March 2017 Newsletter

March 2017 Newsletter

From the President . . . Rosanne “Bunni” Putnam

Just a reminder to our Springfield members and friends: the Society’s request for special funding will be on the Springfield Town Ballot again this year. This request is the same as last year, $9,500. In the bigger scope of the total town budget, this is not a large amount of money, but to the Society it makes a huge difference in what we can do to improve, protect, and display the town’s history. So once again I ask Springfield voters to please vote YES on Article #29. We will be at riverside voting day, if you have questions.
                                                      What is coming up . . .?

All programs are free and open to the public—come and bring a friend.
2017 is the 90th anniversary of three important events: Lindbergh’s World Tour in July, the Flood of 1927 in November, and the outbreak of World War 1 and the beginning of the Spanish Flu Epidemic. Until the first of April we have two new displays for you to come and enjoy.

In the main display room, Diane Kemble has put together a wonderful display that includes photographs and information on the effects of the Flood of 1927 on both Springfield and the State of Vermont. Also we have new paintings on display with a water theme. These two displays will be up until the beginning of April. In April, the high school interns will take over the entire museum to show their work on World War 1 and the Spanish Flu Epidemic. They have been working on these two projects throughout the school year and they are anxious to share this information with the public.

March 18, 2 PM: My Favorite History Book (any subject or time period) Do you have a favorite book about history? A book you could not put down? Have you wanted to share this book with someone? On March 18th come and share your favorite book with others who also enjoy a good history book. To get things started Russell Moore, Hugh Putnam and John Swanson will share their three favorite history books. Then they want you to participate in the discussion. So come and tell us about your favorite history book or historical author and hear what some others consider their favorites. This is great time to share with others who enjoy reading history.

April 15, 2 PM: Springfield in WW1 and the Spanish Influenza

April program: Join us for the opening of our exhibit, "Springfield, Vermont in WWI and the Spanish Influenza." Meet our high school interns and tour our new exhibit which looks at the role of Springfield during the First World War and the impact of the Spanish Influenza. Our student interns will be on hand throughout the afternoon to talk with visitors about their research and work that went into creating this display.

May 20, 2 PM: Hell is a Hole in the Dirt: The Evolution and End of Trench Warfare (WW1) Historian and re-enactor Richard Tucker will present "Hell is a Hole in the Dirt: The Evolution and End of Trench Warfare"; a talk on fighting styles of WWI. Rich is the chairman of the Board of Directors for the Living History Association of Vermont. He has a BA in US History and a Masters in military history from Norwich University. 

In the Furniture/Program Room, we have a display of photographs and documents with narratives about Lindbergh’s arrival at Springfield Airport, his only stop in Vermont on his nation-wide tour to promote aviation. We are always looking for new program ideas. If you know of or have a program, we would like to hear about it.

Collections: Although we still have many gaps, we were pleased that the Springfield Town Library has donated their duplicate copies of the “Manning City Directory” and SHS Yearbooks. These items will add so much to our expanding research library.

Photographs: We have been working on sorting out the Society’s photographs, pulling out duplicates, and putting them in categories to enter into Past Perfect. In the process we have found some interesting ones we will be sharing in the weekly Springfield Reporter newspaper article. Paul Petraska has been working on a large stack of Bryant photographs and would be glad to have some help identifying Bryant employees. Also we have two notebooks of Bernie Lashua school photographs, one of Union and Southview classes, from Helen Perkins’ estate, and one from Isabella Erickson’s estate, of teachers at Riverside Middle School and Park Street High School, that we are also trying to identify. Please come and help us put names to these school photos.

2017 Historical Photograph Calendar: We want to thank everyone who purchased the 2017 Historic Photograph Calendar. Because we do not charge admission, this is one way we can raise funds for the society. We still have a few left and have lowered the price to $5.00. For an additional $3, we will be glad to mail a calendar. We are already thinking about the photographs for next year’s calendar.

Also think of us when you shop on Amazon.com

An easy way to support SAHS: www.smile.amazon.com AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support SAHS every time you shop at Amazon.com at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, selection, and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to your chosen charity. From your web browser simply go to smile.amazon.com before you begin shopping and select a charitable organization (SAHS, we hope) to pass on donations from your eligible purchases.
We are open Saturdays from 1 to 4 PM, or by appointment by calling the Putnams at (802) 886-8430 or one of the other board members.

Springfield Art & Historical Society
PO Box 313
Springfield, VT 05156