greece historical society 2011 annual report

8/3/2019 Greece Historical Society 2011 Annual Report

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GHS 2011 - pg1

TOWN OF GREECE HISTORIAN'S OFFICE

and the

GREECE HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM

2011 ANNUAL REPORT

The Greece Historical Society was formed in 1969 and received its absolute charter from the New York

State Department of Education Board of Regents as a not-for-profit 501(c)3 corporation on November 21,1974. Concerned and interested community volunteers of various backgrounds and education lend their

talents to govern the organization as the Board of Trustees. They are guided in their efforts by

consultants of high standing in the museum field.

The Societys purpose is to collect, preserve, research and share local history with the Greece communitywhose population is approximately 95,000. We strive to provide the community with an awareness of the

past, an appreciation of the present, and a vision for the future, giving a sense of roots and a greaterfeeling of belonging.

To accomplish its purpose the Society offers:

- free public programs

- newspaper articles about local history

- group and school programs

- free docent led museum tours, especially school groups

- resource materials and books to area schools and libraries

- a resource library at our History Center

- special events- a web site informing of coming programs and events, plus book and membership order

forms, online library

- DVDs, videos and slides of various history subjects, sites and architecture- a museum shop selling a variety of local history books

- the services of the Town Historians office, maintained at the History Center

In 1988 the former home of Gordon Howe, Greece Town Supervisor for 26 years and former Monroe

County Manager, was donated to the Society by David Wegman. The 1855 farm house has been restored

by the Society and sits on land leased from the Town of Greece. The Town Campus includes the Town

Hall, Town Justice Court, Library and Community & Senior Center. The house, which the Society owns,

is the home of the Societys administrative offices, research library, museum shop and the office of theTown Historian. An added wing houses The Greece Museum.


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GHS 2011 - pg2

Alan Mueller

At present, the museum is open on Sunday afternoons or by appointment for docent lead tours. The

Societys office is open Monday mornings, and by appointment. Special events are held during the year

and special exhibits are shown throughout the year.

HISTORIAN'S OFFICE

The Greece Historical Society is under contract with the Town of Greece as the"Official Town Historian." That is, the Society, not an individual is the Greece

Town Historian. However, the historic documents, files, books, maps etc. from the

Greece Historian's Office are considered the property of the Town of Greece. One

room at the Historical Society is dedicated as the historian's office and not part of

the Greece Historical Society. The Greece Historical Society accessions

household, farm, business etc. objects for their collection. There is reciprocation

between the two entities, but each remains separate. The Society volunteers carry

out some responsibilities (i.e. education and programs) of the Town Historian.

Alan Mueller, a long time Greece resident and Society member has the primary

responsibility of maintaining the historian's office. The information about the

Historian's Office in this report was written by Mr. Mueller.

We continue to receive most requests by phone or e-mail. Several people have phoned from out of town

to request visits to our office. A retired police officer from the New York City Police Department stoppedin to gather material about our early constables and the history of the Greece Police Department. Two

sisters from Michigan with ties to early Greece also paid a visit gathering information about their

ancestors from Greece and also meeting with relatives whose families had stayed in Greece. Over forty

emails were answered about varied questions concerning Greece, its history or citizens.

We continue to receive and archive important materials for the files. Earlier this year we received a callfrom the town clerk, Patricia Anthony, that a number of early ledgers were taking up needed storage

space and was the Historian's Office interested in preserving them? We were and subsequently brought a

number of large boxes filled with ledger's dating back to the early 1880's to the office. They have yet to

be thoroughly examined, but a cursory inventory has been made. Some contain everyday businessdealings of the town. There are ledgers for the town road and maintenance departments, plus records

listing the town's poor residents. As time permits in the future, they will be more thoroughly examined

and properly preserved.

There are two meetings per year of the Monroe County Town Historians. The meeting in April was at the

Greece Historical Society. Twelve historians attended the gathering. A meeting of the State Appointed

Historians of Western New York was held near Batavia in May, which I attended. The fall meeting of the

Monroe County Historians was held at the Rush Town Hall. There are thirty Town/Village Historians inMonroe County; usually less than half attend these meetings, which was the case with this meeting.

The VanPutte family of Greece donated a cache of paper items and several yearbooks once belonging to

Grace Justice VanPutte. Another donation was from our former town historian, Virginia Tomkiewicz.Her daughter-in-law brought a number of boxes to the Historical Society and the Historian Office. Out ofthe many papers, folders, maps and other research material, we were able to glean a number of items

worthy of preservation.

I met several times this summer with members of the Northgate Community Association to assist them in

planning a proposed historic plaque for the rebuilt, rehabilitated and added new building for the Wal-Mart

store at Northgate Plaza to open in 2012.


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The Canandaigua National Bank opened its new branch on Latta Road, near Long Pond Road. Theinterior lobby and client office space all contains blow-ups of many vintage school photos. Some of them

were loaned and copied from the Historians Office file.

