Our Programs and Events for 2024
Our meetings/programs, generally in the Stacy Barn, are held on the second Thursday of the months of May,
June, September and October, beginning with a business meeting at 7 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30. They are free and open to the public.
Check the Colrain Clarion, the Recorder, and this blog for details.
** PROGRAMS **
MAY 9, A Historic Griswoldville Design - Photos of Griswoldville 100 years ago. Debby Wheeler will describe details of the design for a scenic village in Griswoldville commissioned in 1920 by Joseph Griswold, Jr. and never executed. A could-have-been history. (More information.)
JUNE 13, "Murder on Catamount" - Prentice Crosier has uncovered details of the 1875 robbery/murder of Joseph Riley Farnsworth, a Civil War veteran on Catamount. (More information.)
SEPTEMBER 12, Timber! Logging, Lumbering & Millwork - Stories - A group of local woodsmen and colleagues will share their stories and reflections on logging, lumbering and mill work in Colrain. (More information.)
OCTOBER 10, "Colrain, Apple Capital!" - Field Maloney will trace the apple history of Colrain, from Edgar Copeland (1844-1925), the town's Johnny Appleseed and orchardist, to his own West County Winery, with stops at the cider mill in Foundry Village and contemporary orchards. (More information.)
** EVENTS **
JULY 20/21, Colrain Garden Tour and Plant Sale, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. - Self-guided tour of nine Colrain gardens. Tickets ($20 per person), maps, and grab & go lunches are available to purchase at Pine Hill Orchards and Catamount Country Store. Benefits the Colrain Historical Society. (More information.)
AUGUST 25, Free Ice Cream Social with Live Music. (More information.)
SEPTEMBER 21/22, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. - "Colrain and the Hill Towns on Canvas 5" at the Shelburne-Buckland Community Center, with more paintings of local scenes by noted and local artists, and antique maps and art for sale at this benefit exhibition. (More information.)
OCTOBER 25-27, Friday, 6-10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.
Halloween House Tour - by-invitation benefit event. Visitors will sign up for a two-hour time block to be guided through the collector's Buckland home fully decorated with antique, vintage and high-end Halloween collectibles. If we have your email address, you'll be invited to this event. (More information.)
Our Programs and Events for 2023
As has been our custom, the first and last meetings of 2023, along with a potluck supper, will be in the home of Joan McQuade, across from the Pitt House.
Our meetings/programs, generally in the Stacy Barn, are held on the second Thursday of each month, April through October, beginning with a business meeting at 7 p.m.,followed by a program at 7:30. Potlucks begin at 6 p.m. Our programs are free and open to the public,
followed by refreshments.
Watch the Recorder, the online Colrain Clarion, your email, and this website for updates.
APRIL 13, Doctor in the House, Joan McQuade presents a program about her father, Dr. John Olson, Colrain’s last resident town doctor. (More information.)
JUNE 8, “The Canal at Montague,” a fascinating half-hour video tracing the history of the industrial canal around which Turners Falls grew, including a cotton factory which expanded the Griswold Manufacturing Company. (Move information.)
JULY 13 20, potluck picnic with music TBA. Picnic will be followed by a brief meeting and show-and-tell of interesting items from the society’s extensive collection or artifacts, tools and textiles. (More information.)
JULY 22 & 23, 10 am - 4 pm, Colrain Historical Society Daylily sale at the Pitt House, name variety potted daylilies,
many award winners, in various colors, hopefully in bloom. Plus other interesting perennials. (More information.)
AUGUST 10, “Sugar Mountain,” Colrain author Alfred Alcorn discusses his prescient novel combining pandemic and ultra survivalism in a western Massachusetts landscape very like Colrain. (More information.)
SEPTEMBER 14, “Root Hog or Die,” documentary film colorfully describes farm life in the hill towns and in southern Vermont in early 20th century in the voices of those who lived it. (More information.)
SEPTEMBER 23, 24, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Colrain and Hill Towns on Canvas IV at the Shelburne-Buckland Community Center, with more paintings of Colrain and Hill Town scenes and antique maps and art for sale at this benefit exhibition. (More information.)
