Call for Cauliflower Festival vendors

MARGARETVILLE, Sept. 9, 2013 — The Tenth Annual Margaretville Cauliflower Festival will be held rain or shine Saturday, Sept. 28 from 10 to 4 in the Village Park, Margaretville.

Space is still available for vendors, community organizations and artisans. Visit www.cauliflowerfestival.com to find forms, or call 845-586-3300 for information.

This free festival, sponsored by the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, celebrates farm, home and community with agricultural displays, kids activities, history and art exhibits, music and, of course, food, glorious food!

Bushels of cauliflower and other locally produced items will be for sale. Festival fare will range from cauliflower soup to pulled pork. Highlighting the entertainment offerings this year will be the popular Catskill Mountain Boys, and afternoon square dancing in the pavilion.

A Tractor Parade, showing off vintage and modern day tractors, will roll around festival grounds at 11:30.

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown’s History Tent will feature an exhibit on the cauliflower industry in the Catskills, which flourished in the first half of the 20th century, and will also showcase photos of farm life in the greater Middletown area.

The festival is supported by Coldwell/Banker Timberland Properties; MTC; Directive, Inc., HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, the Watershed Agricultural Council, Pure Catskills and Catskills Family Creameries.

“Letters Home” from the Civil War

Civil War letters bearing descriptions of horrific battles, amusing observations of camp life and lonesome yearnings for home will be read to musical accompaniment at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM) Thursday evening, Aug. 22 at 6:30 p.m..

“Letters Home,” will feature excerpts of letters written by and to seven Middletown area soldiers. They will be read by Open Eye Theater players, interspersed with Civil War tunes performed by the Delaware Dulcimores at the HSM hall, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville. Admission is $4 ($2 for HSM members).

The program complements HSM’s summer exhibit, “Middletown in the Civil War,” which is on view every Saturday from 11 to 2 through Labor Day.

The letters offer an intimate glimpse into the hearts and minds of local farmers turned soldiers. Sometimes angry, occasionally funny, always homesick, they are all the more poignant with the knowledge that five of the seven writers did not return to their families who lovingly copied and preserved these cherished letters for 150 years.

The soldiers were Abram Delameter of Millbrook, Daniel W. Gavette of Arena, Edward Easton of New Kingston, Marcus Marks of Millbrook, Cyrus Hasbrouck of Ulster County, and James and Thomas Elliott of New Kingston. All but Delameter and Easton died far from home.

Open Eye Theater performers who will read excerpts from their letters include Mark Gunst, Bill Tari, Cedric Taylor, Alice Zigelis, Wilma Mazo, Marcy Thorn, Laura Battelani and Pat Brannen. Open Eye Artistic Director Amie Brockway will direct the dramatic reading.

The program will open with a half hour of period music performed by the Delaware Dulcimores, who will also play between readings.

The Dulcimores are area musicians with a passion for Civil War era history and music. Coordinated by Terry Gemmel on hammered dulcimer, the performers play banjo, flute, violin, accordion, cello, guitar and harp. They include Chris Carey, Doris Carman, Shirley Tripp, Cynthia Waterman, Julian Wilcox, Sheila Addison, Jerid Goss, Amy Lieberman and Sally Scrimshaw.

1860s songs of camp and hearth Sept. 2

1860s songs of camp and hearth Sept. 2

The 77th NY Regimental Balladeers

The Windham-based 77th Regimental Balladeers will serve up some history with the stirring tunes of the Civil War era when they perform Monday, Sept. 2 at 1 p.m. at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.

Bring family, friends and a picnic to mark the end of summer at this wonderful concert of 19th-century music. Admission is $5. Kids 12 and under get in free.

This concert of the “heart songs of America” will close out a summer in which the Society paid tribute to the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with an exhibit on Middletown’s experience during this epic period, and with several programs on various aspects of the war. Saturday (11-2) and Monday (11-1) of the Labor Day Weekend will be the final opportunities to view the exhibit.

 

The Balladeers are celebrating their 17th year of preserving the songs, history and spirit of the Antebellum and Civil War period. In that time they have presented more than 350 performances. The band uses the original musical arrangements and lyrics to capture how our ancestors talked, their rhythms, accents, beliefs, their spirituality, motives and patriotism.

The troupe is fresh from a series of concerts at Gettysburg National Military Park where they have been recognized for their authentic portrayal of the music of the period. They perform with fiddles, guitars, banjos, harmonicas, tin whistles, harp, bodhran, bones, bass, trumpet, dulcimer and Estey field organ.

The original 77th New York Regimental band was comprised of military personnel from Fulton, Essex and Saratoga Counties who fought in the Civil War. The group banded together in 1872 as part of the Survivors Association of the 77th Regiment. These heralded musicians kept alive the memories and spirit of comradeship they had experienced during the war. A military note was dominant in many social events of the period and the troupe was foremost in every event given for the interest and betterment of the community. The 77th New York Regimental Band flourished into the early 1900s.

Today’s band members include John and Sharon Quinn, Bill and Barbara Lonecke, Jim Broden, Gisella Montanez-Case, Joyce Cockerham, Jennifer Brylinski, Frank and John Swarthout, Ray Smith, John Kenosian, Gus Truin and Ron Burch.

Women’s roles and wardrobe in the Civil War

Women’s roles and wardrobe in the Civil War

The roles of women during the 1860s will be the topic when Juanita Leisch Jensen, a noted historian of civilians in the Civil War era, delivers an illustrated talk at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM) Saturday, Aug. 10 at 1 p.m.

