Annual Report - Winter 2013
(everything in the subscription newsletter is also here, with a link to the
Hudson Valley article noted below) (web links: copy, and paste into address bar)
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Good mid-winter (hoping the groundhog is wrong, or right, depending of what he portends) to all,
It
is Annual Report time again, and I take this chance to mail everyone – regular
subscribers and non-subscribers – for a look back at 2012 and a glimpse ahead
to 2013. (Exception: this newsletter has been emailed to those who regularly
receive by email.)
I trust mid-winter is
finding all in good health One of our usual topics is weather, of course, and
last year we basked in the warmer-than-usual temperatures. This year is not as
warm but still above average (without forgetting that one week frigid snap.)
On to the annual
report!
I have often written, “as
usual”, when referring to our
program-and-share-session cycle. However, this past year was a major change, a
change that will probably continue until circumstances warrant otherwise.
We started the year with a share session, snuck in a few minutes of
sharing during a couple meetings during the summer, and disguised a couple
partial share sessions as calendar-selection programs.
I still want to encourage people to share stories, artifacts, leads,
research, etc., but we will have to squeeze them in around the programs. My
reality in the recent past, as ringleader of this confabulation, was a shrinking
attendance base during share sessions, to the point where I was embarrassed to
schedule them as we used to do. So, for 2013, again, I am planning for a
program-mostly structure.
And, feedback about last year’s programs seemed overwhelmingly
positive, and worthwhile to try to replicate. (I must admit that I can always
use ideas for programs, and have received a couple good ideas – mom & pop
stores, for one.)
Our programs in 2012 included: Sunny Hill as classic boarding
house/resort (May); Dr. Titus, Hurricane Irene (June); Boarding Houses (July);
Town of Greenville photo history (August); (none in September – my trip to
France); France Travelogue, and selection of photos for 2014 calendar (October);
and finally, input on person to be recognized for 2014 calendar (November).
Included in the newsletter were several other significant pieces:
Vanderbilt Theater (Ron Gabriele’s article); map of the Historian’s records
room; Turnpikes in Greene County (Dave Dorpfeld’s article); articles about
Hurricane Irene by Prof. Titus; copy of map indicating 95 boarding house sites;
snippets from 1935 Greenville Locals – courtesy Lew Knott, and a few other
pieces that caught my attention.
A usual highlight of our year is the production of a calendar. Unfortunately,
2013 is devoid of a production but the good news is the 2014 calendar is on
schedule, thanks to the input from the last two meetings and from the input
suggested personally. Pictures have been selected, captions are being
formulated, and I hope to have the writing part done by April-May.
A
bit of suspense was left hanging over us after the last meeting concerning the
final determination of who we would recognize. The vote was decisive, with a
clear choice. And that person is…. well, the tally resulted in a tie, leaving
me with a question of what to do. So, in a flash of clarity (or, something like
that), and with your permission, I thought it appropriate to recognize both.
And,
the GLHG 2014 Calendar’s Persons to be Recognized are Dave Battini and Phyllis
Beechert. I have already interviewed both and will be writing up the pieces.
The boarding house project has loomed large in my local history work. A link to
my website (dteator.com) and then to (Greenville Boarding Houses) will show a
page listing all the “resorts” I can find evidence for; almost all have a
separate link off that page — some of them developing some details, some of
them with boilerplate info. If you have info for any of them, feel free to pass
it along. I’ll be taking time at one meeting to show off the overview and the
new work. (My most recent updates include Worldtop Acres, Happy Days, and Locust
Manor.)
Also
included online are the contents of paper documents in the Historian’s Files,
a document that you can download, even if it is fifty pages long.
Also
available are all of last year’s local history group newsletters.
And
also available on line, but not specifically intended for GLHG attention, is a
new project I took on in Dec 2012. The GCS After-School Enrichment program
invited me to contribute, and I am doing a Local History class, once a month, an
hour long, for six months for about eight students. Some of the content is on my
home page. Just in case, these are the web sites for paragraphs above:
===> http://www.dteator.com/zResort/resortweb.htm
– boarding houses
===> http://www.dteator.com/files.htm – Historian’s files
===> http://www.dteator.com/glhg/glhg.htm – newsletters
===> http://www.dteator.com/zASE/Week1.htm – after school
enrichment (and change the 1 to 2 for the next installment, and so on).
One
hope is that the long stretch of winter has allowed, and allows, for some work
on local history projects to be shared during the coming year, and there are
many ways to contribute. One useful way is to preserve some piece of
Greenville’s history. This may happen by the saving of an artifact or
knick-knack; however, the part that is tougher to save is the collection of
memories and stories.
And
thus, I urge you to audiotape or write your memories of Greenville people,
events, and places. Daunting at first, this recording becomes more and more
useful with the continual adding of sources. And, whatever method you choose to
share our local history, it is appreciated here. Below, I have listed, by
example, possible topics.