OCTOBER 12, potluck and annual meeting/election of officers. Program: “Those Colrain Girls” - stories of growing up in Colrain in the 1950s and 1960s. (More information.)
DECEMBER 2, 3, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., A Christmas House Tour of four Colrain homes decorated in various
styles: Williamsburg, Victorian, Country and Contemporary, to benefit CHS. (More information.)
DECEMBER 3 & 4, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., A Christmas House Tour of four Colrain homes, decorated in
various styles: Williamsburg, Victorian, Country and Contemporary, to benefit CHS. Postponed to December 2 & 3, 2023.
The shape shifting of COVID-19 has made it difficult to know what will be possible and when as far as events and programs. For the time being we have suspended our monthly indoor meetings and programs. However, we have tentatively scheduled the following:
Our Programs for 2022
We’re back, in person and in the newly accessible Stacy Barn, unless noted otherwise.
As has been the custom, the last meeting of 2022, along with a potluck supper, will be in the home of Joan McQuade, across from the Pitt House.
Our mectings/programs are held on the second Thursday of each month, May through October, beginning with a business meeting at 7 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30. Potlucks begin at 6 p.m.
Our programs are free and open to the public, followed by refreshments.
Watch the Recorder, the online Colrain Clarion, your email, and this website for updates.
MAY 12, A Hurrah’s Nest and Other Yankee Talk, Sarah and Harry Hollister present a lively reading of a New
England short story. (More information.)
MAY 21 & 22, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. A Woodland Garden Tour and Special Plant Sale, with refreshments at the
home of Debby and Guy Wheeler, 90 Call Road, Colrain, to benefit CHS. (More information.)
JUNE 9, “Improper Intimacy”: Almira Edson and the Perfectionist Movement, Prentice Crosier traces the
life of a schoolma’am and artist whose life took her from Halifax to Colrain to Putney, and deep into controversy. (More information.)
JULY 14, A Dude Ranch in Colrain? This program, in a barn at the former dude ranch on Cal Coombs
Road, will explore a colorful chapter of Colrain history. (More information.)
AUGUST 11, Potluck Picnic Supper - remembering Hale, behind the Pitt House. 6:00 pm. (More information.)
SEPTEMBER 8, Reading the Gravestones of Old New England, Author John G. S. Hanson will share some
outstanding epitaphs from local burial grounds and discuss what they tell us about New England attitudes towards life,
death and eternity. (Request a copy of the book from the library.) (More information.)
SEPTEMBER 24 & 25, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Colrain on Canvas III at the Shelburne-Buckland
Community Center, with more paintings of Colrain scenes plus antique maps and art
for sale at this benefit exhibition. (More information.)
OCTOBER 13, Potluck supper, election of officers, program History of the Pitt House, at the home of Joan
McQuade, 7 Main Road. (More information.) Rescheduled to November 17.
Our Programs for 2021
The shape shifting of COVID-19 has made it difficult to know what will be possible and when as far as events and programs. For the time being we have suspended our monthly indoor meetings and programs. However, we have tentatively scheduled the following:
May 25, 1 p.m. A cleaning bee at the Pitt House, distanced and masked
August 12, Found at the Conway Dump, Sarah Hollister, preceded by a potluck picnic and meeting, behind the Pitt House (more information)
September 25-26, Colrain on Canvas II at the Shelburne Buckland Community Center, with more paintings of Colrain scenes plus antique maps and art for sale
December 4-5. A Christmas House Tour of four Colrain homes, decorated in various styles: Colonial, Country, Victorian, and Contemporary. A fundraiser.
August 12, Found at the Conway Dump, Sarah Hollister, preceded by a potluck picnic and meeting, behind the Pitt House (more information)
September 25-26, Colrain on Canvas II at the Shelburne Buckland Community Center, with more paintings of Colrain scenes plus antique maps and art for sale
December 4-5. A Christmas House Tour of four Colrain homes, decorated in various styles: Colonial, Country, Victorian, and Contemporary. A fundraiser.
