208 Salmon Brook Street Granby, Connecticut, 06035
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December, 2015
Ring In the Holidays at the Wassail Party… ...And Bring a Guest! What better way to recruit new members to the Salmon Brook Historical Society than for members to invite a friend to our annual
Wassail Party, a beloved 50-year Granby tradition. This year’s Wassail will be held on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Society’s historic Rowe and Enders houses on Salmon Brook Street. Eat, drink (either non-alcoholic punch or our famous secret recipe) and be merry! Launch your holiday festivities with our fabulous wassail experience and gain some great decorating ideas to boot. You won’t spend a more pleasant two hours this holiday season, guaranteed. Donations gratefully accepted. Please bring an appetizer (hot or cold) that can be shared.
Fall Flea Market (see page 5)
Textiles Report (see page 7)
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Archivist Report by Carol Laun, Archivist and Acting Curator
While Dave Laun is recovering from his recent knee joint replacement, I have been taking his place. After seeing the long list of jobs I gave them, the Thursday men volunteers are hoping he returns as quickly as possible. Dave is doing amazingly well and has started out-patient therapy. The Flea Market items have been stored. The Tobacco Barn exhibits have been covered for winter. Damaged pallets have been discarded. Staff room supplies have been purchased. Shelves have been replaced in the Enders basement and the men are cleaning it out and doing some organizing. Some items will be added to the Spring Flea Market “Heavy Metal Sale� and the outside storage will be secured for the winter. They also will be cutting pieces of pressure treated wood to place under exhibits in the Tobacco Barn area with a gravel floor. A light will finally be added to the Rowe closet. The men also moved all the toys stored in the toy room to the Preservation Barn. My winter project is storing the toys in acid free boxes and making sure everything is accessioned.
I have been working in the Archive Room this fall with storing Town of Granby records in archival boxes. We have complete Granby tax lists from 1876, 1889 and 1898. (Archivist Report continued on next page‌
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In Memoriam With sadness we note the loss of the following members and friends of the Salmon Brook Historical Society. Their support strengthened the Society immeasurably; their generosity of spirit will forever encourage us onward. Nita Percival: Long time member, volunteer, and tour guide. 2
Archivist Report continued….. Also, lists of men eligible for military service from 1863 to 1924; cost of the Kerosene Street Lights in the late 1890s and the Salmon Brook Lighting District 1914 to 1921; the Salmon Brook Sewer Association from 1901 to 1967 and much more. We also have dog license books from 1878 to 1916, listing the dog owner, the type of dog and even its name. Our archives hold a treasure trove of information about all aspects of Granby. A major problem for genealogists is the missing 1890 US census. The entire census burned in Washington D.C. and it is very frustrating for researchers. I have been working on a re-creation of the 1890 census for Granby for several months and have recently completed it. I used the 1880 and 1900 census records as well as 1890 information from our churches, account books of local businesses (Loomis Store, Forsyth Lumber and Grist Mills and many others), also the 1889 Granby tax list and Town vital records. It is now available for researchers in our library. The 1735 map has been successfully printed by Goulet Printers in Barkhamsted. Copies are available for sale at the Society for $25. Thanks to all who offered suggestions and help. We purchased a removable Rest Rooms sign and signs for the Enders door and Preservation Barn door giving information on research hours and location. The next project is a permanent sign for the Preservation Barn. The Heavy Metal Sale of broken, duplicate or inappropriate rusty metal items at the Flea Market was a huge success. It was a “guy magnet” for men who like odd pieces of rusty iron. Two of my daughters (Deb and Karen) were visiting and moved all the metal from the Tobacco Barn. Karen also organized our book sale. I could not have done it without them – many thanks.
Newsletter Delivered By E-mail? The Historical Society’s board wants to know if there is interest among members in receiving the quarterly SBHS News by e-mail instead of by snail mail. The idea is to better serve members and save paper and postage costs. Members who are not online or who otherwise prefer to get the newsletter the old-fashioned way, through the post office, could still do so. If you would be interested in receiving the Society’s newsletter by e-mail, reply to Ken Kuhl (kennykuhl @ gmail.com), Bob Schrepf (rschrepf70 @ gmail.com) or call the Society’s office at 860 653 9713. Leave a message with your name if no one’s there.
Have you renewed your membership in the Salmon Brook STUDENT $3.00 INDIVIDUAL $15.00 Historical Society for the calendar year 2015? We have attempted to keep the dues at a reasonable level. If you FAMILY/GROUP $20.00 SUSTAINING $30.00 haven’t renewed for this year or owe back dues, please send us a LIFE MEMBERSHIP $300.00 check. Your continued support is welcome and appreciated. To those of you who have already paid your dues, many thanks.
