HSM reviews past year, looks ahead to a new move

Nov 1, 2011 | news archive

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown held its Seventh Annual Meeting October 23, when it recognized several volunteers, reported on its activities over the past year, and elected an Executive Committee to lead it into 2012.

Thirty-five members and guests enjoyed an autumn luncheon prepared by the Halcottsville Fire Department Auxiliary at the Old Wawaka Grange Hall. They also got a preview of an exhibition, “Middletown: Time and Time Again,” digital collages created by photographer Michael Musante. The show is on view at Fairview Public Library through November 30.

The gathering concluded with a drawing for a quilt contributed to HSM by Catskill Mountain Quilters. Barbara Moses of Dunraven was the lucky winner.

Fran Faulkner and Andy VanBenschoten, who were instrumental in shaping the organization through its early years, were lauded as they exited the Executive Committee. Several members of the Committee were re-elected – Diane Galusha, Carolyn Konheim, Lucci Kelly, Marilyn Pitetti, and George Hendricks – and a new Trustee, Roger Davis of Arkville, was elected. Phil O’Beirne is also an HSM Trustee.

Four active members of Friends of Middletown Cemeteries were applauded for their dedication to documenting and restoring local burial grounds. They are Gary and Barbara Atkin, George Hendricks and Brian Wheaton. In 2011, they and other volunteers re-inventoried the old Halcottsville Cemetery and the Margaretville Annex Cemetery, and worked on a major restoration project at the Arkville Cemetery.

President Diane Galusha reported on programs sponsored by HSM over the past year. They included three genealogy gatherings; a slide show of historic Arkville photos by Kathy Roberts and Lynda Stratton, and a history hike led by Laurie and Tom Rankin to Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Tower.

HSM acknowledged the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War with Memorial Day readings in Fleischmanns and Margaretville of the names of Middletown men who lost their lives in the war. This was the beginning of an effort to develop a comprehensive database of all Middletown area Civil War veterans.

Sadly, the Cauliflower Festival was cancelled thanks to Irene, so HSM did not get a chance to exhibit photos from the barn survey that has been completed by several volunteers. It is hoped this exhibit can be mounted next year at the festival.

The flood caused by Irene was itself a historic event. Over the next several months, HSM plans to conduct an oral history project, interviewing people about their experiences in the flood.

Over the past year, HSM’s archival collection has added many original documents, photo albums, books, historic newspapers, and other materials donated by local residents and others.

The HSM website (www.mtownhistory.org), launched at the 2010 Annual Meeting, has been expanded with many new items of interest, event notices and photos.

Galusha also announced an exciting move for the Historical Society: The New Kingston Valley Grange has offered to give the Society the clubhouse and seven acres that THEY were given by the Izaac Walton League in the mid-1990s. This property is on Cemetery Road just outside Margaretville. A straw poll of the members present at the meeting found unanimous support for the acquisition, but all members will have a chance to express their opinions by returning a mailing that will be sent in early November.

“This is the logical next step in our organization’s development,” Galusha commented. “We are looking for people to help us plan for the use, maintenance and support of the property. Anyone who is interested in helping with this, or in volunteering in any other way, is invited to call us, at 586-4973, or history@catskill.net.”

Time and Time Again

Time and Time Again

Oct 10, 2011 | news archive

Lake Switzerland, Fleischmanns, then and now

An exhibit of 12 digital photo collages – blended images of historic and contemporary photographs – will be on view at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown’s (HSM) Annual Meeting Sunday, Oct. 23 at the Old Halcottsville Grange Hall, Main Street, Halcottsville (just off Route 30, between Margaretville and Roxbury).

“Middletown: Time and Time Again,” by photographer and artist Michael Musante, will be previewed at this event before going on longer display at a local venue to be announced. The project, a visual investigation into the effects and consequences of the passing of time, was made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered in Delaware County by the Roxbury Arts Group.

The Halcottsville Fire Department Auxiliary will prepare a locally sourced autumn meal of cider-glazed chicken cutlets, green beans, baked potato, corn chowder, red cabbage salad and apple crisp. Luncheon begins at noon. Reservations are required as space is limited. Call HSM Treasurer Marilyn Pitetti at 845-586-2860 to reserve your seat before Oct. 15.

A business meeting will follow lunch and will include election of HSM Executive Committee members, a report on the group’s activities over the past year, and an exciting announcement about future plans. Memberships will be taken or renewed, and those attending will have an opportunity to suggest programs and activities for the coming year.