Watch the Recorder, the online Colrain Clarion, your email, and this website for updates.
Our meetings/programs are held on the second Thursday of each month, April through October, beginning with a business meeting at 7 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30. Potlucks begin at 6 p.m. Currently, most programs are in the barn/garage beside Joan McQuade’s house, across the road from the Pitt House in Colrain Center. They are free and open to the public, followed by refreshments.
Note: this year the June and July programs will be at the former Dude Ranch and at Wheelview Farm in Shelburne respectively.
Watch the Recorder, the online Colrain Clarion, and this website for program details as the date approaches.
May 14, Postponed, probably until 2021, Improper Intimacy: Almira Edson and the Perfectionist Movement, Prentice Crosier.
June 11, Postponed, possibly until September 10, 2020, A Dude Ranch in Colrain, Belden Merims, at the former Dude Ranch
July 9, Postponed. Centennial Farms of Shelburne, Carolyn Wheeler, at Wheelview Farm
August 13, Postponed. Kenny Noyes Makes a Windsor Chair, Kenny Noyes
September 10, Postponed. Yankee Narratives, performed by Sarah and Harry Hollister
October 8, Postponed. Doctor in the House: Olie, Joan McQuade, and potluck at Joan’s house
Continuing the custom of the past several years, we will hold the first and last meeting of the year, along with a potluck supper, at the home of Joan McQuade, across from the Pitt House. At these meetings curators will share with the membership interesting photos, documents, and artifacts discovered during the ongoing inventory of the collection.
Our meetings/programs are held on the second Thursday of each month (with the exception this year in April), April-October, beginning with a business meeting at 7 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30 p.m. Potlucks begin at 6:00 pm. Most programs are in Joan McQuade’s barn/garage, across the road from the Pitt House on Main Road in Colrain. They are free and open to the public, followed by refreshments.
April 18, The Donelson’s Drive West 1939 and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
May 9, Native People in the Valley, George Ashley, Hatfield (more information)
June 13, Antique Clocks, Marc Desrosiers, Conway (more information)
July 11, Fischlein’s Store in Shattuckville, Belden Merims and Bob Fischlein (more information)
August 8, Hill Town Libraries, Kathy Heiligmann, Rowe (more information)
September 12, School Days - Our Many One and Two Room Schools, at the East Colrain School and East Colrain Chapel (more information)
October 10, A Dustup at the Methodist Parsonage and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
Continuing the custom of the past several years, we will hold the first and last meeting of the year, along with a potluck supper, at the home of Joan McQuade, across from the Pitt House. At these meetings curators will share with the membership interesting photos, documents, and artifacts discovered during the ongoing inventory of the collection.
Our meetings/programs are held on the second Thursday of each month, April-October, beginning with a business meeting at 7 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30 p.m. Potlucks begin at 6 p.m. Most programs are in the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House at 8 Main Road in Colrain. They are free and open to the public, followed by refreshments.
In addition to the monthly meetings, this June we hope to have an outdoor potluck picnic supper and Strawberry Social. Watch the Greenfield Recorder or this website for details.
APRIL 12, Show and Tell and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
MAY 10, 18th Century Taverns, Anne Lanning, Historic Deerfield (more information)
JUNE 14, The Hollister Collection, pre-Revolution to the present, Sarah Hollister rescheduled to August 9
JULY 12, Ross Purrington’s red covered meat wagon, and its story (more information)
AUGUST 9, The Hollister Collection, pre-Revolution to the present, Sarah Hollister (more information)
AUGUST 9, School Days, Colrain's many one and two-room schools, cancelled
SEPTEMBER 13, Those Griswolds, the founding father and descendants, Prentice Crosier (more information)
OCTOBER 11, Show and Tell and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
Having shivered through meetings in the Stacy barn last April and October, we are reverting to the former practice of holding the first and last meeting of the year along with a potluck supper in the home of Joan McQuade, across from the Pitt House. New this year will be a Show and Tell program in which curators will share with the membership recent acquisitions to the collection and interesting photos, documents, and artifacts discovered during the ongoing inventory of the collection.
