Happy New Year!
In today’s brief we take a quick look back at 2023 as well as look forward to new activities for 2024.
This has been a rather challenging year. Just when we thought we could return to normal summer programming, now that Covid is under much better control, along comes the July floods. Once again, the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) provided information on prior events in 2011 and 1927, along with documenting the current situation and its invaluable information for future generations. We were particularly pleased to see our Young Historians lending a helping hand, be it walking the streets with water, or helping with the many activities of the Shelter. Our students are definitely hands on, and it’s good to see the impact of the program.
In spite of all the rescheduling and cancellations of activities, we’ve been able to expand our
programming in new ways. We were particularly pleased to offer “A Christmas Carol” Open Studio at the former site of the Crows Bakery in December. We heard from people this summer about how they lost their holiday decorations as they were in basements that flooded. We thought Depot Street was a fitting place to hold an ornament making workshop, accompanied by a delicious hot chocolate tasting, to show that this part of town is a destination and not a place of devastation due to the floods. A special thank you to Maren Muter, a Cavendish resident and owner of That Chocolate who offered an impressive array of goodies to sample and to Pang Ting who carefully researched Victorian era ornaments. Milkweed pods, converted to ornaments, were the hit of the afternoon. If you check out Maren’s website, you can see how she makes some of the deliciousness we were able to share at the Open Studio.
A grant from the Cavendish Community Fund made this Open Studio possible. We are also incredibly grateful to Trevor Barlow who offered his newly renovated space (the former Crows Bakery) for the event.
Starting this September, we’ve begun a Young Historians Club for the Cavendish Town Elementary School’s After School Program. At 100 years old, Gloria Leven has been helping the students understand what life was like through significant eras like the Depression, WWII and beyond.
2024 WHAT’S BEING PLANNED
Fire Side Chats: The winter is the perfect time to get some friends and neighbors to gather and host a “fireside chat.” We’re happy to come to you and talk about various aspects of Cavendish’s history including a general overview. Use contact information above to arrange for an event.
Open Studios: The Open Studio was so popular, we hope to offer several this year. We’re planning one in February on the History of Chocolate (including some special tastings and pairings) combined with Valentine Card crafts. Hopefully Trevor ‘s venue on Depot St. will be available. Unfortunately, the day after our event, Trevor’s place was hit again from the December 18 rains and flooding. We’ll know by mid-January about location.
Solar Eclipse: April 8 (Monday) will be a solar eclipse. Its path for a total eclipse will be just shy of Cavendish, so we are starting to organize a trip so people can experience the full effect.
Quarry Hike: It was disappointing for many that we had to cancel the hike to see the Proctorsville Quarry. We hope to reschedule that for late spring/early summer. It’s very much weather dependent.
Ghost Walks: The Cavendish Ghost Walk will be June 22, starting at 8 pm at the CHS Museum. The Proctorsville walk will be scheduled for December.
Book Group: Ever read any of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s poems? They are among our favorites. We’re hoping to organize an on-going reading group this year, not only to read some of his classics, e.g. “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” but also to explore his poems, essays and other writings that people are less familiar with.
Young Historians: In addition to our regular programming, the Young Historians Club, will focus each month on a different decade based on Gloria’s 100 years. January will feature the 1930s and the Great Depression.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
• Photographs: We need actual photographs of the July 2023 flood. Our printer quality isn’t the best so we’re looking for prints we can exhibit this summer. They can be mailed to CHS, PO Box 472 or call 802-226-7807 or e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com to arrange for a pick up.
• Made in Cavendish: One of our board members would like to mount a special exhibit at the Museum this summer “Made in Cavendish.” If you have items that were made in Cavendish, and would be comfortable loaning them to the Museum for the summer, please let us know. We will need items by May so we can organize the exhibit.
• What you like?: This is your historical society so please let us know what areas of history you are interested in.
