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12-11-05   Thompson-Ames Historical Society
Looks Back and Ahead

Sunday, December 11th saw Thompson-Ames Historical Society close the curtain on a full calendar of 2005 events.

Sunday’s weather was perfect for the Rowe House “Open House” and the annual presentation of “The Living Nativity”, a community activity in which Gilford’s historical society participates along with the Gilford Community Church and the First United Methodist Church of Gilford-Laconia.

Some words of acknowledgement and appreciation seem appropriate.

As in years past, Jim Colby, Stan Piper, Dale DalPan, Lloyd Ekholm, and Ed LaSala -- members of Thompson-Ames Historical Society’s Buildings and Grounds Committee -- were in charge of erecting the stable on the terrace of the Meetinghouse.

This they did on Wednesday and Thursday, just prior to Friday’s Nor-easter.

On Saturday and Sunday portions of Friday’s snowfall needed to be cleared away to accommodate the animals and people. To the rescue came community-oriented youth who shoveled snow, Ted Anderson who plowed to open up areas near the Meetinghouse, and Sheldon Morgan who plowed to make additional parking spaces for the cars and trucks.

The Rowe House was ready in time for the first of the visitors who stopped in for the 1:00-3:00 “Open House”, for which Kathy Lacroix and Pete Allen served as hostess and host.

About 1:30 the Meetinghouse became a buzz of activity as the Reverend Vickie Woods-Parrish arrived and carried armful after armful of costumes in for the pageant participants to wear and the Reverend Michael Graham brought the manger. Soon the participants arrived to don their appropriate costumes.

Outdoors there was a stir of activity as Kathy Salanitro led a pair of her 1 ½- year old oxen into the stable and Jeff Keyser set up a pen for the two young lambs that he had brought from Dick and Betty Persons’ Rambl’n Vewe Farm while wife Joyce Keyser and daughter Cassidy watched over their donkey Eeyore. By 2:00 a representative from the Gilford Police Department arrived as did a good throng of adults, many with children in hand, ready to witness and participate in the annual pageant.

Soon the air was filled with the sounds of the narrator’s voice, the singing of the old familiar carols and the sounds of the animals as the pageant proceeded as it has now for thirteen years.

Afterwards adults and children paused to admire the animals up close before entering the Meetinghouse where Nan Fay and Marion Ekholm served hot spiced apple cider and cookies while Mary Frost, Lloyd Ekholm, Jim Colby, Herb Riley, Pete Labonte, and Stan Piper were on hand to answer questions about the museum displays. As 2005 draws to a close, members of Thompson-Ames Historical Society are now turning their attention to 2006.

At the Annual Meeting on December 5th, elections determined Thompson-Ames Historical Society’s officers and members of the Board of Directors for 2006. The results are as follows:

Officers
	President:	Vice-Pres:
	Joan Nelson	Carol Anderson
	Secretary:	Ass’t. Sec’y.:
	Judy DalPan	Carol Dale
	Treasurer:
	Rick Moses

Board of Directors:
Pete Allen, Carolyn Brown, Mary Chesebrough, Virginia Clifford, James Colby, Dale DalPan, Lloyd Ekholm, Don Frost, Mary Frost, Fred Kacprzynski, Gerald Knight, Kathy Lacroix, Carmel Lancia, Ed LaSala, Diane Mitton, Sheldon Morgan, Esther Peters, Stan Piper. (One member of the Curatorial Committee is Tricia Volovine.)

At the first meeting of the Board of Directors, slated for 1:00 p.m., Monday, January 9, 2006, two important items of business will be (1) determining committee memberships and (2) working on the year’s programs.

A final statement regarding 2005 is the names of the winners of T-AHS’s raffle drawings which took place, as scheduled, at 3:00 p.m., on Saturday, December 3rd.

The name “Choate” was on the winning raffle ticket for the quilted wall hanging “Sugaring Time”, a joint project of artist Stan Piper and quilter Ellen Peters. As of press time, T-AHS has not as yet been able to reach the winner by telephone.

The winner of the American Girl Doll “Felicity”, with wardrobe created by Carol Anderson and a Gilford-based journal, is Carmel Lancia. A delighted winner, Carmel remarked, “I can’t wait to read the journal to my granddaughter!”

Thanks to its many volunteers, Thompson-Ames Historical Society, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, continues to carry out its mission, to preserve and celebrate the cultural history of Gilford, NH.

For further information about Thompson-Ames Historical Society, do check out its website www.gilfordhistoricalsociety.org.