Our meetings/programs are held on the second Thursday of each month, April-October, beginning with a business meeting at 7:00 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30 p.m. Potlucks begin at 6:00 p.m. Most programs are in the Stacy Barn, behind the Pitt House on Main Road in Colrain. They are free and open to the public, followed by refreshments.
APRIL 13, Show and Tell and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
MAY 11, “Pies of New England,” speaker Robert Cox (more information)
JUNE 8, “Elder Edward Davenport: Travels of a Colrain Missionary,” speaker Prentice Crosier (more information)
JULY 13, “ Quabbin, Then and Now,” photographer/historian Dale Monette (more information)
AUGUST 10, “The Narrow Escape of Angeline Palmer,” author Jackie Walsh (more information)
SEPTEMBER 14, “The History and Unique Joinery of the Christian Hill Church,” Colrain master joiner Jeremy Topitzer. This meeting will be held in the Second Baptist Church, built in 1797 on Christian Hill. (more information)
OCTOBER 12, Show and Tell and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
With the advent of the Shelburne Falls and Colrain Street Railway, some residents called 1896 “the year of grace” in Colrain history. The “electric road” brought welcome opportunity to the town’s commerce and social life. Hauling freight and passengers, the trolley not only connected the two towns to each other, but also provided Colrain with a link to the region’s railroad network through its station in Shelburne Falls.
To celebrate the 120th anniversary of this landmark event, we have organized a series of programs looking at various aspects of transportation in Colrain’s history: early roads and bridges; stagecoach routes, inns and taverns; the port at Cheapside; the coming of the railroad to Shelburne Falls; Colrain in 1896 before the trolley; and the Colrain-Shelburne trolley.
Each program, held on the second Thursday of each month April-October, starts at 7:30 p.m., following a business meeting at 7:00. Most programs are held in the Stacy Barn, behind the Pitt House on Main Road in Colrain. They are free and open to the public.
April 14, screening of the film “The Rise & Fall of Penn Station” (more information)
May 12, “Pathways, Roads and Bridges,” speaker Eric Goldstein (more information)
June 9, “Cheapside,” Greenfield Historical Society’s Peter Miller (more information)
July 14, “Colrain Taverns and Inns,” resident Brad Brigham (more information)
August 11, “History of the Shelburne Falls Railroad,” author Carl Byron (more information)
September 8, “Colrain, 1896,” CHS’s Belden Merims (more information)
October 13, “The Shelburne Falls and Colrain Trolley,” the Trolley Museum’s Shirley Pelletier, at the Museum (more information)
SPECIAL EVENT – October 15, trolley bus tour of the Shelburne Falls & Colrain Trolley route, starting at and returning to the trolley museum for ice cream. Tickets $10. As the bus will accommodate only 26 riders, reservations will be required by calling Joan at 624-8818 or Belden at 624-3453 before October 12. (more information)
Please join us on the second Thursday of each month, April through October. The programs begin at 7:30 p.m., following the 7:00 p.m. business meetings.
APRIL 9. Rachel McGee, her busk, & "the shot heard 'round the world" (more information)
MAY 14. Colrain Potash: First Industry of the Hilltowns, with Ralmon Black (more information)
JUNE 11. William Apess, Native American Activist Born in Colrain, with author Drew Lopenzina (more information)
JULY 9. So Who Was G. William Pitt Anyway? Memories of the man by people who knew him, preceded by a Strawberry Social Potluck Picnic. (more information)
AUGUST 13. Building the Turners Falls Dam, slide show and narrative by Ed Gregory (more information)
SEPTEMBER 10. A Conway Genealogist Tells Conway Tales, with Lee Whitcomb (more information)
OCTOBER 8. In Memory of Susan Freedom: Gravestones of African Americans in Western Massachusetts, with Bob Drinkwater, gravestone archeologist (more information, and a follow-up article)https://colrainhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2019/08/program-school-days-our-many-one-and.html
Our Programs for 2020
Because of COVID-19, we will skip the April meeting and hope to be able to continue in May. As in the past, the October meeting at Joan McQuade’s will be preceded by a potluck supper and followed by a short program, listed below.Our meetings/programs are held on the second Thursday of each month, April through October, beginning with a business meeting at 7 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30. Potlucks begin at 6 p.m. Currently, most programs are in the barn/garage beside Joan McQuade’s house, across the road from the Pitt House in Colrain Center. They are free and open to the public, followed by refreshments.