The program, “Women’s Roles and Wardrobe in the Civil War Era,” will be held at the HSM hall, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville. Admission is $4 ($2 for HSM members).

The hall will be open at 11 a.m. so that visitors can see a special exhibit on Middletown in the Civil War. The exhibit is on view every Saturday from 11 to 2 through Labor Day.

Juanita Leisch Jensen is a nationally known speaker and author of two books, An Introduction to Civil War Civilians and Who Wore What: Women’s Wear, 1861-65. Each went through eight printings.

Leisch’s research is artifact-focused, which has led her to amass collections of clothing, photographs and artifacts which she shares through speaking, writing, and lending to museum exhibits. She served as guest curator for two 3,000-square-foot exhibits at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, PA, and has artifacts on loan to the American Textile Museums’ “Homefront and Battlefield” exhibit which is currently touring the US.

Leisch was named a Fellow by the Company of Military Historians, and is a 50-year participant in the North South Skirmish Association. She and her husband, military historian Les Jensen, began their celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War by travelling to and giving talks for the American Civil War Round Table of Melbourne, Australia.

Civil War exhbit opens July 4

Civil War exhbit opens July 4

A new exhibit detailing the impact of the Civil War on the life of residents of the Town of Middletown will open with a flag raising ceremony by area Scouts Thursday, July 4 at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.

The ceremony will be held at 9:45 a.m. outside the hall, where the exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. From July 6, through September 1, the hall will be open every Saturday from 11 to 2, as well as during special programs to be held throughout the summer on Civil War themes.

The first program will be Saturday, July 13, when Ken Nichols, representing a Regimental Surgeon with the 125th NYS Volunteer Infantry, will provide a talk and demonstration on battlefield medicine at 12:30 p.m. At 2 p.m. that afternoon, Christian Heidorf, LTC (Ret), and his Morgan horse Rebel, will explain the roll and experience of the horse in combat.

Harvey Hubbell, one of nearly 300 Middletown men who served the Union

In “Middletown in the Civil War,” photos and artifacts will shed new light on the impact of this tumultuous time on our area, and on hundreds of local families whose lives were upended by the war. Careful research has revealed that 282 men from Middletown and the immediate vicinity enlisted or were drafted to serve the Union. Thirty-three of them did not return; many more were wounded, or suffered debilitating illness that plagued them for the rest of their lives.

In this small town, nearly everyone had a relative or neighbor in the service. Thirty-six sets of brothers wore the Union blue; two families sent four siblings off to war. In four households, both the father and a son left the rest of the family behind to join the Army. All four fathers perished, leaving wives and younger children to manage homes and farms.

The experience of individual soldiers will be told in their own words, taken from letters and diaries. Visitors will learn where they fought, how they lived in the field, and how they felt about the war. Several local men spent time in prisoner of war camps which will be graphically described.

The exhibit will also document the anti-war fervor of the local “Copperheads,” the hidden history of slavery in this area, and the efforts by many local businessmen and community leaders to avoid going to war by hiring substitutes.

The post-war lives of veterans will be examined as well. A surprising number left their hometown to settle in the west, others spent time in newly established National Homes for Disabled Veterans. Many became active in the GAR – the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans fraternal organization. Middletown’s local GAR chapter was formed in Arena and was named for James Elliott of New Kingston, who was killed in action in South Carolina. His brother Thomas also died of wounds.

In recognition of the sesquicentennial of the war, HSM volunteers have been working to compile individual information sheets on every Civil War soldier who was born in Middletown, or lived here for much of their lives. This important new historical resource will be available for browsing by exhibit visitors.

Sponsors of the Civil War exhibit and related programming this summer include the Catskill Mountain News, Ulster County Chamber of Commerce, Phil O’Beirne, the Elliott Family, Miller’s Drug Store, MTC, Riverside Pizza, Sluiter Insurance, the Cheese Barrel, the Flour Patch, Community Bank and NBT.

For details on programs and activities of the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, and to contribute toward the preservation of local history, please visit www.mtownhistory.org.

Raising Lincoln’s Army is topic July 25

The transformation of farmers, blacksmiths, merchants and students into citizen soldiers during the Civil War will be the topic when the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM), welcomes historian and author Frank Waterman Thursday, July 25.

The 7 p.m. program, “Raising Lincoln’s Army,” will be held at the HSM hall, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville. Admission is $4 ($2 for HSM members).

The hall will be open at 6:30 so that visitors can see a special exhibit on Middletown in the Civil War. The exhibit is also on view at the HSM hall Saturdays from 11 to 2 through Labor Day.

During the Civil War, the responsibility for raising troops for the Union Army fell to the towns of Delaware County, each of which was given a quota following Lincoln’s repeated calls for more troops. If the quotas were not met, deficiencies were to be made up by a draft. However, there was such a strong anti-draft sentiment at the time that the towns went to great expense to avoid having their men drafted by providing generous bonuses to volunteers.

Furthermore, during the latter part of the War, towns and the state helped men avoid the draft by providing them with funds to hire substitutes.

Speaker Waterman authored a book on this subject, Raising Lincoln’s Army. He also wrote one titled Mother, You Mustn’t Worry So About Us, a collection of 168 letters Clark and James McDonald wrote home to their family in Meredith during the Civil War.

Waterman is currently President of Meredith Historical Society and Town of Meredith Historian. He is a retired Professor of Medical Physics who returned to his hometown where he now devotes much of his time to researching, writing, and teaching the history of the town of Meredith.