Michael Musante will be present to discuss the “Time and Time Again” project. The Deposit artist is a native of New Jersey and a graduate of the Pratt Institute where he majored in photography and minored in graphic design and architecture. He served as staff photographer for a number of studios in New Jersey and New York and has exhibited at galleries and art shows throughout the region, from Rockland County to Cooperstown. He is a member of the Catskill Artisans Guild in Margaretville.

Each photo digital collage in this exhibit is assembled from two images, an old and a new photograph of the same scene. The process is the result of three principle steps. First, a historic photograph or photo postcard of a known location is found and scanned into the computer. Next, the exact point of view of the first photo must be found within inches and a new image is taken using a digital camera. Finally, the old and new photos are perfectly sized and aligned in the computer, as if on tracing paper. One image can then be revealed through the other, thereby creating a juxtaposition of old and new.

HSM President Diane Galusha said the organization is proud to have sponsored this remarkable project.

“This is an ideal way to make history relevant in a very visual way — to actually ‘see’ the buildings that we pass without a second glance, to understand that others, now gone, have lived in, worked in, passed by these same buildings in their own time,” she said. “The community can only benefit when its residents recognize that they are part of the continuum of this place, and that it is in all our best interests to protect and preserve the physical spaces that connect us to the past.”

For more information on the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, and to view dozens of historic images, visit www.mtownhistory.org

Honoring Civil War dead

May 24, 2011 | news archive

Annual Memorial Day observances at Fleischmanns and Margaretville on May 30 will include a reading of the names of 35 men from the Town of Middletown who died during the Civil War. The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM) has prepared this tribute to mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the war. Local citizens will read the names, and a bit of information about each person – age, parents’ names, military unit, when and where they served, and how they died. The readings will follow parades and services that begin in Fleischmanns at 9:00 and Margaretville at 11. In case of rain, the Fleischmanns parade will be cancelled and a single ceremony will be held in the Margaretville Central School gym. The primary source of the information is an 1866 accounting of Civil War veterans compiled by the Middletown Town Clerk at the time, William O’Connor. This period record listed 346 Middletown men who had served in the war, which raged from 1861 to 1865. HSM, which two years ago compiled comprehensive lists of veterans of all wars buried in local cemeteries, will now attempt to develop as thorough a record as possible of Middletown Civil War veterans, including those who migrated here in the post-war years. Volunteers who would like to work on this ambitious project, researching source materials, transcribing records and compiling a database which can be utilized by genealogists and historical researchers, are urged to contact Diane Galusha at 845-586-4973 or history@catskill.net.

History Hike

May 1, 2011 | news archive

Hikers, nature lovers and history buffs are invited to tramp to the summit of Balsam Lake Mountain Saturday, May 14 in an outing sponsored by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM).

Laurie Rankin, volunteer coordinator at the Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Tower, and her husband, Tom will offer a tour of the tower and the observer’s cabin and will discuss the history of the tower, which was used to spot forest fires in the surrounding Catskills for 100 years.

In the event of heavy or steady rain, the hike will be held Sunday, May 15. The group will set off promptly at 10 a.m. and expects to return at 3 p.m.

This is a moderately difficult, six mile round-trip hike to the 3,723-foot summit in the Town of Hardenburg. Participants are advised to bring a lunch, appropriate footwear and layered dress and to meet at the trailhead parking area on Millbrook Rd. Take Dry Brook Rd. off Rte 28, Arkville six miles, turn right on Millbrook Rd., and go 2.3 miles to the trailhead.

This event is free for HSM members, $2 for all others. Pre-registration is not necessary. For more information or weather questions, call 845-586-4973.

A log tower was originally built on the mountain in 1887 by members of the Balsam Lake Club to protect its hunting and fishing lands. Fire tower historian Marty Podskoch says that when that tower burned, a second was built on the site in 1901. It was later taken over by the State and replaced with the current steel tower. A cabin for the observer was built by the Conservation Department in 1919; and was rebuilt in 1931.

Laurie Baker Rankin spent a lot of time on the mountain as a child, because her father, Larry Baker, was the last full time observer there, serving from 1958 to 1972. Other observers included Edward Avery, the legendary Mike Todd and Gus Stewart. Ken Kittle and Tim Hinkley also manned the tower before the DEC discontinued its use in 1988.

In the 1990s, the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development and the DEC reached an agreement to refurbish five fire towers in the Catskills and to have volunteers man them as observers once did. A tremendous local volunteer effort was successfully accomplished in 2000.

Please join us for a look at the current state of the tower and cabin. The rich history of both, some artifacts, some delightful memories, some hiker education and we hope fabulous views await all!

More information on the towers can be found at www.catskillcenter.org/towers.

For information on HSM events and activities, please visit www.mtownhistory.org.

Genealogy Lunch April 2

Mar 25, 2011 | news archive

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.