Note: this year the June and July programs will be at the former Dude Ranch and at Wheelview Farm in Shelburne respectively.
Watch the Recorder, the online Colrain Clarion, and this website for program details as the date approaches.
Our Programs for 2019
Continuing the custom of the past several years, we will hold the first and last meeting of the year, along with a potluck supper, at the home of Joan McQuade, across from the Pitt House. At these meetings curators will share with the membership interesting photos, documents, and artifacts discovered during the ongoing inventory of the collection.
Our meetings/programs are held on the second Thursday of each month (with the exception this year in April), April-October, beginning with a business meeting at 7 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30 p.m. Potlucks begin at 6:00 pm. Most programs are in Joan McQuade’s barn/garage, across the road from the Pitt House on Main Road in Colrain. They are free and open to the public, followed by refreshments.
April 18, The Donelson’s Drive West 1939 and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
May 9, Native People in the Valley, George Ashley, Hatfield (more information)
June 13, Antique Clocks, Marc Desrosiers, Conway (more information)
July 11, Fischlein’s Store in Shattuckville, Belden Merims and Bob Fischlein (more information)
August 8, Hill Town Libraries, Kathy Heiligmann, Rowe (more information)
September 12, School Days - Our Many One and Two Room Schools, at the East Colrain School and East Colrain Chapel (more information)
October 10, A Dustup at the Methodist Parsonage and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
Our Programs for 2018
Continuing the custom of the past several years, we will hold the first and last meeting of the year, along with a potluck supper, at the home of Joan McQuade, across from the Pitt House. At these meetings curators will share with the membership interesting photos, documents, and artifacts discovered during the ongoing inventory of the collection.
Our meetings/programs are held on the second Thursday of each month, April-October, beginning with a business meeting at 7 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30 p.m. Potlucks begin at 6 p.m. Most programs are in the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House at 8 Main Road in Colrain. They are free and open to the public, followed by refreshments.
In addition to the monthly meetings, this June we hope to have an outdoor potluck picnic supper and Strawberry Social. Watch the Greenfield Recorder or this website for details.
APRIL 12, Show and Tell and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
MAY 10, 18th Century Taverns, Anne Lanning, Historic Deerfield (more information)
Greenfield Recorder, June 7, 2018
Colrain board halts use of Pitt House buildings
COLRAIN — Monthly slide shows, programs and lectures in the Stacy Barn, on the grounds of the G. William Pitt House, have been canceled this summer.
Read the article here: http://www.recorder.com/Colrain-board-stops-use-of-Pitt-House-buildings-17981179
June 21, 2018. We will move our monthly meeting place across the street to Joan McQuade’s barn beginning Thursday, July 12, when we will have a wonderful program about a prize collection item, Ross Purrington’s red covered meat wagon. This is a slice of the social history of Colrain.
JULY 12, Ross Purrington’s red covered meat wagon, and its story (more information)
AUGUST 9, The Hollister Collection, pre-Revolution to the present, Sarah Hollister (more information)
SEPTEMBER 13, Those Griswolds, the founding father and descendants, Prentice Crosier (more information)
OCTOBER 11, Show and Tell and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
Our Programs for 2017
Having shivered through meetings in the Stacy barn last April and October, we are reverting to the former practice of holding the first and last meeting of the year along with a potluck supper in the home of Joan McQuade, across from the Pitt House. New this year will be a Show and Tell program in which curators will share with the membership recent acquisitions to the collection and interesting photos, documents, and artifacts discovered during the ongoing inventory of the collection.
