September, 28, 2006 Newsletter Notice of Annual Meeting The annual meeting of the Society will be held on Sunday, October 15, 2006 at the Pittsford Congregational Church on Route 7 in the Village. Following a potluck supper at 5:30 p.m., officers and committee heads will give their reports. The nominating committee will propose a slate of officers and trustees for the year 2007. Nominations from the floor will be in order before voting takes place. Michael Dwyer will present a program on 19th and 20th century Pittsford immigrants. He will survey the three largest groups, from the Irish and French Canadians who arrived before the Civil War to the Poles who came in the early 20th century. Using census records and other primary sources, he will explore these Pittsford families, focusing on who they were, what they did, and why they came. Mr.Dwyer is a Society member, Pittsford resident, and English teacher at Otter Valley Union High School. Please bring a dish to share. Beverages will be served. You, your family and friends are invited to attend. Also, please offer a ride to a member who needs one. Membership chairwoman Doris Hoare will be present to accept dues for 2007, and our Silent Auction items will be on display for all to bid on.   New Web Address Please note that as of September 15, 2006, the Society's new Web address is www.pittsfordhistorical.com. If you have trouble finding it, try a Yahoo search. We are grateful that John MacHardy, a Web designer for several business owners, continues to be our volunteer Webmaster. For periodic updates, visit the site for news of Society activities, a look at photos from our archives, and notes about fellow members. John added links to the Vermont Historical Society, covered bridges of the Northeast (one of his favorite subjects), and other Web sites of interest to Vermont history buffs. The MacHardys live in Pittsford. Volunteers Keep Things Humming at Eaton Hall It has been a very busy year for members who volunteer to keep the Museum in Eaton Hall running from March through November. Curator Anne Pelkey has had 10 or more people helping her to sort, catalog, and label things given to the museum, photocopy news items and file them in the family folders, and water the flower beds. They greet visitors, help them look up their ancestors, and help them choose a book, map, hat, print, or Christmas card to buy. Descendants of the Cooley, Dickerman, Gorham, Worden, Holden, Barnes, Whipple, and other Pittsford families have gone away bowled over by the wealth of information they found here. Some volunteers come in only in the summer, others help when children are in school, but we never have too much help! For example, Maureen LeClair is a new volunteer sorting, identifying, and filing photographs. Ivy Dixon writes our press releases, and David Chapman is chair of buildings and grounds. Craig Drummond keeps the lawns mowed. Jane and Bob Welch greet visitors and Joey Keith files news clippings on Tuesdays. Jon and Sharon Heymers installed the air conditioner. What would you like to do? Call curator Anne Pelkey 483-6178 and tell her, or leave a message at 483-2040 and she will call you.   VCF Fund Grows Our $50,000 investment fund, established in May 2005 and managed by the Vermont Community Foundation, earned $2,297 last year. The Pittsford Historical Society Fund is one of over 70 VCF manages for Vermont nonprofit organizations. It is our policy not to dip into the principal, and to use the interest when an unforeseen or large project such as repairing the Eaton Hall roof justifies such action. The Finance Committee intends to fund museum operations and building maintenance from memberships, gift shop sales, fundraising projects, research fees, and contributions. The Trustees encourage you to make a gift to the PHS Fund now or when planning for your estate. Write to PO Box 423, Pittsford VT  05763 or call 802-483-2040 for details. Your gift is vital to keeping your Society healthy and growing.   