CHS Briefs October 1, 2017

Please also check the Cavendish VT Facebook page for photo albums of various CHS activities.

 WHAT’S HAPPENING

Museum: The last day the Museum will be open is Oct. 8. While we are happy to open it at other times, it’s awfully cold in there as it’s not heated.

RiverSweep 2017

Carmine Guica Young Historians Program: Once again the 6^th grade participated in RiverSweep. The walk to Greven Field was a good opportunity to explain who Dr. Greven was, why he donated the property and where his office was on Greven Rd. This is a great activity to teach the importance of stewardship along with town history.

Charlie Paquin looking for artifact.

Plimoth Plantation

October is going to be a very busy month. We are thrilled to have the archeologist Charlie Paquin spending the day on Oct. 2 with the 4^th graders. He will demonstrate flint knapping (stone tool making), host an atlatl contest and prepare them for their field trip to the SCHEP dig site on Oct. 13. Friday, Oct. 27 the 4^th and 5^th grades will be visiting Plimoth Plantation and the 6^th graders will be going to Sturbridge Village. 

Also scheduled for the 5^th grade is the Proctorsville Village Ghost walk on Oct. 23. A very special thanks to: Stein van Schaik for making Charlie Paquin’s visit and the Plimoth Plantation trip possible and to the Blueberry Fund of Bruce and Betty McEnaney, who sponsor the yearly 6^th grader excursion to Sturbridge. Thanks also to our incredible volunteers-Pang Ting, Doris Eddy, Bruce McEnaney and special appreciation to town manager Brendan McNamara for stopping by RiverSweep and helping with the clean up.

Abenaki Indians

Researching Cavendish’s First People: With the Governor declaring Oct. 9 Indigenous Peoples Day, CHS  is looking for artifact from the 1st peoples that lived here. Carmine Guica reported that while he was exploring cellar holes he came across a variety of arrow heads or projectile points. Have you found such items in Cavendish? Have you found unusual rocks or stones that appear to be "worked?" They could have been used for grinding corn or acorns. Does your family lore contain stories of Indians, gypsies or "dark French?" If you have any information, please contact CHS at margocaulfield@icloud.com or 802/226-7807, CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish VT 05142 or stop by the Museum on Sunday, Oct. 1 from 2-4.

  

Solzhenitsyn 100^th Birthday: CHS is working with the Vermont Historical Society and the Russian

Department of the University of Vermont on various activities for 2018, which is the 100^th birthday of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Not only has language been finalized for a proclamation by the Vermont Legislature-this will take place in January or February in Montpelier-but VHS is submitting a grant application to the VT Humanities Council for an exhibit. The Vermont Historical Society (VHS) is excited to partner with the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) and the University of Vermont (UVM) to celebrate the life and work of writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in honor of his 100^th birthday.  We will provide two community lectures on Solzhenitsyn through the Vermont Historical Society’s Third Thursday Program Series, taking place in Montpelier and Burlington, respectively, and will create a panel exhibit to be displayed at the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier.  The main goal of the project is to share and celebrate Solzhenitsyn’s life and work with the broader Vermont community.  Specific goals of the project include:

1.     Disseminate information on an important 20^th century writer, his influence on Vermont, and Vermont’s influence on his writings, to a broad audience through VHS’s Third Thursday Program Series and a panel exhibition.

2.     Create the panel exhibition in a way that will ultimately be adaptable to travel to local historical societies and other cultural organizations throughout Vermont.  This will bring information on Solzhenitsyn to an even wider audience, and provide more opportunities for community programming.

3.     To honor Solzhenitsyn and his work during his 100^th year.

Gage 170^th Anniversary in 2018: In presenting the annual Phineas Gage Walk and Talk in September, we were reminded that 2018 will be the 170^th anniversary of his famous accident. We’re open to ideas and suggestions about how to celebrate this event.

SAVE THE DATE

Oct 8 (Sunday): Ghost Walk in Proctorsville. Meet, 2pm at the War Memorial in Proctorsville, which is on Route 131 (Main Street) close to the Proctorsville Fire Department and Village Clippers

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

• Do you like to paint? CHS has painting projects both at the Museum and at the Stone Church.  Fall is a good time to get outside and take advantage of the good weather.