Send your name and address with a check made payable to: Salmon Brook Historical Society and send to the society at 208 Salmon Brook Street, P.O. Box 840, Granby, CT. 06035
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A Letter From the President
Sustaining the Society’s Mission and Legacy Season’s greetings! It’s that time of the year when we reach back and find a little more energy to sustain us through food preparation, shopping, trips to friends and family alongside our everyday errands and responsibilities. This time of year also stands as a reminder to many to catch up with pledges and other promises to support our favorite charities as well as spontaneous gifting to seasonal appeals such as food and fuel banks. If you have not already paid your membership dues to SBHS, hint, hint….. Salmon Brook Historical Society is a tax-exempt organization with a mission that focuses on preserving items of historical significance to the Town of Granby. The Board of Directors has wrestled with this recently as we reviewed our insurance coverage. The overriding question was how to value a piece of property with Granby roots, knowing that if it were destroyed you could not go on Amazon or Craig’s List and buy its replacement because when it’s gone, it’s gone. So we continue to examine this issue and balance our spending on insurance along with that for security. Just like a household, we are constrained in our ability to do things by our income. We don’t have any debt and rely on income from our endowment to fund about 65 percent of our expenses. The balance of our income comes from our two flea markets, membership dues, and miscellaneous donations and sales. Membership dues traditionally represent about 10 percent of our total income whereas the flea market is about 20 percent. What makes the flea market so rewarding, both financially and organizationally, is all the volunteer help leading up to the day of the event and then the small “army” that starts showing up before 6 a.m. and finishes up as the sun goes down. While we don’t have any employees, we have recognized our need for a Curator who could bring specific focus to documenting and valuing our collections. But how do we get from here to there? One solution that has the benefit of being a sustaining source of income is to have our endowment increase to a level where we can allocate some of its annual income to fund at least a part-time Curator. Contributions can be made to our endowment anytime during the year. Whether motivated by year-end tax planning or estate planning strategies, annual gifting or beneficiary designations - contributions to our endowment provide a recurring benefit year in and year out. Thanks in advance to those who might be so moved and may everyone have a healthy and blessed holiday season. Richard Zlotnick
We Need You The Society needs a volunteer to do publicity. We have a notebook detailing what to do. It has deadlines for when items have to be sent and where to send them. Our last publicity volunteer will offer guidance. The publicity would mainly be for the Flea Markets, summer tours and any special programs we may have. This is a great opportunity for a retiree, or student seeking 4 to gain experience in PR. Please call the Society at 860-653-9713 if you can help.
Fall Flea Market Much To Be Thankful For By Todd Vibert In this Thanksgiving season, I have many members of the Historical Society to be thankful for. First, I would like to thank all those members of the Historical Society who donated items to be sold in the Preservation Barn. The items which we received sold out to a frenzied general public as they lined up at the Preservation Barn waiting for the doors to be opened at eight o’clock. The Preservation Barn made record sales, bringing in $3,200 of revenue. The second group of members I am thankful for are Karen McNey, John Morgan, Pat Vibert, Sue and Cal Heminway, Karen Antonucci, and Marilyn Nystrom. All were helping sell the items in the Preservation Barn. I am very thankful to the pricing crew of Ruth Robinson, Ellen Cunha, Bert Dinella, Shirley Davidson, and Roxanne Rosano. In about two weeks, those people priced all the items which were donated to the Society. More credit goes to Ruth Robinson, who has been pricing items for the flea market for perhaps 20 years. Ruth also took the items we have had for a while and made several trips to Westfield for donation to Goodwill. I am thankful for Carol Laun’s creativity as she brought in 15 percent of the Preservation Barn revenue by selling an abundance of tools we had in the barn or tools that might need a repair, or parts of machinery someone might want. She put a sign out simply stating “Heavy Metal Sale.” You could say it was a real steel. I am also thankful to the High School students from the Robotic team, who volunteered their time to gain their Community Service hours for their graduation requirement. Finally I would like to thank the Lost Acres Fire Department, our neighbors, for allowing us to use their back field for parking. Financially, the flea market did well through the sales of the Preservation Barn. The weather was cool in the 50’s and when the breezes came through it felt like the 40’s, which is chilly for the flea market. Since the weather was cool, the general public did not come out like it did last year. However, the public who did come stayed and bought many items. Not only was the crowd down this year, so too were the vendors. We had only 45 vendors compared to the 58 we had last year. Below are the comparative statistics from last year’s fall flea market to this year’s flea market as well as the rest of the wonderful volunteers who contributed to the success to this fall flea market.
