HSM has a new home!

HSM has a new home!

Jan 16, 2012 | news archive

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM), established in 2005, finally has a home of its own, thanks to the generosity of the New Kingston Valley Grange (NKVG).

The Grange has donated its clubhouse and seven acres on Cemetery Road, Margaretville, to HSM which will use it for programming, special events, exhibits and office space.

NKVG Master Marian Schimmel emphasized that the Grange, which has occupied the site since 1994, is not disbanding. Its members will continue to meet at the Margaretville-New Kingston Presbyterian Church.

“Although we are a little saddened at leaving our hall, we are happy to be turning it over to the HSM and wish them a long and fruitful occupancy,” she commented.

For the past seven years, the Historical Society has held its programs and meetings at various sites around town, and has kept its files in Board members’ homes. The move to a central location will provide the Society with an identity, and room to consolidate and grow.

“This property has so much potential and we are very excited about making it a center for the community to come together to have fun and celebration local history,” remarked HSM President Diane Galusha. The one-story clubhouse has a spacious rustic interior with a local stone fireplace and a commercial kitchen. The property features a pond, expansive lawns, a small garage and a barbecue pit. Attorney Gary Rosa supplied pro bono legal services in its transfer from the Grange to HSM.

A committee has been formed to discuss how to use, develop, promote and support the facility, and to explore options for long-term housing of the Society’s collection of historical materials, which is currently lodged in the Middletown Town Hall. The committee includes Gary Atkin, Sandra Bowen-Greene, Brian Ketcham, Eleanor and Chuck Mager, Steve Miller, Craig Ramsay and Ed Stewart.

HSM’s new headquarters 

 “The community has been very supportive of everything we have done over the past seven years,” Galusha continued. “We are grateful for this generous gift by the Grange, and hope that it will inspire continued support from members, friends, neighbors and history lovers as we establish a physical center for our activities.”

If you are interested in volunteering with HSM, or have ideas for exhibits or programs, please contact Galusha or any other board member: Carolyn Konheim, Marilyn Pitetti, Lucci Kelly, George Hendricks, Phil O’Beirne or Roger Davis, or send an email: history@catskill.net.

 

Property history

The Cemetery Road property was once farmland that was purchased in the 1940s by Julius and Frieda Meinstein and deeded in 1950 to Stephen Meinstein. In the mid-1960s it was sold to the Catskill Mountain Chapter of the Izaak Walton League.

The IWL, a conservation and sportsmen’s group which was established in Margaretville in 1927, had built a clubhouse on NYS Route 30 in 1938. (The windows had once graced Bussy’s Store in the village, and the hardwood flooring was taken from the former school on Church Street that was vacated in 1937 for the current Margaretville Central School.)

Scenic entrance to property

The widening of Route 30 in the 1960s prompted IWL to move its headquarters to the Meinstein farm site just up the hill, where the avid fishermen soon added a pond. A memorial stone to its founding president, F. Lee Keator, remains nearby.

When the chapter disbanded in the mid-1990s, it gave the building and surrounding acreage to the New Kingston Valley Grange, which had been established in 1968. The Grange made significant improvements inside and out.

For many years NKVG met monthly for pot luck meals, game nights, songfests and speakers. It held fund raising activities to benefit the Margaretville Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and needy local families, and to provide an annual scholarship to a graduating Margaretville Central School student. A group of Grangers has also made countless lap robes for nursing home residents, and stuffed toys for hospitalized children.

The Pond

Both IWL and NKVG rented out the building and grounds for special affairs, and many area people remember it as the site of family parties, wedding receptions, alumni gatherings and other functions.

“We hope to continue the tradition of welcoming the community to this special place,” said HSM’s Galusha. An open house, with a barbecue and a slide show of images of historic Margaretville, is planned for May 19.

“A Whisper in Time” at Fairview Library

“A Whisper in Time” at Fairview Library

Jan 4, 2012 | news archive

January 3, 2012: An exhibit of nine framed photographs taken at the turn of the last century is now on view at Fairview Public Library, Walnut Street, Margaretville.

The library is open Monday (except holidays), Tuesday and Friday 12:30-5, Wednesday 12:30-7, Thursday 11-5 and Saturday 10-2:30.

The images were among 21 glass plate negatives found above Miller’s Drug Store years ago and donated to the Historical Society of Middletown by Al and Naomi Weiss. Several of the negatives were scanned and restored by Ed Kirstein of Roxbury. They were printed and framed by the Historical Society in 2007, and can be seen again at the library’s conference room through March 1.

The photos, taken by an unknown photographer, offer us a “Whisper in Time.” They show the Village of Margaretville from a couple of different perspectives, and Main Street, when horses and wagons were the principal means of transport.

One image shows a group of Native American woman and children, believed to have been an “attraction” at the Margaretville Fair in 1903. An unidentified group of hunters hams it up for the camera in another photo, while a dapper man with cane and pocket watch, and a handsome couple in formal pose, are also captured for all time.

There is also a mystery photo and visitors are welcome to offer ideas on exactly what they think might be happening there!

Man with horse and wagon, Margaretville Main St., c. 1903

Man on street, c. 1903

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.