CHS Briefs January 1, 2019

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 

Please check the Cavendish VT Facebook for photo albums of various Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) activities.

Thank you to all who have donated to CHS’s annual appeal. We’ve received a check from Fidelity Brokerage that did not provide donor information. If you happened to be the person who made this donation, please know we appreciate it.

If you have not had a chance to donate, or renew your membership, information appears at the end of this post.

REMEMBERING OLIVE KINGSBURY

It is with sadness that we start the New Year recognizing the passing of Olive Kingsbury, the last of the Kingsbury family that lived on Chubb Hill and were featured in Barbara Kingsbury’s book, “Chubb Hill Farm and Cavendish Vermont: A Family and Town History.” Olive was a remarkable woman who showed incredible ingenuity and kindness.

A few years ago, a family came to visit who were related to Emma Victoria Johnson Kingsbury. Originally from Chicago, Emma met Bradley Kingsbury while touring with a Christian group and married him in 1908. When the family from Illinois arrived, Olive’s first comment was, “How nice that Emma’s family has come to visit.” To help them know more about Emma’s life in Vermont, Olive brought out her journals so she could provide dates and other information she thought might be useful to them. After an hour of visiting on what was a very hot July day, Olive thought it best to “go and pay our respects to Emma” at the Cavendish Cemetery. Needless to say, keeping up with Olive as she drove from her house on Chubb Hill to High Street was a bit of a challenge.

While Olive’s obituary  contains lots of information about her education and career as a nurse, it was the stories that she told about a way of life that is long gone, that were so wonderful. However, Olive was not one to live in the past and was among the first people in town to be on-line as well as do the ordering for the farm via the Internet and credit card.

A memorial service will be held on January 12 (Saturday), 11 am, at Ludlow Baptist Church.

WHAT WE’RE DOING

Making flags

Carmine Guica Young Historians: The Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES) Scandinavian Holiday workshops on December 19 was a lot of  fun. Be sure to check out the Facebook album  to see what the kids made and if you haven’t had a chance to read  “A Cavendish Christmas,” you can read it on-line at the CHS Blog. This is one more tool we are using to help our children know their history as well as be exposed to other cultures around the world. Many thanks to our incredible volunteers-Angela Assermely, Denise Hughes, Peggy Svec and Penny Trick. A special thank you to Lori and the kitchen staff who made Swedish meatballs and noodles as part of the “taste of.” A special thanks to Stein van Schaik and the McEnaney’s Blueberry Fund for helping to underwrite CGYH.

Solzhenitsyn: On Christmas Eve, CHS received a letter of appreciation from Anatoly Antonov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the USA. In response to the letter sent to the People of Russia from the People of Cavendish in honor of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 100th birthday, Antonov noted, "On our part, we are grateful to the citizens of Cavendish for supporting the prominent writer, philosopher and patriot of his Motherland for many years that he spent in your town. Taking good care of the Solzhenitsyn family was itself a contribution to preserving and promoting of the great visionary." Both letters appear at the CHSblog.

If you have questions or wish to volunteer with CHS, please call 802-226-7807, e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com

BECOME A MEMBER, RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP, DONATE: If you have not joined the Cavendish Historical Society, need to renew your membership, and/or would like to be a volunteer, please complete the form below and sending a check, payable to CHS, to CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish, VT 05142. All contributions are tax deductible.

Name: _______________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________

Phone Number: _____________________E-Mail: ________________________

Membership Level

__ Individual Member $10         ___ Senior Member 65+ $5  ___ Sustaining Member $500

__ Household Member $15        ___ Contributing Member $250                                  

Volunteer

___ I would be interested in serving, as a volunteer .I would be interested in serving on the following committee(s):__ Program Planning      __ Fundraising __ Building (Museum)

__Archives                     _ Budget         ­­–– Cemetery    __ Carmine Guica Young Historians

Donations are always welcome and can be designated as follows:

__ For general purposes              __ Young Historians                  __Publications

__ Archeological Activities                _ Museum & Archival             __ Special Events

__ Rankin Fund                           __  Williams Fund                   __ Solzhenitsyn Project

__ Other (please specify)                        __ Cemetery Restoration           __ Preservation Projects