COLRAIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
P. O. BOX 45
COLRAIN, MA 01340
November 2018
Dear Members and Friends,
2018 - 2019 will mark the end of an era for the Colrain Historical Society and the beginning - exciting and a little daunting - of another. Since 1976, When Bill Pitt left the Pitt House property to the town for the use of the Historical Society and the town's citizens, we have operated as a partnership. The town paid for needed repairs and upgrades such as new windows, and the society maintained the grounds and buildings.
In May, 2018, at a special town meeting, the town voted to "dispose of" the property with the intention of selling it to the Historical Society at a nominal fee. Meanwhile, due to lack of a certificate of occupancy on the buildings, we have had limited access to them.
We expect that following approval of Probate Court, hopefully in 2019, ownership of the property will pass to the Historical Society. With this change comes the opportunity to restore these buildings to use as museum, meeting place and collection storage. With it also comes the challenge to raise the necessary funds and to increase the active membership to pursue these projects.
While we await full access to the Pitt property, we have been busy creatively fundraising. In October an exuberantly successful benefit concert of Irish music by Ikeys Crossing filled the house.
Even now we are selling raffle tickets for a drawing November 23. The winner will take home a handsome reproduction of the 18th century Connecticut Valley style tavern table in the Pitt Collection crafted by Ken Noyes.
Plans are nearing completion for a benefit showing of paintings of Colrain scenes by local and visiting artists, past and present, at the Buckland-Shelburne Community Center April 13 – 14, 2019
Having temporarily lost the use of the Stacy Barn for our meetings and programs, we moved into Joan McQuade's barn across the street to continue our series of popular programs, among them:
- Ross Purrington's red covered meat wagon and its story
- The Hollister Collection, pre-Revolution to the present
- Those Griswolds, founding father and descendants
As iconic buildings disappear from Coleraine Village (most recently the Blue Block), the Colrain Historical Society remains a historic presence and a bright spot of activity As we embark on some long-term heavy lifting, won't you help us with a generous donation? We are grateful for gifts of any size for the support and encouragement they represent.
Further, we entreat your active participation in our activities as we head into the new era.
Thank you,
CHS Board of Directors
Belden Merims, Joan McQuade, Ken Noyes, Ken Shearer, Debby Wheeler, Phil Sherburne, and Janet Umphress
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I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society!
Non-member friends who contribute $50.00 or more will become life members.
Name: ____________________
Address: ____________________
____________________
E-mail: ____________________
Phone: ____________________
Please accept my donation of ( ) $50 ( ) $100 ( ) $250 ( ) $500 Other: $ _____
Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you!
Note: The CHS is a 501 (3) (C) charitable organization, so all your donations are deductible to the extent of state and federal tax regulations.
Open a PDF copy of the letter in Google Drive to print the donation form:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_gYDsph5V0IMHg3Yy03MWt0N1E5Z1FkeDVHVXg1OFpyX2R3