More Flea Market Recap (page 6)
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Financial Breakdown of Event
Hot Dogs Donuts Soda Water Dealers/Vendors Volunteers Coffee Chili
2014 Fall flea market
2015 Fall flea market
230 (approx.) 15 dozen devoured 45 can sold 25 bottles sold 58 50 (approx.) 3 pots made 3 crock pots consumed
196 (approx.) 15 dozen devoured 42 cans sold 20 bottles sold 45 40 (approx.) 3 pots made 2 crock pots consumed
It’s All About the Volunteers! The volunteers who made this flea market a success: Vinnie Secord, Whitey Johnson, Bill Ross, Bob Schrepf, Lisa Vibert, Taylorann Vibert, Heather Tomasetti, Regina Landesburg, Peg Giles, Kate Bernard, Roger Hayes, Karen McNey, John Morgan, Pat Vibert, Marilyn Nystrom, Karen Antonucci, Sue Heminway, Cal Heminway, Ruth Robinson, Ellen Cunha, Shirley Davidson, Roxanne Rosano, Jim Rosano, Bob Giles, George Bronsord, Paul Dewey, Tom Nystrom, Mike Antonucci, Jim Glenney, Carol Laun, Dave Laun, Howard Berg, Dick Potetz, Griffin Barrows, Mike Flynn, Kevin Harter, Owen Harter, Roger Hernsdorf, Mary Zlotnick, Rich Zlotnick; Robotic team: Sydney Cote, Matthew Gerace, Dylan Dingivan, Josh Samplatsky, Kathryn Boit, and Kate Karabetsos.
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What’s Happening in Textiles — by Jean Potetz It’s a pleasure to report that a major item on Textile’s To-Do List has been checked off thanks to Peter Dinella’s generous donation of his time and expertise. Peter recently took on the task of photographing the quilts in our collection. (see photograph below) It was a huge undertaking, and before we could begin, we had to find the best way to photograph the quilts. After considerable brain-storming and experimentation, we decided to photograph them on a makeshift slant board consisting of three 8’ x 30” tables leaned at a sharp angle against a Textile Room wall. The tables were covered with a large flannel sheet to hold the quilts in place. This set-up allowed the quilts to lay flat. Peter photographed each quilt standing on a ladder to get the best angle.
The end result is a set of professional photographs that can be used for many different purposes. Our sincere appreciation goes to Peter. We are extremely fortunate he is willing to take on such tasks. Thanks also to Richard Potetz for his assistance with this project and to Committee members Bert Dinella, Sally Markey, Pam Palmer and Patty Sansone for their help during the photography sessions. Our 2015 exhibit Steppin’ Out! Of Lace, Trim, Ruffles and Fringe filled the houses with beautiful dresses and accessories over the summer. While the exhibit has been dismantled, three dresses remain on display for the Wassail Party.
Recent donations to Textiles include the following items:
Gemma Baker donated a blue and white woven coverlet, a woven plaid wool blanket and a finely embroidered cotton panel. Edith Urwick Broderwick donated a quilt block made by her mother Miriam Urwick. The block is an appliqued rendition of the South Congregational Church similar to the one made by Mrs. Urwick for the red, white and blue 1976 Bicentennial Quilt organized by Evelyn Hildreth and Polly Hall. This quilt is part of our collection and the additional block will add a new dimension to the quilt’s history. Ms. Broderwick also donated a wooden quilt frame used by Miriam Urwick.
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Salmon Brook Historical Society 208 Salmon Brook Street Granby, Connecticut 06035 860-653-9713 Or go to: www.salmonbrookhistorical.org Hours: Tuesday 9:00 to Noon Genealogical & Archival Research
Thursday 9:00 to Noon Thursday Morning Group Follow us on:
Granby, Connecticut 06035 PO Box 840 The Salmon Brook Historical Society
Calendar of Events Wassail Party, Dec. 6
Who We Are
Board Members: Wayne Cahoon, Ellen Cunha, Ken Kuhl, Dave Laun, Lynn Lochhead, Phil Main, Karen McNey, John Morgan, Bill Ross, Heather Tomasetti
Officers: Rich Zlotnick, President Todd Vibert, Vice President Roger Hayes, Treasurer Bob Schrepf, Secretary Carol Laun, Archivist and Acting Curator
December 2015 Issue •SBHS Newsletter Publishing Committee Leila Hawken and Bob Schrepf •Layout: Ken Kuhl •Photography: Peter Dinella