Woodland Garden Tour and Plant Sale Benefit

May 21 and 22, 9am - 4pm

A woodland garden tour and special plant sale at 90 Call Road in Colrain will benefit the Colrain Historical Society. The extensive gardens wander along the forest edge and house and are bounded by the Fox Brook and centuries old stone walls. Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Mountain Laurel will be blooming along with Spring ephemerals. Special and rare Spring plants can be seen including Lady Slippers at the woods edge.

The plant sale will feature woodland and Spring plants as well a rarely found collection of Epimedium from a specialty grower. Yellow transectional peonies will also be for sale.

The cost is $10.00 for the tour and plant sale. Admission includes 1 free raffle ticket for unusual plants donated from garden centers. Refreshments will be served.

Please wear walking shoes as the terrain is uneven. The event will be held rain or shine.

Please call 413-624-8800 for more information.

Program: A Hurrah’s Nest and other Yankee Talk

May 12th, 7 pm 

Sarah and Harry Hollister will present a lively reading of a New England short story from the “local colorist” period (1860-1900)*, when the Colrain Historical Society resumes in-person programs at the Stacy Barn behind the Pitt House Thursday, May 12. 

The story by Alice Brown provides a window into the lives of our ancestors, using local dialects, phrases and a fair amount of humor. The speakers will give a little background on the “local colorist” writers, most of whom were women.

Photo and brief biography of Alice Brown.

Source: https://www.bostonathenaeum.org/library/book-recommendations/athenaeum-authors/alice-brown

The program at 7:30 p.m. will follow a business meeting at 7:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served, and the program is free and open to the public. 

 Welcome back! 

 * During the late 1800’s “local color”, as defined as the characteristics and traits that make a location unique, was popular in literature.

Historical Notes 2022

The Spring 2022 edition of Historical Notes, the newsletter of the Colrain Historical Society, was mailed in earlyApril. Click on the photos of the pages below to view a larger image.

Colrain Historic Surprise

 Colrain Historic Surprise 

I walked through the Pitt House breezeway

And wondered why it’s there.

Did it protect the farmer

When there was weather in the air?

Was it to keep the wagon dry, 

Outside shelter for the herd? 

Was it access to the grass behind, 

The wood lot? 

What’s the word? 

And then this narrow yellow door 

I noticed to my right. 

I pressed the antique thumb latch down 

And guess what came to light? 

A tiny room and all enclosed, 

Vented windows way up high. 

I wondered just how many times 

I’d passed this doorway by. 

A member since the eighties, 

I’d toured house and barns before. 

I wondered why in all that time, 

No one pointed out this door. 

A bench was built across the back, 

Little room to turn around. 

Rusted hook holds rusted lantern 

In this precious place I’d found. 

Lath and plaster on the walls 

In a barn, who would have thought? 

And on that plaster, maple leaves 

Hand-stenciled, the whole lot. 

The bench had two hinged covers 

But they were both nailed shut. 

My guess—for hiding two large holes 

For doing you know what. 

I imagined the Sears catalog, 

Pages torn, not meant for reading. 

I think by now you all must know 

Which way this rhyme is leading. 

The reason for this breezeway? 

Pay attention one and all, 

Was to keep Mother Nature 

From impeding nature’s call! 

Guy Wheeler

Colrain Historical Society

Poem and photo posted on the Colrain Historical Society website with permission from the author.

This poem was previously published in the Colrain Clarion - February 2022 Issue.