Thanks to our donors we are back working again
Renovations: 2021-2025
Renovations: 2021-2025
The new home of the Strafford Historical Society, and future Community Center is being restored!
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.
Thanks to grants (approximately $17,500) and the restoration efforts by Dartmouth’s Library staff and Vermont’s Division of Historic Preservation, the documents damaged in flooding in 2023 will soon be available again.
New hardwood floor installed by Genuine Wood Floors.
Fresh paint on our entrance painted by Frank Brown.
"Old" basement cleaned up, before renovation
Basement after it was cleaned out and leveled
Basement ready for cement
Handicapped access across VT-132 to our new home is complete!
Our new clean, dry clean basement
Old front door. (new rear door will be added this summer).
First floor with new heat pump ready for Phase II
Board members head to basement
Work completed: 2023-25
Most of the recent work is structural in nature and therefore not visible from the outside —but it has been comprehensive. New support columns were added in the basement along with a vapor barrier beneath a new concrete floor. A drainage system has been installed to keep basement dry and the basement walls are now insulated. It will be the perfect place for storing displays and larger artifacts as well as for spare office furniture.
As for the first floor, the ceiling rafters have all been replaced and a new support beam installed to carry the weight of the second floor. The floor had to be raised and leveled. We now have a structurally sound floor system and a layout which will include a museum/exhibition space, a meeting room, an office, an ADA restroom, and an ADA-compliant entrance through the front door via the new ADA parking space and our new porch deck.
Stefanie Johnston Fund
The Board and friends of the SHS are grieved to report the death of Stefanie Johnston on January 18, 2022. Stef and her husband of 65 years, Bob, were literally the life-blood and substance of the SHS. Stef was a native of Haverford PA, and a "brainy Bryn Mawr girl," as they were always known, who went on to a career in education and, later, special ed. After decades as distinguished educators, she and Bob moved to Strafford from Thetford in 1996. Together, they went, as fully committed volunteers, full tilt into expanding every dimension of the Strafford Historical Society.
Stefanie
Stefanie had uncompromising standards, an ever sharp and discerning mind, and a gentle and forgiving spirit. Like so many women of diminutive stature, it was all-too easy for people to underestimate the laser-sharp intelligence that was always the underpinning of her soft-spoken, humble demeanor. Her high school yearbook nailed it with "Tiny, but she is fierce." Stefanie epitomized grace in her exchanges and a tenacious grasp of her convictions. When questioned about her "stubbornness," she would smile broadly and say, "No, persistence." Her frequent, lovely, smile revealed her worldly sense of humor and irony, which, in turn, revealed her wisdom. We have extraordinary things to be thankful for in her vast contributions to the life and vibrant history of Strafford. Stefanie Johnston, 1939-2022. Blessings, love, and boundless gratitude. Stefanie asked that for anyone interested in making a contribution to a cause that it be to the signal cause of her life, the Strafford Historical Society, PO Box 100, Strafford, VT 05072.
Work completed: 2022-23
The first phase of renovation, in 2022, involved the construction of a new roof, and installation of an energy efficient heat pump system by Blake Spencer and ARC Mechanical. Thanks to the Trustees of Public Funds for contributing $23,500 from the Newton Fund toward the replacement of the roof.
The second phase, completed in 2023, included:
New basement support columns
A vapor barrier and concrete floor
A new drainage system
New 1st floor ceiling rafters and beams
A structurally sound first floor system
New museum space layout
Meeting room and ADA bathroom layouts
A new ADA parking space and ramp