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

PROCTORSVILLE GHOST WALK/REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

The Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) is looking for artifact from the 1st peoples that lived here. Carmine Guica reported that while he was exploring cellar holes he came across a variety of arrow heads or projectile points. Have you found such items in Cavendish? Have you found unusual rocks or stones that appear to be "worked?" They could have been used for grinding corn or acorns. Does your family lore contain stories of Indians, gypsies or "Dark French?" If you have any information, please contact CHS at margocaulfield@icloud.com or 802/226-7807, CHS, PO Box 472, Cavendish VT 05142 or stop by the Museum on Sunday, Oct. 1 from 2-4.

October 8 (Sunday) is the last day the CHS Museum will be open for the summer season. It will also be the afternoon of the Proctorsville Ghost Walk. There are many ghosts in Proctorsville village including: George (because he looks like George Clooney) who haunts The Golden Stage Inn; a ghost who has rights written into the deed of the house; Homer and Charlie have their special places to haunt and that’s just the beginning.

The Ghost Walk is free and open to the public. Walkers should meet at the Proctorsville War Memorial-Route 131, near the Village Clipper and across from the Proctorsville Green, at 2 pm. The walk will be approximately two hours and will be on side walk. This is a free event open to the public.

CHS Briefs September 1, 2017

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SEPTEMBER IS ARCHEOLOGY MONTH

Em Benoit volunteering on the dig.

In celebration, CHS is sponsoring a trip to the archeological dig site we’ve been participating in for the last two summers on Saturday, Sept. 16. We will meet at 9 am in front of the Museum and will be car pooling to W. Haven, VT. Learn more at the CHS Blog.

The Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES) 4^th grade class will be visiting the dig in October and will also have an opportunity to work with the archeologist Charlie Paquin. Charlie has been working with CHS over the years and will be showing the students how to “flint knap,” the art of making stone tools. The students will have a chance to try their hand at “atlatl” throwing, which is how early man in Cavendish would have hunted.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Blueberries!!!: Yup, the season is still holding but it wont last too much longer, so head over to the McEnaneys organic blueberry patch for "Pick your Own." Proceeds from the picking goes towards the CTES 6th graders trip to Sturbridge Village.  The McEnaneys is located at 354 Miner Rd. just over the Cavendish line in Chester off of Route 103. Turn right on Smokeshire and follow the road over 4 bridges. After the last one, you’ll see the sign for Bruce’s Berries and Miner Rad. Thank you Bruce and Betty for your ongoing generosity. The kids love this trip, which takes place this year on Oct. 27.

Museum: Thank you to Carl Liener for all of the lovely signage he’s been doing for the Museum. It looks great. Unfortunately, we’ve found two leaks in the Museum ceiling and are having them checked out.  

Carmine Guica Young Historians Program: August is when we meet with the teachers and plan for the year ahead. It’s going to be a busy year, but thanks to the generous endowment of Stein van Schaik, we have some amazing activities planned including a 4^th/5^th grade trip to Plimoth Plantation.  The 6^th grade will once again participated in RiverSweep on Sept. 11. They learn a lot of history about the river as well as the all important lesson of the importance of stewardship. Each year at Christmas time, CHS celebrates the holiday by holding a daylong series of workshops at the school based on the heritage of people who have settled in Cavendish. This year we will be celebrating the Polish, many of who came to work at the Gay Brothers Mills. Lots of planning is underway to not only include traditional crafts but also to prepare various dishes that would be enjoyed at holiday times.  If you have stories or traditions you’d like to share, please e-mail or call us (numbers below).

While a lot of our programming has been at the elementary school, we are now working with the middle and high school students at both Green Mountain Union High School and Black River High School.

SAVE THE DATE

Sept 9 (Saturday). Honey Festival at the Golden Stage Inn in Proctorsville. CHS will once again be doing candle dipping with beeswax.

Sept: 10 (Sunday): Annual Phineas Gage Talk & Walk-Met at the Museum at 2 pm. Wear comfortable walking shoes for walking. The accident site is a little over ¾ of a mile from the Museum.

Sept. 16 (Saturday): Visit to the Archeological Dig site in W. Haven, VT. Meet at the CHS Museum at 9 am.

Oct 8 (Sunday): Ghost Walk in Proctorsville. Meet, 2pm at the War Memorial in Proctorsville, which is on Route 131 (Main Street) close to the Proctorsville Fire Department and Village Clippers

 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

• Do you like to paint? CHS has painting projects both at the Museum and at the Stone Church.  Fall is a good time to get outside and take advantage of the good weather.