Our meetings/programs are held on the second Thursday of each month, April-October, beginning with a business meeting at 7:00 p.m., followed by a program at 7:30 p.m. Potlucks begin at 6:00 p.m. Most programs are in the Stacy Barn, behind the Pitt House on Main Road in Colrain. They are free and open to the public, followed by refreshments.
APRIL 13, Show and Tell and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
MAY 11, “Pies of New England,” speaker Robert Cox (more information)
JUNE 8, “Elder Edward Davenport: Travels of a Colrain Missionary,” speaker Prentice Crosier (more information)
JULY 13, “ Quabbin, Then and Now,” photographer/historian Dale Monette (more information)
AUGUST 10, “The Narrow Escape of Angeline Palmer,” author Jackie Walsh (more information)
SEPTEMBER 14, “The History and Unique Joinery of the Christian Hill Church,” Colrain master joiner Jeremy Topitzer. This meeting will be held in the Second Baptist Church, built in 1797 on Christian Hill. (more information)
OCTOBER 12, Show and Tell and potluck at the home of Joan McQuade (more information)
Our Programs for 2016
With the advent of the Shelburne Falls and Colrain Street Railway, some residents called 1896 “the year of grace” in Colrain history. The “electric road” brought welcome opportunity to the town’s commerce and social life. Hauling freight and passengers, the trolley not only connected the two towns to each other, but also provided Colrain with a link to the region’s railroad network through its station in Shelburne Falls.
To celebrate the 120th anniversary of this landmark event, we have organized a series of programs looking at various aspects of transportation in Colrain’s history: early roads and bridges; stagecoach routes, inns and taverns; the port at Cheapside; the coming of the railroad to Shelburne Falls; Colrain in 1896 before the trolley; and the Colrain-Shelburne trolley.
Each program, held on the second Thursday of each month April-October, starts at 7:30 p.m., following a business meeting at 7:00. Most programs are held in the Stacy Barn, behind the Pitt House on Main Road in Colrain. They are free and open to the public.
April 14, screening of the film “The Rise & Fall of Penn Station” (more information)
May 12, “Pathways, Roads and Bridges,” speaker Eric Goldstein (more information)
June 9, “Cheapside,” Greenfield Historical Society’s Peter Miller (more information)
July 14, “Colrain Taverns and Inns,” resident Brad Brigham (more information)
August 11, “History of the Shelburne Falls Railroad,” author Carl Byron (more information)
September 8, “Colrain, 1896,” CHS’s Belden Merims (more information)
October 13, “The Shelburne Falls and Colrain Trolley,” the Trolley Museum’s Shirley Pelletier, at the Museum (more information)
SPECIAL EVENT – October 15, trolley bus tour of the Shelburne Falls & Colrain Trolley route, starting at and returning to the trolley museum for ice cream. Tickets $10. As the bus will accommodate only 26 riders, reservations will be required by calling Joan at 624-8818 or Belden at 624-3453 before October 12. (more information)
Our Programs for 2015
Please join us on the second Thursday of each month, April through October. The programs begin at 7:30 p.m., following the 7:00 p.m. business meetings.
APRIL 9. Rachel McGee, her busk, & "the shot heard 'round the world" (more information)
MAY 14. Colrain Potash: First Industry of the Hilltowns, with Ralmon Black (more information)
JUNE 11. William Apess, Native American Activist Born in Colrain, with author Drew Lopenzina (more information)
JULY 9. So Who Was G. William Pitt Anyway? Memories of the man by people who knew him, preceded by a Strawberry Social Potluck Picnic. (more information)
AUGUST 13. Building the Turners Falls Dam, slide show and narrative by Ed Gregory (more information)
SEPTEMBER 10. A Conway Genealogist Tells Conway Tales, with Lee Whitcomb (more information)
OCTOBER 8. In Memory of Susan Freedom: Gravestones of African Americans in Western Massachusetts, with Bob Drinkwater, gravestone archeologist (more information, and a follow-up article)https://colrainhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2019/08/program-school-days-our-many-one-and.html
