GHS 2012-1

TOWN OF GREECE, NEW YORK HISTORIAN'S OFFICE

and the

GREECE HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM 2012 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 Society’s purpose is to collect, preserve, research and share local history with the Greece community

whose 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 greater

feeling 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 and Facebook page informing of coming programs and events, plus book and

membership order forms, online library

- DVD’s, videos and Power Point shows of various history subjects, sites and architecture

- a museum shop selling a variety of local history books

- the services of the Town Historian’s 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 Wegmans. 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 Society’s administrative offices, research library, museum shop and the office of the Town

Historian. An added wing houses The Greece Museum.

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

Society’s office is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, and by appointment. Special events

are held during the year and special exhibits are shown throughout the year.

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Alan Mueller

HISTORIAN'S OFFICE

The Greece Historical Society is under contract with the Town of Greece to

provide the services of the Town Historian. The Board of Trustees has appointed

Alan Mueller, a long time Greece resident and Society member with the title

“Town Historian.” 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’s home 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. Society volunteers do carry

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

The information about the Historian's Office in this report was written by Mr.

Mueller.

As in past years we continue to receive most of our requests by e-mail or telephone. About thirty plus

e-mails were asking for information about Greece history, citizens, local business, land use and

development. Phone calls were varied from seeking Grandview Beach history to who lived in the 500

block of Elmgrove Rd. in 1910-1940.

Several people from out of state made appointments to visit the historian’s office for research on their

families. Mr. and Mrs. Miles and Patricia McDonald from Riverside Ct. were here in September.

Patricia (Pat) wanted to visit the home of her grandparents, the Frank Beatty family who owned what is

now the original part of our museum complex. The Beatty's owned the house from 1909 to 1940 where

her father, Eugene, spent most of his childhood. We all had an enjoyable few hours while I showed them

through the house and exhibit hall.

Also in September, Robert Skellan from central New York State and Florida paid a surprise visit offering

us a 19th century shelf clock and information on his ancestors from Greece. George Snowhill Ivans, a

blacksmith in North Greece, was the owner of the clock. We gratefully accepted the clock and a transcript

of his family records. These records are now in the Historian’s office and the clock is on display in the

museum living room.

A ledger book from the late 1850's was gifted to the archives by Mark Tiernan. It had been in his family

for a number of generations. Several branches of the Tiernan family had been successful farmers in

Greece. The ledger, though worn, has many easily read entries listing produce shipments made on a

number of steamboats that left from the port at Charlotte bound for Canadian ports.

The Peck Road pioneer cemetery has been abandoned for well over a century. The grass is occasionally

cut by the town. All the remaining tombstones have been toppled and many buried under ground cover.

A local gentleman has been seeking information about the property in hopes of eventually preserving and

photographing what remains of the stones, in addition to keeping the area in better condition. We were

able to supply him with some historic information and a plot plan as to the possible location of some of

the buried gravestones.

With the help of two ladies from our museum committee we mounted a four year museum exhibit of the

Greece, N.Y. soldiers who served in the Civil War (1861-1865). The main focus is on the two major

regiments, 108th and 140th New York Infantry units where most of the Greece men served. Original and

re-enactor gear and fire arms have been loaned by members and friends. Archival material from the

historian’s file was used for the basic research. As time permits I'm also refining the list of Greece Civil

War Soldiers to include more biographical information.

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The files on 19th century town supervisors in many cases have only the years they served the town in that

capacity. Through Ancestry.com and other sources I am gradually unearthing information about many of

the largely forgotten public servants of that period. Betty Fetter has been my able assistant on this and

many other projects.

As in past years, I have attended the Spring and Fall meetings of the Monroe County Historians. This

year’s were held at the Parma Historic Society and the Honeoye Falls Community center. In April I

attended the first of two meetings of the Government appointed historians of western New York held at

Bohn's Restaurant in Batavia. The Fall meeting was on the campus of SUNY Brockport.

The New York Archive month celebration was at Pittsford Library on October 19th. Along with other

members of the Greece Historical Society I attended on a pleasant fall day.

For the second year in a row, we have supplied a column about every six weeks for the Friday issue of the

Democrat and Chronicle section of Our Towns West. Under the heading of Greece Memories a few of

them were: The William Connelly Log House, Saw Mills in Greece, Wagg's Department Store and The

North Greece Railroad station. The Historic Society publishes the Corinthian six times a year and I also

submit a column with archival photo's for each issue.

Our office provided material and suggestions that Marie Poinan's requested for her popular booklet "A

Brief History of Northgate Plaza". The Northgate Community Organization asked and received input on

the wording and placement of the historic sign in front of the rebuilt plaza.

Finally, because of the shifting aspects of the various office spaces at the Greece Historical Center, it was

decided to move several of the second floor offices. The historian’s office is now in a slightly roomier

office with room for a study table and additional file space.

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 2012 included an upgrade of the Native

American exhibit “Mother of Sorrows Parish and the Paddy Hill

Neighborhood,” “100 Years of Girl Scouts, ” “Local Men of the

Civil War” and “Christmas Memories”

MUSEUM TOURS Approximately 1,000 individuals toured the Greece Museum during

2012. There is no way of knowing the exact number, as many

individuals that tour the museum do not sign our guest book,

however approximately 900 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 Historical Society 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. During 2012 the education committee

added artifacts to the “Summer on the Lake” Native American exhibit, which tells of the fishing and

hunting camps of the early Iroquois and Algonquin Nations, and books were purchased for the reference

library about the Seneca Nation. A program about what the class will see when they visit the Greece

Museum on a field trip was presented to Longridge School. Hands-on activities were included. The

committee plans to offer this program to other schools in the coming spring. Plans are underway to add

hands-on activities to the museum to enrich our visitors’ experience when viewing the exhibits in the

museum.

ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNCATION & 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 on the Paddy Hill-Mother of Sorrows exhibit and we

presented programs to several Greece clubs. Our Facebook page

started in 2011 now has over 100 “friends” and a monthly e-mail

blast is now sent to over 365 people. Our web site

http://www.greecehistoricalsociety.net averages 75 visits per

week. Our bi-monthly newsletter the “Corinthian” is mailed to all

our members, distributed at the museum and our monthly

programs and also available on-line. We also mail additional

promotion material every other month. In 2012 we initiated an

outreach program with the Greece Library.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Professional Lectures - Our eight monthly lectures featuring local historians, authors and humanities

scholars have again proven to be very popular with the community. During 2012, attendance varied from

as few as 65 to as many as 150, for an average of 88 per program. The September program was part of the

“Speakers in the Humanities” series sponsored by the New York State Council for the Humanities. In

May we were especially honored to host local, innovative, architect James Johnson. Our programs have

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.

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Sunday Programs at the Museum - Beginning 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: “The Gates Hinchey House,” “Aviation

Pioneers of New York & Monroe County,” “Irondequoit Stories,”

“The Rochester Area in 1968,” “Genealogy tips,” “Rochester

Public Library History,” “Greece Volunteers Ambulance

History,” “Apple History at Hurd's Orchard,” “Weavers Guild of

Rochester Demonstration”, “Post Cards & Collectables” and an

Art Show by the Greece Community & Senior Center Art Club.

Native American Day - The Greece Historical Society’s second annual Native American Day

Celebration was held on November 10th, at the Greece Town Hall. Guests heard a lecture by Mr. George

Hamell from the Rochester Museum and Science Center, who spoke about the artifacts that he brought

with him some of which were found in Greece. Story teller Barbara Bethman-Mahooty shared many

stories not only about her own life but also some wonderful Native American tales and Mr. Bob Dobson

told of finding early Indian artifacts on their farm in 1934. The Dobson farm eventually became the site

of Northgate Plaza.

The purpose of the program was to bring awareness to the community of inhabitants of the land before

white settlers came in the late 1700’s. The Seneca people came to Greece camp sites well into the 1800’s,

fishing, hunting, gathering reeds, berries, and clay and trading vegetables, baskets, jewelry and furs with

our settlers.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

During 2012 members of Greece Historical Society have attended a Document Heritage Program, a day-

long Rochester regional event at the Pittsford Library. One trustee attended the statewide Museumwise

conference in Albany, and other members attended classes provided by the Rochester Regional Library

Council.

MUSEUM SOFTWARE Beginning in early 2012 we began transitioning our membership database to our new museum software

program PastPerfect. This software package will also eventually 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. The membership portion of the project was completed in the fall and we have

now begun to incorporate an inventory of our collection.

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 a

working 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, and the Rochester Regional Library Council. 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 sponsored the Seneca Waterways Council of the Boy Scouts 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 what and where they

would like to visit or what projects to undertake. Alan Mueller acted as the Historical Society’s

representative.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION The Greece Historical Society provides information to the Greece Historic Preservation Commission and

one GHS trustee is a member of that commission.

FUNDRAISING

Strawberry Festival - 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 Town’s

best neighborhood festival.

Community Yard Sale - In July we hosted a Community Yard Sale,

offering rented space to any member of the community to sell their

wares. Over 25 spaces were rented. Along with selling coffee and

donuts, we were able to find customers for some odds and ends that we

no longer needed.

Community Support - A local community participation promotion

sponsored by KeyBank resulted in a $1,000 gift and a one day giving

event sponsored by United Way resulted in over $500.00 charitable

donations from the community. Other monetary gifts were received

from individuals and groups to support our building fund and finance

a future video production, including a donation from member

Gretchen Howe Russo for our roof fund.

Gift Shop - Our gift shop continues to sell a large selection of books,

locally made quilts and varied items of local interest.

NORTHGATE PLAZA In conjunction with the grand re-opening of Northgate Plaza, the first major

suburban shopping plaza in Monroe County, the Society published “A Brief

History of Northgate Plaza” written by member Marie Poinan. The publication

has sold over 200 copies in only a few months. The Society also helped the

local neighborhood association design a historic sign about the plaza.

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VOLUNTEERS

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

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

guide visitors through our museum on Sunday afternoons. Still other

of our loyal volunteers spend 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. Some of our activates and programs where

volunteers played a special part in 2012 were Garden Clubs’ Plant

Sale (May), Strawberry Festival (June), Leadership Greece Visit

(Oct), Community Yard Sale (July) Native American Day (Nov) and the Christmas decorations and Open

House (Dec).

Other exhibits such as the “Mother of Sorrows-Paddy Hill Exhibit,” “100 Years of Girl Scouts” and

“Local Men of the Civil War” each took many hours of volunteer time from countless volunteers. Let's

not forget the many school and scout tours that were conducted by several retired teachers from our

education committee. Then there were our Sunday docents and Sunday programs, the museum shop

committee, finance committee, and the new Focus on the Future 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.

2012 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)