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Events Schedule
Open House Events will
resume in May 2012
Hope to see you here!
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Business Partners Page
Christmas
in Wilbraham 2011 was a festive event! Our guests marveled at
the ice
carving demonstration on the front lawn of the Old Meeting House.
They sipped
Mulled cider and munched on baked goodies! Thanks so much to all
who contributed. Many thanks also to the creators of our
Christmas Displays, including:
The
Village Store
Five Star Gardens
Wilbraham Flowers
Wilbraham Public Library
The Old Meeting House
Evangel Assembly
Lower Pioneer Valley Collaborative
Joan Paris
Wilbraham Art League
St. Cecilia Church
Gardens of Wilbraham
Wilbraham Agricultural Commission
Our Tribute to Veterans open house in November 2011 featured a display of
uniforms from the past to honor and thank all who served in the
United States Armed Forces.
Thanks to the Village store for providing a delicious lunch for
our visitors.
The Old Meeting House Museum hosted a successful Antique Appraisal
event in October 2011.
Thanks to Peter Imler and his staff of Stanton Auctions for
appraising items brought in by the public at the Museum. More than 100
items were appraised during a busy Sun-day afternoon!
Stanton Auctions is a family owned business, located in Hampden, that
has con-ducted antique and estate auctions for 3 generations. Members of
the Old Meeting House wish to thank Stanton Auctions for their time,
efforts, and support. We sin-cerely appreciate all that they did to help
make this fundraiser a success.
Thank you to everyone who brought in antiques for appraisal. The
proceeds of the event will go to the general operations and upkeep of
The Old Meeting House Museum.
Many thanks
to Mainly Drafts of Ludlow for providing Main Street Horse & Wagon Tours
at our September 2011 open house. 
The August 2011 open house was a fascinating learning
experience for all. There was a presentation and demonstration of
colonial era education by well-known local historian, Dennis Picard.
Also attracting an interested crowd were antique
autos through the ages showcased outside in the yard.
Thank you to all who participated and assisted with this event.
Our July 2011
Ice Cream Social and Art Exhibit was a thoroughly enjoyable event.
Thanks to Friendly's for the use of their ice cream freezer.
The
Wilbraham Art League artists brought an impressive exhibit of various
mediums. Frank Tencza, Caryl MacLeod, Kris Crimmins, and
Ann Carter showed us their
amazing skills by creating art plein air in the garden.
The sixth annual Quilt Show (2011) was a success. Over 75 guests
attended the open house events held in both May and June. Thanks
to all the quilting artists who loaned us their unique and beautiful
pieces: Betsy Cobb, Ginny Rickert, Carolyn Snyder, Kathy Farrell,
Meta DeSantis, Ann Mailhot, Nancy Peck, Sandy Sanders, Mindy Camyre and
Maria Jusczyk.
Thanks to Jo Miner for the demonstration of her incredible
weaving skills, and to Fran Selva who provided a basket weaving
demonstration.
An additional thanks also goes out to Claudia Trzeciak of
Wilbraham Flowers for her floral displays that decorated the Old
Meeting House.
Our sincere thanks go out to Sgt. Glen Clark for speaking and
sharing his photographs at our September 2009 open house. He
shared a personal perspective of his experiences volunteering
at the site of the World Trade Center with five
other Wilbraham police officers (Christian
Letendre, Shawn Baldwin, Christopher Doyle, Harold Swift, and Clifton
Graves)
after the September 11, 2001
tragedy in New York.
 Our
August 2009 open house featured a unique collection of wedding attire dated
from the 1800’s to the present. It was fascinating to see how the styles have changed over
the years. Thanks to those who donated and loaned us their gowns
and veils, etc. Many thanks to
Quinn’s Fine Jewelers
and Wilbraham
Flowers for providing their beautiful samples of jewelry and flowers
to enhance the beauty and ensure the success of this event.
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Interested in the
History of Wilbraham?
If you are
interested in the history of Wilbraham, then the Atheneum
Society of Wilbraham is interested in you! Our non-profit
organization is served by a board of trustees, whose numbers
have dropped over the years while the number of members to the
organization has been on the increase. We are seeking
individuals who are interested in preserving local history as
well as educating and involving the community.
