<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Thompson-Ames Historical Society - Gilford Steamer Articles
Museum Buildings
Grange Building
Union Meetinghouse
Benjamin Rowe House
Tours, Meetings, Programs
In Quest of History
Gilford Steamer Articles
Gift Shop
TAHS Involvement
About Us
Links


The Thompson-Ames Historical Society writes a
weekly column for the Gilford Steamer.


A recent article is shown below.
You may view and / or download previous articles here...



7-14-05
Gilford’s Historical Society offers more
Saturday morning activities in July

Saturday morning, July 16, Thompson-Ames Historical Society will offer to the public a continuation of the Heritage Arts and Crafts Bees that meet the third Saturday morning of each month in the Grange Museum Building, at 8 Belknap Mountain Road, from 10:00 a.m. until noon.

Upstairs in Grange Hall, Carol Anderson will act as hostess. She will introduce “Penny Dolls”, jointed wooden dolls of historic design. Available will be some Penny Dolls, made by T-AHS volunteers who have been creating a variety of wooden toys of historic design. Interested participants will have an opportunity to purchase and then create clothing for the Penny Dolls while other participants understandably will choose to continue with their on-going projects, such as rug braiding and knitting.

Downstairs in the Grange Museum Building, attention will focus on an array of wooden toys of historic design. Stan Piper will introduce “The Dancing Man”, the most recent in a series of mechanical toys made of wood. Kits to create a wooden toy of historic design will be available for the young at heart to purchase and assemble. Volunteers will be on hand to assist. Also available for purchase will be finished toys.

On Saturday morning, July 23, Kathy Lacroix will present her ever-popular “Early School Days” at the Union Meetinghouse, at 24 Belknap Mountain Road. Mrs. Lacroix, a retired teacher with a deep interest in history, chose the Meetinghouse as the site for this activity because one of the eight theme-area displays in this 1834 museum building is “School Days”. The theme display includes antique children’s disks, three from former one-room school houses and one from the 1938 opening of Gilford’s consolidated school, as well as vintage pens, books, and slates. Mrs. Lacroix will also share a vintage sampler and a Horned book replica from the Society’s collections.

This workshop, geared to meet the interests and needs of children in grades 2 – 4, has been designed to give the participating children an opportunity to experience school-day activities of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Children will have the opportunity to use chalk to write on slate and quill pens to write with ink as well as to view vintage straight-nibbed pens, blotting items involving sand and felt, and fountain pens from the Society’s collections.

Furthermore, Mrs. Lacroix will lead the participating children in sharing vintage learning games, replicas of historic wooden toys, and outdoor games.

In order to assure success, participation in “Early School Days” is limited to 8 children in grades 2 – 4. To reserve a place for a youngster, please telephone 524-3390, and leave your name, telephone number and a brief message regarding the youngster(s) who wish to participate, and Kathy Lacroix will return your call.

As usual, light refreshments will be served at each Thompson-Ames Historical Society Saturday morning get-together.

For further information about Thompson-Ames Historical Society, please view the society’s website www.gilfordhistoricalsociety.org or telephone 527-9009. Visitors are welcomed to stop in to visit whenever the “Open” flag is displayed outside the Grange Museum Building.

Thompson-Ames Historical Society is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organization with an educational mission to preserve and celebrate the cultural history of Gilford, NH.

Requests for guided tours of the museum buildings are welcomed by Thompson-Ames Historical Society. All three museum buildings are listed on recognized registers of historic places. The Grange Museum Building is listed on the National Register as the John J. Morrill Store of 1857, while the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places includes the 1834 Union Meetinghouse and the c. 1838 Benjamin Rowe House. All three museum buildings are located along Gilford Village’s Belknap Mountain Road, at 8, 24 and 88 respectively. Each museum building houses a variety of theme displays featuring an ever-growing collection of vintage items which individually and collectively help make history come alive.

Extensive archival collections are located in Thompson-Ames Historical Society’s office in the Grange Museum Building and prove helpful in fleshing out Gilford’s history. Dating back to the year 2000, Town support has enabled T-AHS to employ part time a person dedicated to cataloging and managing these ever-growing collections which reflect Gilford’s historic roots and prove useful time and time again to help inquirers learn about their family’s and town’s unique heritage.

Membership in Gilford’s Thompson-Ames Historical Society is open to all persons who share the society’s mission, to preserve and celebrate Gilford’s cultural history. Persons who step forward to provide needed financial support and/or to become actively involved as volunteers are essential to the continuing work of Gilford’s historical society.