UPCOMING EVENTS: More events will be added throughout the season.
June 5 (Friday): Farmer’s Market, Proctorsville Green 4-7. CHS will be set up with both salad buckets and a taste of history (rhubarb/strawberry jam on bread).
June 7 (Sunday): Museum opens for the season 2-4 pm
June 14 (Sunday): Flag day talk at the Cavendish Stone Church, 2 pm. The fascinating story of Betsy Ross. Learn how to make a five pointed star in just one snip.
June 20 (Saturday): Annual Cavendish Ghost Walk for Summer Solstice, meet at 8 pm at the Museum, wearing walking shoes, and bring a flashlight.
July 4 (Saturday): 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence
July 12 (Sunday): Depending on weather, Dr. Charis Boke. herbalist and medical anthropologist from Dartmouth, will lead a medicinal plant walk at Greven Field. Meet at the Museum at 2pm. Wear comfortable shoes and bring bug spray and a water bottle. In the event of very hot weather, Dr. Boke will offer a program at the Museum.
July 25 (Saturday): Cavendish Town Wide Tag Sale. CHS will be set up by the Gazebo on the Proctorsville Green.
September 12 (Sunday): Phineas Gage Walk and Talk, meet at the Museum at 2 pm. The walk includes the site of the Gage accident. It’s approximately three quarters of a mile from the Museum.
October 11 (Sunday): Last day the Museum is open for the season.
THE REAL BETSY ROSS: Since there is no evidence of any “first” flag, the claim that Betsy Ross made the first American flag is a moot point. However, was her contribution the five pointed star? Whether she did or didn’t contribute to the American flag, Ross deserves to be known in her own right, not only as a flag maker but also for her role in the Free Quaker movement, as a “wise woman” (healer); am entrepreneur who launched a multiple generational business; and as a rebel in the American Revolution.
In celebration of Flag Day, the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) will be holding a talk on Betsy Ross June 14th, 2 pm at the Cavendish Stone Church, 2295 Main Street. This is a good opportunity to see inside this church built in 1844, as well as learn about the amazing life of Ross, and have an opportunity to make a five pointed star in one snip.
This program is free and open to the public. For more information, e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com or call 802-226-7807.
YES SOLZHENITSYN BID THE TOWN GOODBYE: On May 25, WCAX noted that in 1994 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn left Cavendish to return to Russia without saying goodbye.. At that year’s Town Meeting, Solzhenitsyn gave a heartfelt speech to the town.
Citizens of Cavendish, our dear neighbors,
At town meeting seventeen years ago I told you about my exile and explained the necessary steps which I took to ensure a calm working environment, without the burden of constant visitors.
You were very understanding; you forgave my unusual way of life, and even took it upon yourselves to protect my privacy. For this, I have been grateful throughout all these years; and today, as my stay here comes to an end, I thank you. Your kindness and cooperation helped to create the best possible conditions for my work.
The eighteen years which I have spent here have been the most productive of my life. I have written absolutely everything I wanted to. I offer today those of my books that have been translated into English to the town library.
Our children grew up and went to school here, alongside your children. For them, Vermont is home. Indeed, our whole family has come to feel at home among you. Exile is always difficult, and yet I could not imagined a better place to live, and wait, and wait for my return home than Cavendish.
And so this spring in May, my wife and I are going back to Russia, which is going through one of the most difficult periods in its entire history-a period of rampart poverty, a period where standards of human decency have fallen, a period of lawlessness and economic chaos. That is the painful practice we had to pay to rid ourselves of Communism, during whose seventy-year reign of terror sixty million people died just from the regime’s war on its own nation. I hope that I can be of at least some small help to my tortured nation, although it is impossible to predict how successful my efforts will be. Besides, I am not young.
I have observed here in Cavendish, and in the surrounding towns the sensible and sure process of grassroots democracy where the local population decides most of its problems on its own, not waiting for the decision of higher authorities. Alas, this we still do not have in Russia, and that is our greatest shortcoming.
Our sons will complete their education in America, and the house in Cavendish will remain their home.
Lately, while I have been walking on the nearby roads, taking in the surroundings with a farewell glance, I have found every meeting with many of you to be warm and friendly.
And so today, both to those of you whom I have met over these years, and to those whom I have not met I say: thank you and farewell. I wish all the very best to Cavendish and the area around it. God bless you all.
A video of his Farewell to Cavendish is available by clicking here.
Solzhenitsyn’s comments about grassroots democracy and resolving our own problems, hit home this past week, when a young man in Cavendish owned up to writing hate messages on the studio of Denise Gebroe, owner of DG Bodyworks in Proctorsville. Denise and Brent Beers made a video about this, demonstrating forgiveness and working together to overcome differences is a better way to resolve issues. You can see the video by clicking here.
SUGGESTIONS FOR READING AND WATCHING
• 5th/6th Grade Trip to Ft. Ticonderoga: Check out the Young Historians trip to Ft. Ticonderoga, where they learned a great deal about the Green Mountain Boys and what it was like to drill and train as a Continental soldier. You’ll need to scroll down for the pics and recap.
• 250 to 250: A project of the historian Heather Cox Richardson. From the time of our country’s founding 250 years ago, the story of America has been one of the constant efforts of Americans—from all races, ethnicities, genders, and abilities—to make real the belief that we are all created equal and have a right to have a say in our democracy. We will be telling their stories over the next several weeks because now, as ever, “We Are America.” #WeAreAmerica250
Donations for CHS can be sent to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142. Checks should be payable to the Cavendish Historical Society.
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