Progress is being made but the Museum is still closed

We regret that the installation of the new doors is taking more time than originally anticipated and the Museum remains closed.

Museum Closed for Door Repair

New doors are being installed in the Cavendish Historical society (CHS) Museum. Consequently the Museum will be closed on Sunday, Sept. 23. We regret any inconvenience. To arrange for a visit at another time, please call 802-226-7807 or e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com

CHS Briefs September 1, 2018

Where did the summer go? It’s flown by and we’re already immersed in school programing, Phineas Gage and much more.

WHAT WE’RE DOING

Carmine Guica Young Historians: With the state having changed the curriculum for social sciences, we’ve been very busy working with teachers at Cavendish Elementary as well as Green Mountain Union High School (GMUHS) preparing lots of new programs. We start with RiverSweep, a joint activity of CHS, Black River Action Team, CTES 6^th graders and the town. Stewardship is something we foster throughout the year, particularly with our 6^th grade. The T shirts they receive from BRAT for helping to clean and maintain the river, are often worn on other outings such as cemetery cleaning, laying flags on veterans’ graves etc.

Board member, Bruce McEnaney has wanted for years to take the kids on the Foliage Train. On Oct. 16 (Wed) we will be taking the 4^th grade students on a guided tour where they will learn a lot about how and why the towns developed, the impact the railroad had and much more. We are working closely with Green Mountain Railroad who has offered a special discounted price for adults who wish to join us that day. If interested please call 802-226-7807 or e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com

Solzhenitsyn:. Recently public access station, Okemo Valley TV filmed the CHS Solzhenitsyn exhibit. This is available at their website as well as being aired on Comcast TV. VT Digger has also posted an article

Solzhenitsyn’s Adopted State Marks his 100^th.

An evolving calendar for the months ahead includes:

• September 7-8: Reading Solzhenitsyn: An International Conference Margo Caulfield will be speaking on Sept 7 as part of the program for teachers. Her talk will be “The Stories behind the Quotes: Using Solzhenitsyn's Writings for 21st Century Students.”

• October 15: Publication of “Between Two Millstones,Book 1.”  Fast-paced, absorbing, and as compelling as the earlier installments of his memoir The Oak and the Calf (1975), Between Two Millstones begins on February 12, 1974, when Solzhenitsyn found himself forcibly expelled to Frankfurt, West Germany, as a result of the publication in the West of The Gulag Archipelago. Solzhenitsyn moved to Zurich, Switzerland, for a time and was considered the most famous man in the world, hounded by journalists and reporters. During this period, he found himself untethered and unable to work while he tried to acclimate to his new surroundings. There are passages on Solzhenitsyn’s family and their property in Cavendish, Vermont, whose forested hillsides and harsh winters evoked his Russian homeland, and where he could finally work undisturbed on his ten-volume history of the Russian Revolution, The Red Wheel.

• November 15: Vermont Historical Society at the University Heights South, Room 133.  Presentation by Margo Caulfield “I Wrote and Waited": Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Life in Cavendish, VT

• Margo will also be doing a presentation for the Oshler Center for Life Long Learning at Dartmouth. Date to be announced.

• The Solzhenitsyn exhibit continues at the Vermont Historical Society Museum in Montpelier until October 20.

SAVE THE DATE

Sept: 9 (Sunday): Annual Phineas Gage Talk & Walk-Met at the Museum at 2 pm. Wear comfortable walking shoes. The accident site is a little over ¾ of a mile from the Museum

Oct. 7 (Sunday): 1^st Peoples of Cavendish Talk will focus on the earliest occupants of the land, dating back 11,000 years ago. It will include a discussion of how North America became occupied and evidence of first occupation in Cavendish. The talk begins at 2 pm.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

If you can help with any of the following, please contact CHS margocaulfield@icloud.com; 802-226-7807 or PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142

• Baby Boomers: Recently CHS acquired a fan from the 1950s and it has sparked a conversation that we have far more examples of life in 1800s Cavendish then we do from more recent times. If you have items you would like to donate, CHS is working on a “Life in Cavendish-Baby Boomer Style.”

• CHS is looking for new board members as well as volunteers who can help with various activities.