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

Visit to W. Haven Archeological Dig Site: Sept. 16

Galick Farm where the dig has been taking place.

Arrow head found during the dig the CTES 6th graders participated in.

In honor of September being "Archeology Month," the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) will be sponsoring a trip to the West Haven, VT site of the South Champlain Historical Ecology Project (SCHEP) dig where we have been providing volunteers for the last two years. This is also the site where the Cavendish Elementary School 4th and 6th grade classes visit.

An open house is being held on Saturday, Sept. 16. If interested in participating, meet at the CHS Museum at 9 am. We will carpool to the site-a little over an hour from Cavendish. In addition to seeing the site, there will be a display of artifacts found some of which date back to the Paleo Indian period, more than 11,000 years ago.There will be plenty of opportunity to explore that area.

The South Champlain Historical Ecology Project (SCHEP) is is a collaboration between the Vermont Archaeological Society, Castleton University, The Nature Conservancy, the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, and the U.S. Forest Service designed to document long-term human-environment interaction in the southern portion of the Lake Champlain Basin. 

The dig takes place at the Galick Site (VT-RU-71), a large Pre contact campsite  and historical farmstead in West Haven, VT. Located on the historic Galick Farm property, it is part of  The Nature Conservancy’s Helen W. Buckner Preserve at Bald Mountain. 

The Buckner Preserve is one of the most biologically diverse settings in Vermont and is home to many of the state’s rare or endangered species, including the timber rattlesnake and the five-lined skink, and yes we've seen both this summer. 

Timber Rattlesnake that showed up one afternoon where we were digging.

The southern end of Lake Champlain is also an important crossroads for long-distance transportation, with the northern terminus of a historical portage and later canal route to the Hudson River located just to the south at Whitehall, NY.  This constellation of features made the Galick Farm area an important location in the early history of Vermont and a rich setting for a wide range of settlement and subsistence activities throughout the Precontact and Historical eras.

The Galick Site was first identified as a potentially important Precontact site in 1969 by Richard Passino.  In the 1970s, Dean Snow and students from SUNY Albany excavated a dozen shovel tests at the site as part of the Lake George Project.  More recently, personnel from the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation identified other sites on the Galick Farm property.  In addition, numerous archaeologists and 20th century visitors examined the large collection of artifacts William Galick and his family had found on their farm.  Although no exhaustive inventory was made before the present, notes on the collection by Passino and others indicated an extensive and long-term Native American presence in the area.

Investigations in 2016 included the excavation of 78 Phase I shovel test pits across an area of approximately 5,500 m2 and the analysis of several thousand artifacts.  SCHEP also began the process of cataloguing the extensive William Galick Collection.

If you have questions about this event, please e-mail margocaulfield@icloud.com or call 802-226-7807. 

CHS Provides Opportunity to Watch the Solar Eclipse

A total solar eclipse will occur next week, on August 21, and it will be the first one in 38 years to be visible from the mainland U.S.  No matter where you are in the US, you can see it. In Cavendish we can expect to see 70% of the solar eclipse.

 In preparation, on Aug. 20 (Sunday), the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) will hold a workshop from 2-4 pm at the Museum (1951 Main St.  Cavendish) where you can make pinhole viewers and learn more about the solar eclipse.

Please note that. NASA warns that sunglasses or homemade filters do not provide sufficient eye protection and can contribute to eye damage. Five manufacturers have certified their eclipse glasses, which meet NASA’s criteria:

• Have certification information with a designated ISO 12312-2 international standard

• Have the manufacturer’s name and address printed somewhere on them

• Are less than three years old and have no scratches or wrinkles

You can also go to the NASA website and download their pinhole template for free. Watching the following video will give you lots of other safe ways. 

On Aug. 21 (Monday), from 1:15 to 3:00 (or later depending on interest) CHS will have various devices including glasses (thank you Kem Phillips for donating) which meet NASA standards, pinhole viewers and special welding mask, set up in front of the Museum so people can safely view the eclipse. Young children will need to use the pinhole viewers.

In other parts of the state, various astronomy groups are hosting viewing opportunities including:

• Green Mountain Astronomers will be hosting an eclipse day event at the Castleton University by the observatory. Estimate for Castleton is 1:23 first contact, 2:42 largest coverage, 3:55 last contact.

• Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium in St. Johnsbury 

• ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center Burlington, VT 

• Montshire Museum, Norwich, VT 

Lean More How Eclipses Changed History