Recent Gifts to the Museum Several important additions to our collections were received in 2006. Maureen (Keith) LeClair and brother Dan Keith gave items from the estate of their father, Joseph Keith including a large 1926 wall calendar advertising John W. Barnard's automobile refinishing shop; the altar bell from St. Therese Chapel in Florence; Francis X. Carrigan's photograph and his World War I Army boots. Ivy (Anderson) Dixon gave items from her family including Grace (Neil) Anderson's school books and postcard collection, Gladys (Whitney) Neil's school books and cookbooks, and Mary "Mollie" (Barnard) Monroe's scrapbook. Joyce (Bates) Daniels brought in engagement gifts that her grandparents, George D. and Mary Eliza Brigham, gave to each other in 1880: two dainty teacups and saucers, one of them bought at Denison's brick store in the Village. Jean Davies donated a remnant of a wool stair carpet designed and hand-hooked in the 1940s by Corinne Randall Denison (Mrs. William E.) Jean Harvie gave a 1917 Pittsford High School diploma awarded to her father, Clarence J. Giddings. Jennifer Milo donated her grandmother Elizabeth Hagan's collection of Katherine Crockett hand screened Christmas cards made in Pittsford. "Liz" Hagan worked at the Crockett studio, as did Gertrude Spaulding in the 1950s and '60s. This, and Gertrude's collection received earlier from her daughters, makes our Crockett card collection far more complete - now totaling over 100 designs.   Welcome, New Members! It's a pleasure to welcome these new members: Peter Schaefer and his family, and his brother, Donald Schaefer; they are grandsons of Helen and Austin Dickerman, late of Pittsford. Also Maureen (Keith) LeClair and her nephew, Donald Joseph "DJ" Keith, and newly-weds Jean O. (Harvie) and Jack Beatty.   In Memorium We will miss the following long-time members who died this past year: Norma (Bartholic) Pratt, wife of Clinton Pratt of Proctor; and Pittsford residents John C. Rouleau, Melvin Scarcello, husband of Roberta Scarcello, and Arthur Scottow. To the families of these departed friends we offer sincere sympathy.   Vermont History Expo 2006 a Great Success The Society's exhibit featuring four Pittsford photographers, Mary Randall Allen, May E. Manley, Dr. H.H. Swift, and Leslie A. Allen, drew many words of praise from visitors. It is now on view in Eaton Hall until the Museum closes at the end of November. Expo's theme this year was Women of Vermont.   Harvest Open House and Silent Auction Members and guests are cordially invited to celebrate a successful season at the Harvest Open House in Eaton Hall Sunday November 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. Refreshments will be served. This will also be the last day to bid on the 2006 Silent Auction items given by many friends. You could be the high bidder on Bonnie Baird's watercolor scenes of Pittsford, a woodsman's safety helmet from Pittsford Small Engine Repair, Betty Atwood's hand-woven rug, a half cord of dry firewood, gift certificates, author-signed books, a brand new Kohler tub and shower faucet set, and more. Everything will be sold off that day. Come celebrate and view this year's VT History Expo exhibit on Pittsford photographers. For holiday gift ideas check our gift shop items including the award-winning Pittsford's Second Century, 1872-1995. It's also available to order at $50.00 + $3.50 shipping & handling.   Please Support Your Society - Invite a Friend to Join Your dues support the operating expenses of Eaton Hall which include heat, electricity, insurance, telephone, the purchase of archival supplies, and printing expenses for this newsletter. It would be impossible to carry on without your help. Membership is open to anyone interested in the history of Pittsford. If you know someone who might like to join the Society, please pass on the form below to him or her, and thank you. If you would like to renew your membership now for January 1 to December 31, 2007, please click the following link and print form. Send the form below to membership chairwoman Doris Hoare, P.O. Box 187, Pittsford, Vt. 05763. Make your check payable to Pittsford Historical Society, Inc. Thank you for your continued support.  Printable Membership Form Click Here   Pittsford Historical Society, Inc. A 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization since 1960 2006 Officers and Trustees All phone numbers are in Area Code 802 Peggy Armitage, President 483-2108 Anne Pelkey, Vice President 483-6178 Rebecca Davenport, Recording Secretary 483-6531 Barbara Poljacik, Treasurer 483-6604 Trustees: Betty Atwood 483-9462, Terri Davis 483-9597 Immediate Past President, Len Lumsden 775-1391 Curator, Anne Pelkey 483-6178 Membership Chairwoman, Doris Hoare 483-6470 Museum in Eaton Hall, 3399 US Route 7;483-2040