Notes from the President

This has been another eventful year for the Strafford Historical Society and for South Strafford’s historic Masonic Hall, henceforth the Strafford Historical Society and Community Center. Looking back, we realize just how far we have come from that late October day in 2020 when we and our many volunteers, employing 7 pickup trucks, transferred the SHS-- lock, stock and archives--into a large Pakvan storage trailer in the Park & Ride.

Our future was very uncertain in those days. It was not until a real estate-closing some four months later that we had a permanent home, the Masonic Hall, just across the street. The Masons had made us an offer we couldn’t refuse: $1 and all the renovation opportunities and costs we would ever want. Despite the Masonic Hall’s proximity, it has been quite a long journey from that Pakvan to the Masonic Hall in terms of what it has required so far (i.e., almost five years of time and counting, more than a half-million dollars in grants and donations, plus building permits, construction materials, labor and anxiety).

Today the Masonic Hall has a newly reinforced metal roof and a new floor-system, a new dry basement for storage, a Tasco fire-safety system, an upgraded electrical system, a new plumbing system, heat pumps, recently plastered first floor walls and ceiling, handicapped parking and access, a new climate-controlled attic storage area for our fragile archives, ECFiber internet access and hotspot and we are now planning to install a public bathroom and hardwood flooring this fall.

Moving into our building is our goal and it is closer to becoming a reality. We are grateful to all our donors and supporters, including the energetic Sharon Academy and Newton School students who helped us transfer the contents of the Pakvan up the stairs and into the attic and into the basement of the Masonic Hall. It is thanks to all of you that we have accomplished what we have so far.

Unfortunately, our historical services are very limited and our archives not yet organized after our move and became more disorganized after the flooding in 2023 damaged those of our documents that were stored in the Morrill Homestead’s basement. Thanks to grants (approximately $17,500) and the restoration efforts by Dartmouth’s Library staff and Vermont’s Division of Historic Preservation, we will have those documents available again. This year is notable, however, because it marked the introduction of our new eNewsletter, published quarterly. In it, you can find organizational updates (News), recent photographs (Renovation News), brief historical notes (Windows-in-History) and lengthier historical Blogs, simply by contacting us through our website at <straffordvthistory.org>.

Our fundraising efforts of course continue. This past year we received our second $50,000 Vermont state tax credit, again financed through the Northfield Savings Bank, supplementing previous contributions by such organizations as the Vermont Arts Council ($18,040), the Mascoma Bank Foundation ($10,000), the Byrne Foundation ($3,000) and Strafford’s Newton Fund ($23,000), with the remainder funded by very generous private donations.

This fall we look forward to the installation of a new public restroom and we will be adding a new hardwood floor. Our next construction phase will, we hope, include finishing the interior, replacing the side-porch, painting the exterior and, at last, formally opening the Strafford Historical Society and Community Center to the public.

Stephen Willbanks,
Pesident, Strafford Historical Society