Genealogy Lunch April 2

HSM hosts second Genealogy Lunch

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, Delaware County, will host the second in a three-part series of Genealogy Lunches Saturday, April 2 at Fairview Public Library, 43 Walnut St., Margaretville.

The event will begin at 11 a.m. in the library’s Community Room (the former garage). Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch. Beverage and dessert will be provided. Donations to cover the cost of refreshments will be welcomed.

Jean Ackerley, Karen McMurray and Barbara Moses will team up for this genealogy workshop. They will share information about members of the Archibald, Mead and other families.

 

If you have information, photographs, documents or genealogical research sources to share with the gathering, please bring them!

The next Genealogy Lunch will be Saturday, April 16, when Bill and Ann Sanford and Gene Rosa will share information on Sanfords, Rosas, Vermilyeas, Longs, Misners, Todds and other families.

The entire 2011 HSM schedule of events can be viewed at www.mtownhistory.org, where information on the Society’s projects, and features on special topics, can also be found.

Friends of Cemeteries to meet March 19

Friends of Middletown Cemeteries will hold its annual spring planning meeting Saturday, March 19 at 10 a.m. at Fairview Public Library’s Community Room, 43 Walnut St., Margaretville.

This informal group of cemetery lovers will discuss projects that might be accomplished over the coming year in the Town of Middletown and contiguous areas. They include completion of the Arkville Cemetery restoration, inventorying headstones at the Margaretville Annex Cemetery, creation of a cemetery driving tour, development of signage and other projects. There are volunteer jobs for every interest and ability!

Everyone is welcome to bring project ideas and information on cemeteries that need our attention.

Can’t come but want to help? Call 586-4973.

HSM hosts first Genealogy Lunch

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, Delaware County, will host the first in a three-part series of Genealogy Lunches Saturday, March 5 at Fairview Public Library, 43 Walnut St., Margaretville. The event will begin at 11 a.m. in the library’s Community Room (the former garage). Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch. Beverage and dessert will be provided. Donations to cover the cost of refreshments will be welcomed. George Hendricks and Barbara Pellett will team up for this first genealogy workshop. They will share information about members of the Hendricks, Kittle, Platt, Hall, Smith and other families, some of which go back more than 200 years in this area. If you have information, photographs, documents or genealogical research sources to share with the gathering, please bring them! The next Genealogy Lunch will be Saturday, April 2, when Jean Ackerley, Karen McMurray and Barbara Moses will discuss Ackerleys, Meads and other families. On Saturday, April 16, Bill and Ann Sanford, and Gene Rosa, will share insights into their families. The entire 2011 HSM schedule of events can be viewed at www.mtownhistory.org, where information on the Society’s projects, and features on special topics, can also be found.

Historical Society Plans 2011 Activities

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, Delaware County, with six successful years of programming and preservation projects under its belt, is making plans for its seventh season celebrating local history.

Members will receive a detailed calendar of events in March.

A three-part series exploring the histories of several families with long ties to Middletown and vicinity will begin in early March. These “Genealogy Lunches” will be held Saturdays, March 5, April 2 and April 16 in the Community Room of Fairview Public Library from 11 to 1. Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch, and a notebook to record information about Hendricks and Kittles, Meads and McMurrays, Sanfords, Rosas and many other names who may tie into their own family trees!

On Saturday, May 14, a pleasant hike of moderate difficulty will lead to a history talk at the summit of Balsam Lake Mountain (between Dry Brook and Millbrook in the Town of Hardenburgh). Laurie Rankin, whose dad, Larry Baker was a fire observer at the mountain’s fire tower, will explain the tower’s history as she and husband Tom welcome hikers into the tower’s cab on the 3,723-foot mountain.

 “Eye on Arkville” on Thursday, July 28 will feature a slide show of historic images of the community that long rivaled Margaretville as the commercial center of Middletown. Postcard collector Lynda Stratton, and local historian Bud Barnes will share their images and knowledge in this evening program at the Arkville Fire Hall.

Autumn programs will include a photo exhibition of remaining Middletown barns and a demonstration by timber framer Wayne Ford at the Cauliflower Festival Sept. 24; a tour of several barns on October 2, and a then-and-now photographic exhibit titled “Time and Time Again” by Michael Musante, who will show and discuss the project at the HSM annual meeting October 23 at the Halcottsville Grange Hall.

Meanwhile, Friends of Middletown Cemeteries will meet Saturday, Mar. 19 at 10 a.m. at Fairview Library to discuss 2011projects, which will include completing the restoration of the Arkville Cemetery. All are welcome to bring project ideas to the meeting, and to participate in headstone inventories, signage initiatives, repair projects and a cemetery driving tour to be developed this year.

It was a hot time in the old barn that night

In answer to the question, “What on earth did people do before TV and computers?,” we offer the following item from the Catskill Mountain News of July 4, 1947:

Six Hundred Attend Barn Dance at Dunraven

About 600 people attended the barn dance at the Frank Trowbridge barn at Dunraven last Friday evening. 550 tickets were sold. There were many who ‘crashed the gate.’ Thirty-five sets danced at one time. A large quantity of refreshments had been purchased but were soon gone. It was a lot of folks, and a lot of fun.