===> write up your own family history, dates,
stories, related material
===> write about a person in the community (even
better, write on a regular basis, for yourself, our newsletter, or community
newspaper)
===> write up a community event that is just a
memory, or write up a community event that is current but worth noting now while
the information is there. Examples:
===> Greene County Firemen Parades;
===> the Hot Air Balloon fest;
===> the snow drags at Balsam Shade;
===> the Greenville Drive-In;
===> GCS musicals; GCS graduation programs;
===> a GCS class history;
===> Memorial Day parades;
===> Eagle Scouts in Greenville;
===> winter storms;
===> floods;
===> an organization (Kiwanis, C of C, Rotary,
IOOF, Knights of Pythias, etc.)
===> a genealogy of a Greenville family
===> a house history
===> a street history (who lived where, during a
certain time)
===> last of the dirt roads
===> technological changes
===> the pond area, and dredgings
===> mom & pop stores
===> indexing obituaries – loose/in newspaper
===> indexing main stories in Greenville Locals
on file
===> re-reading a year, or two, or decade of the
Greenville Local and present an overview
===> make a photo album – you choose the topic
===> history of a school house
===> a waterway in the Town
===> politics of a selected era
===> budgets (of town, or school)
and I could keep adding another twenty quite easily but I will spare you for
now.
Our
membership numbers, well…, I used to add meeting attendees with newsletter
subscribers and come up with a number. That result usually numbered in the 65-75
range. However, the availability to view the newsletter on line, or to receive
them by email, is increasing that number, and I cannot really tell how much.
Increasing the “member” number further still are the attendees who came out
for one or two of the summer programs. My best guess, for now, is we have nearly
a hundred followers of the GLHG.
Attendance varied greatly, with about ten in April, to nearly sixty in
August, with an average of 30-35 from May to August.
This year’s schedule is
taking shape to a greater detail than I have ever done before. So, if you think
we should be trying other things, let me know.
For
now, the tentative (and some not so tentative) schedule is:
===> April – share session (Mary Shaw with some of her antique
teasers)
===> May – Baumann’s Brookside
as classic boarding house / resort (at Baumann’s)
===> June – speaker Chuck D’Imperio, upstate history books
===> July – (second Wednesday of month) – combine with
Civil War Round Table
===> August – the second annual Greenville history slide show
===> September – to be determined
===> October – to be determined
===> November – to be determined
Somewhere in the last two months, I need to present the calendar, and get
feedback about the next recognitions. If you have other ideas let me know, soon.
We will continue our second Monday of the month, Large Community Room, 7:30 schedule (should we be
changing to 7 pm, what do you think?).
A note about subscriptions.
Your address label has your subscription expiration date. (No date means the
subscription is expired.) Anyone wanting to receive the newsletter can subscribe
for $10 for a year (usually April – November issues, plus the annual) and
mailed to Don Teator, 3979 Rt 67, Freehold, NY
12431. Checks should be made out to: Don
Teator. Multiple years will be accepted. (The fee is to cover expenses of the
mailing; I always consider people not getting the mailing to be members if you
have ever expressed an interest in Greenville Local History, and I define that
loosely!)
Also, if your address label needs changing, let me know. In addition to
my address, I can be reached at 518-634-2397, and, for the computer literate, I
can be emailed at dteator@gmail.com.
Another subscription choice is to receive the newsletter by email,
thus saving you the $10 per year cost. The email has most of what is on paper.
(If you want to receive the email newsletter, email me, and I will add you to
the list.)
Another electronic “subscription” method is to go to the web
site address indicated earlier.
I will not be offended if you choose to save $10 and go the electronic route; the content will be the same, for the most part. No matter what you decide, I will continue to print a paper copy, and I hope that you keep in touch by any of these methods.
I hope to see you at the
April 8th share session (2nd Monday of April; 7:30
pm). Come with reports of what you’ve
been working on, or ideas that someone else might be able to use. Mary &
Allyn Shaw will bring a few of the antiques and have us guess what it is, as
they have done several times before. Feel free to bring an object or two you
have to supplement the Shaw collection and see if you can stump us.
One
more note: The Civil War Round Table, under Mary Heisinger’s leadership, meets
the second Wednesday of every month. The February 13 meeting is still to be set;
call her (966-4832) or email (Kler98@aol.com). The same is true for the March 13
meeting.
OK,
one more note. I have copied Hudson Valley Magazine’s book review of Dr.
Titus’ new book. I would encourage you to read, at least, a few chapters of
his book, and a purchase of The Hudson Valley in the Ice Age would help support
a local author, and one who has supported us.
(email list: go to: http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazine/February-2013/Ice-Age-in-the-Hudson-Valley-A-Geographical-History/
Other
quick notes: Sewer in Greenville? If it happens, it will be historic…. and I
am watching for a zoning ordinance to be presented to the public sometime soon.
The history and background of this topic since 2000 is certainly an
“interesting” one… and there was a nice restaurant write-up in the
Greenville Pioneer about the new restaurant Hamlet (the former Old Country Inn),
in Freehold. Of course, keep on frequenting our other eateries…. And…
Really,
one last note. Our membership list diminished by one with David Gumport’s
passing. I enjoyed Dave’s stories and appreciated his (and Harriet’s)
documentation of the Gumport influence on Greenville. Our thoughts go with
Harriet.
Until then, take care.
Don