There has
never been a better time to join this important group! Our
membership numbers have increased and our open house events have
drawn record attendance. The year still holds some fascinating
exhibitions and exclusive programs that are incorporated into
our monthly open house events.
We meet
monthly as a Board of Trustees from April through December. In
addition, we staff the Old Meeting House on Main St. one Sunday
each month for an open house event which includes a themed
program. Knowledge of Wilbraham history is not required to be a
trustee; the desire to know more about the town and its history
is our only pre-requisite. Please feel free to share this
request with anyone you know who fits this criteria.
We invite
you to join us and leave your mark on the community. Use
your personal strengths to support us and serve our community in
a meaningful way by preserving its history. Anyone
interested in joining the Atheneum Society of Wilbraham as a
trustee can contact Caroline Cunningham of Wilbraham Public
Access at 599-0940 or send an e-mail to
volunteer@wilbrahamatheneum.org.
What's New at
The Atheneum
Society of Wilbraham
Atheneum
Inventory Management (AIM) Project
The collections
at the Atheneum Society of Wilbraham are a vital asset to our
community, and the maintenance of those collections is the job
of the curators. We, like many other small museums, have been
maintaining and documenting the collections, contacts and
donations on paper, until now.
We are excited to announce that our new
volunteer curator team has obtained a laptop and purchased and
installed a copy of PastPerfect software,
the
most widely used collection management software in the world.
These volunteers have been meeting every week to slowly and
steadily sort through paper records and museum collections;
photograph, organize and label items; and enter descriptions,
locations, dates and donors for each item onto the computer.
When the project is finally
complete, the items in our collection will be stored with
accompanying multimedia information (such as images and document
files) and easily searchable.
This cataloging process will not
only provide a searchable database; it will also serve to
familiarize the new curators with the collections, helping them
to retrieve objects and information for research and development
of intriguing museum exhibits, programs, and publications. It
will strengthen the
Atheneum
Society of Wilbraham's
ability to fulfill its mission by making it more efficient to
share knowledge, educate and involve our local community.
(3/2011)
Grants Awarded to the Atheneum Society
The Community
Foundation of Western Massachusetts awarded $4,000 to the Old
Meeting House Museums in support of a new display. The display
will be constructed in the garden at the Meeting House and will
feature a church bell from an old Wilbraham church which was
donated to the Museum by Jesse Rice several years ago.
The bell has
been housed in the Museum’s Hearse House temporarily until the
new display can be built. Be sure to look for the bell display
in the spring!
Thank you to
The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts for their
support of our mission.
(11/2011)
The Atheneum
Society of Wilbraham was awarded a $5,000 grant from the
Community Foundation of Western Mass. The grant funds will
be used to create a permanent outdoor display for the church
bell that now resides in the hearse house.
The bell, which comes from the Baptist church that was once in
north Wilbraham, was a gift from the late Jesse Rice. The
bell will be mounted on a granite slab and placed in the gardens
at the Old Meeting House.
Be sure to check our progress in creating this new display.
(6/2011)
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PEPPERCORN
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2008
Winter
2008
March/April
2009
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2009
July/August 2009
Fall
2009
Winter 2009
Spring 2010
Summer
2010
Fall
2010
Spring 2011
Summer 2011
Fall 2011
PRESS
Antique Autos have a lawn party at the Old
Meeting House
Times - Girl Scouts Quilt Show
Wilbraham Native Americans Open House
Many thanks to
talented soapstone artist
Jerry Wilson for sharing
his sculptures and expertise
at our successful September 2008 Open House!
 We extend special thanks to
Sgt.
Glen Clark for displaying his Election Memorabilia and sharing his knowledge at our lively October 2008 Open House.
The November 2008 Open House featured the historic gravestone
rubbings from the collection of Dr. Mel Williams. The collection
included rubbings from local cemeteries as well as others throughout New
England. We would like to thank his son, Scott Williams, for being a part
of the open house and giving the visitors more information and insight
into this special collection.
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The
Atheneum Society of Wilbraham