The Societys publication, The Corinthian is published six times a year. A full page called, "From theHistorians Office" features photographs and text I write about local people of interest or historical sites

around Greece. They featured the Dyson Family of Ridge Road, The Colby-Shearman House, Al Bower- amateur photographer of the 1900's, Greece Summer Fun in the Sun (varied photos of recreation spots

and activities). Back to School in 1911 and finally, Why Was It Called "The Elmheart? which was all

about the former summer hotel at Manitou Beach.

Historic and reference material for signage and posters was provided for the fire department collection

display of member Gene Preston, plus upgrade of the Agricultural exhibit and some assistance with a

vintage hat display.

My able assistant, Betty Fetter, continues sorting and coping relevant materials for the files and also

revising various categories. She, with the help of Bernie Wallenhorst, reorganized the vast Greece School

District files.

The Democrat and Chronicle launched a new weekly section of the paper appearing on Fridays, entitled

Our Towns-West. The town and village historians west of the Genesee River were encouraged to submit

articles with at least one photo of historical interest with a few short paragraphs about the view.

During 2011, I have submitted eight articles, each with at least one photo from the archives. The first wasabout the former town hall on Ridge Road. Following, about seven weeks apart were the Phelp's General

Store still standing at Latta and North Greece Roads, the William J. Thomas farm of Stone Road, The

Ridge Hotel, built about 1820, the Manitou Beach Hotel (circa 1890-1955), the former Britton Road

School, the Colby-Shearman house (moved from Ridge Road to Latona Road), and most recently the

Greece Grange.

GREECE HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM

MUSEUM EXHIBITS

Besides maintaining and updating the permanent exhibits in our

Museum exhibit hall, the Greece Historical Society's major

museum exhibits in 2011 included a Firefighting Memorabilia

exhibit, a Dolls & Teddy Bears exhibit and, Putting on theRitz, a hat and clothing exhibit. The year ended with a displayof new acquisitions.

MUSEUM TOURS

Approximately 1,000 individuals toured the Greece Museum

during 2011. There is no way of knowing the exact number, as

many individuals that tour the museum do not sign our guest book,however approximately 850 individuals did sign in, which

included group tours of seniors, scouts, elementary school children

(including home schooled children) and Leadership Greece.


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COMMUNITY EDUCATION

The Greece Museum continues to provide local history information to museum visitors and students of

Greece Central Schools, private schools and home school children through the expanded Early Iroquois

exhibit, in-class programs, and a Native American Day event with Ganondagan museum educator,

Veronica Reitter. Plans are underway to provide scouts with opportunities to earn Indian Lore and

Citizenship in the Community merit badges.

ORGANIZATIONAL PROMOTION

The Greece Post and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle have featured the Greece Historical Society in

several articles and columns during the year. Local TV station WROC did a feature story in December as

part of their Living Here segment and we presented programs to the Greece Rotary and Kiwanis clubs.A new Facebook page was created early in the year and updated almost weekly and a monthly e-mail

blast is now sent to over 260 people.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Professional LecturesOur eight monthly lectures featuring local historians, authors and humanities scholars have again proven

to be very popular with the community. During 2011, attendance varied from as few as 55 to as many as

120, with an average of 85 per program. The September and October programs were part of the Speakersin the Humanities series sponsored by the New York State Council for the Humanities. Our programshave earned a reputation throughout region for providing high quality, professional and entertaining

history lessons. Besides Greece, our guests regularly come from Victor, Henrietta, Hamlin, Spencerport,

Chili, Irondequoit, and the City of Rochester.

Sunday Programs at the MusuemBeginning in January the Greece Historical Society hosted a variety

of informal programs on Sunday afternoons in the museum. These

programs were varied with the intent to interest a wide variety of

people and ages. The programs included: depression glass, American

Girl dolls, History of the Manitou Trolley, Learn to knit, canals

travelogue, collectable costume jewelry, Greece stories - current and

past, The Koda-Vista Neighborhood history, home decorating ideas ,history of the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse, gardening ideas, GI Joe

collection of 12" military action figures and an art show.

Book Fair-Author dayIn November we organized and hosted a book fair/authors day with eight local authors offering a varietyof autographed, local interest books.


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Native American Day

Native American Day Celebration, November 5th, was held at

the Greece Town Hall to allow plenty of room for visitors to

hear the lecture by Ganondagan Museum Educator Veronica

Reitter about the Seneca Tribe and the Six Nations

Confederacy, plus room for a variety of activities for childrenand adults. The Education Committee displayed local artifacts

from known sites of Iroquois camps and villages. A map

helped identify the location of camp sites in Greece that were

discovered in archaeological digs in 1901 and 1912. A handoutfurther identified the sites by name and location with pictures

of actual artifacts found at each site. The purpose of the program was to bring awareness to the

community of inhabitants of the land before white settlers came in the late 1700s. The Seneca peoplecame to Greece camp sites well into the 1800s, fishing, hunting, gathering reeds, berries, and clay and

trading vegetables, baskets, jewelry and furs with our settlers. The event had an attendance of about 65

people.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT During 2011 members of Greece Historical Society have attended

a Document Heritage Program focusing on the use and archiving

of maps. The day-long Rochester regional event took place at the

Kate Gleason Auditorium, in Rochester's Central Library on South

Avenue. One trustee attended the statewide Museumwise

conference in Buffalo. The Society hosted a program for local

historians titled Primary Sources in Teaching and Learningconducted by Ontario County Historian, Preston Pierce. Other

programs or classes attended were presented by the RochesterRegional Library Council or the State Document Heritage Program

included Researching, Writing and Publishing Local History, Conversations About Researching,Writing and Publishing Local History Books, Historical Records and Archives and EncodedArchival Description

EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE ACQUIRED

New equipment this year included a new computer, printer, and PastPerfect Museum Software. The new

software package will enhance the organization of our collection to include photographs in our inventory

along with donor information. Other features of the software are the ability to share information with

other museums and to make images and archives more available to the public. Eventually PastPerfect

will enable us to more accurately record membership information.

ORGANIZATIONS

It is imperative that the Greece Historical Society maintain a relationship with professional and

community organizations. The following are the organizations that the Society is a member of, or has aworking relationship with: The Association for Public Historians of New York State, Greece Chamber of

Commerce, Landmark Society of Western New York, Western New York Association of Historical

Agencies, Museumwise (formerly Upstate History Alliance), American Association of State and County

Historians, Rochester Regional Library Council and the New York Council for Non-Profits. We also

maintain a close co-operation with local historic societies, especially the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse,

and meet regularly with local historians, and society president, Bill Sauers is a member of the Document

Heritage Program Regional Advisory Committee and the Town of Greece Historic Preservation

Commission.


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CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

There were no major capital improvements to the museum building in 2011, although a new roof and

repair of the back exit porch are anticipated in the near future.

BOY SCOUTS

The Greece Historical Society sponsors the newly organized Seneca Waterways Councilof the

BoyScouts of America Venturing Crew #1910. The group is open to all students age 14 to 20 who are

interested in archives and museum studies. The meetings are run by members of the crew and they decide

hat and where they would like to visit or what projects to undertake. Alan Mueller acts as the sponsorsrepresentative. Members of the Venture Crew visited the Greece Museum and the Historians office inJune.

COMMUNICATON

Our web site http://www.greecehistoricalsociety.net

has had as few as 250 and as many

as 500 hits in each month of 2011.

Although we are sure some of thehits are individuals looking for

"Greek" history it is still impressive

that so many people are looking at

our historical society and museum.

Because of the decline in free printadvertising we initiated a Facebook

page and now send an e-mail blast once a month to over 260 people.

HISTORIC PRESERVATIONThe Greece Historical Society provides information to the Greece Historic Preservation Commission.

FUNDRAISING

The major fundraising event of the year was the annual

Strawberry and Dessert Tasting Festival with area vendors

offering samples of their dessert products, plus a D-J,

entertainment and information displays from several local non-

profit organizations. Last year nearly 500 of our guests enjoyed,

what we considered the Towns best neighborhood festival.

VOLUNTEERS

It takes many volunteers to run our organization. Some may loan us

a treasured heirloom, fix a broken toilet, help with a single event or

guide visitors through our museum on Sunday afternoons, while

still others spend literally hundreds of hours during the year to keep

the place going. With so many volunteers throughout the year, it is just impossible to list everyone, especially with all the help we

received this past year.


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Some of our activates and programs where volunteers played a special part in 2011 were: Firefightingmemorabilia with Gene Preston (Spring), Garden Clubs Plant Sale (May), Strawberry Festival (June),

Leadership Greece Visit (Oct), Book Fair/Authors day & Native American Day (Nov), New acquisitions

display (Dec), and the Christmas decorations and Open House (Dec).

Other exhibits such as Dolls & Teddy Bears, Putting on the Ritz hat exhibit, and the New

Acquisitions display, each took many hours of volunteer time from countless volunteers. Let's not forgetthe many school and scout tours that were conducted by several retiredteachers from our education committee. Then there were our Sunday docents,

the museum shop committee, finance committee, the regular Monday morning

group and our board of trustees. We can't forget the Greece Garden Clubs who

maintain our gardens and the employees from the Town who will occasionally

lend a hand when needed. Thank you everyone for your support.

Finally, a special thank you goes to our former executive director, Lorraine

Beane, who retired this past year after serving in that position for many years.

2011 BOARD OF TRUSTEES:

William M. Sauers (President)Wendy Peeck(Vice President)

Jack Wallenhorst (Treasurer)

Lee Strauss (Bookkeeping & Education)Sandy Peck(Secretary)

Cynthia Shevlin (Newsletter Editor)Paula Smith

Sue Hodge

Roberta Young

Viola White

Donald C. Newcomb (Honorary Trustee)

_______________________________

William M. Sauers

President

_______________________________

Alan Mueller

Historians Office

greece historical society 2011 annual report

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