Think for a second: How long ago did you and your family move to the Town of Mendon? And how much do you know about the history of our little Town?
- You might not know that we have an incredible resource in our midst that many towns would be jealous to play host to:
An all-volunteer Historical Society that has been in existence for 56 straight years, with a significant museum that is itself about to turn 50 in 2019, and that is open to the public from 2-4PM most Sundays throughout the year, rain, snow or shine; - A Society that puts on eight public educational programs per year that range in topics from music to airplanes, and from geography to cocktails;
- A Society that, every December, hosts a free Christmas Social that brings the community together for music, desserts and wassail at its historic Schoolhouse at Harry Allen Park.
Past Historical Society President Bill Edwards said the following in a letter to the Mendon community in 1990:
“I know how important a role a good, active historical society can be to a community, providing programs for our youth, outreach for our seniors, educational opportunities in the form of craft workshops, talks, lectures, tours, and events; community awareness functions such as historic house identification and research (plaquing and tours) . . . historic site designation and marker projects, ongoing photographic documentation programs, ongoing oral history projects, historic record and photographic record retention and preservation programs, historic fairs and harvest day events including historic re-enactments—and fun. If that’s not enough, it’s a wonderful, non-political way to meet people interested in supporting cultural involvement in our community who sincerely want the quality of life to reflect a current and future picture of our town and village which is respectful of its history and cultural heritage.”
“We have a lot of history going for us as a Town (This certainly helps when you are talking historical societies.) We live in a geographically unique area with a major historic Native American heritage. . . . We also have a Historical Society that has functioned actively for many years, and since 1969 has had a museum [which], to many in our Town [is] a too well-kept secret, I am afraid. Membership in the Society has dwindled over the years from a healthy 200 or more members down to only a few individuals who have (through sheer dedication) kept the doors open. The Society can no longer function on this basis. If our Town sincerely wants an organization to reflect its cultural and historic past, we must honor that need with our actions.”
History famously repeats itself, and Bill’s statement from 27 years ago is true once again today. Today, our Historical Society is in desperate need of leadership and volunteers to take it into 2018 and beyond. Specifically, we are looking for people who are interested in serving as volunteers in the following capacity:
- Vice President (Preside over monthly public meetings if the President is unable; sit on the Board of Trustees, meeting four times per year.)
- Treasurer (Handle the money with high standards and set a tone of integrity; Manage financial filings; Identify and manage risk; Confirm contributions; Plan and evaluate with a budget; Prepare timely financial reports.)
Museum Docent (Open and host our museum on Sundays from 2–4PM throughout the year, on a rotating schedule with others.) - Schoolmarm (Operate a number of historic schoolhouse functions throughout the year.)
If you are interested in serving in one of these capacities, please reach out to President Drew Saur at dsaur@macorchard.com or 585-634-5148. The Historical Society is holding elections for its slate of Officers at its November meeting, and we would like to have candidates willing to serve as Vice President and Treasurer by that time.
