would like to take advantage of our great location for your own table of items, the cost is $10. Call Bob for more information or reservations. Please help us publicize this event!

Thank You
Thank you to all those who helped clean up the property for the May Breakfast and for all of those that worked in the kitchen, dining area, Garrison House, all of our bakers, those who donated towards our costs and all those who attended our breakfast. Due to your efforts we raised nearly $1100 for the society. Among the local business that donated toward this event were Bob's Market on Arnold Road, which donated 25 pounds of ham and also the potato for our "hash browns", Seabra Market on South Main St. in Attleboro, which donated 30 dozen eggs, and the Stop & Shop and Shaws markets in North Attleboro each of which donated $25 gift cards. Please thank them with your patronage.

Dues
Dues for 2005-2006 will be due June 1st, 2005. Why not bring your dues to the May meeting and save yourself a stamp. Any donation to the Society is fully tax-deductible too. We will be sending out dues reminders before the start of the new season.

President's Letter

It's hard to believe that another year of society events are coming to a close and it is once again time for our annual elections and reports. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my board of trustees for all their efforts over the last year.

The report of the nominating committee has been included in this newsletter. As no one else stepped forward to fill positions, it contains many of the same faithful members who have served for many years. There is still time for you to step forward and help out. I know that I could certainly use a break and there are still open spots on the board. If you would be interested, please call either of the nominating committee co-chairs, Tina Jenks Ricks or Nancy Campbell.

We will need help before the sale cleaning, sorting and pricing the items that have been donated. We will also need a few people to donate sandwich fixings and loaves of bread for lunches to be sold on Saturday. We will need help the day of the sale selling the items, preparing and selling breakfast and lunches and help at the end of the day boxing up the remainders and packing things away. Give me a call to help out.

Another Eagle Scout project is expected to commence soon. The project includes rebuilding the boxes around the herb garden, creating a new garden around the Sycamore tree and also along the path leading to the front door to the kitchen.

We have a number of outdoor repairs that need to be made. If you would like to get out in the fresh air, why not consider helping the society out at the same time. Some projects are small, like weeding the bricks. Others are larger, like repairing cracks in the parking lot blacktop. If you have children or grandchildren that are looking for a community project, have them give me a call.

Hope to see you on the 15th.
Sincerely,
Bob Lanpher