News & Views
Photo of Sandwich Village by Joe Janis
Please join us for Opening Day festivities at the Sandwich Historical Society, on Saturday, June 24th, from 12pm-3pm. There will be live Traditional Skills Demonstrations outside the Quimby Barn Transportation Museum, and the opening of the Annual Exhibit in the Elisha Marston House. We will also show the rare 19th century curtain painting of Mount Israel in the upper level of the Grange Hall. All of this, plus an outdoor food grill near the demonstrations, outside of the Transportation Museum! First, Live Demonstrations of Traditional Arts, outside of the Quimby Barn Transportation Museum will feature: Brian Stockman, of Tuftonboro, NH, has dedicated his life to the study and practice of a variety of traditional indigenous and colonial artisan craft media, and large-scale figurative sculpture. For our event, Brian will demonstrate the art of scrimshaw carving. His work is in numerous private and public collections. Alli Plourde, from Durham, NH, is a seasoned potter and figurative sculptor working in clay who currently teaches art at Oyster River HS, and formerly at Holderness School. Alli will demonstrate throwing functional pottery on the potter’s wheel. She has a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Master’s degree from RI School of Design, and is a member of the NH Potters’ Guild. Tina Greenfield, from Rensselaer, New York, will be sharing her skills in decorative painting, often known as “tole” painting. It is the folk tradition of embellishing household utilitarian objects with surface paint to transform that object into one of beauty. Ms. Greenfield has been painting in this style on wood and metal for close to thirty years, and has received both regional and national recognition for her work. Her pieces have been shown at the Library of Congress and the White House, as well as at several New England conventions in this field. Corey Slater, from Ashland, NH, is a second-generation pack basket weaver. He will be showing and creating backpack baskets out of traditional materials. They are especially loved among mushroom collectors. Corey has been making custom heirloom pack baskets for people worldwide for about ten years. Second, the Annual Exhibit entitled, “Tiny Treasures, Great Joys”, will open its doors as well. It highlights and celebrates vintage, handmade dollhouses, and other unique, miniature objects from our vast collection; In the Wentworth Room of the SHS.
Please join us for this festive day. And stay tuned for other summer events hosted by your Sandwich Historical Society. —Franz Nicolay, with the Sandwich Historical Society Programs and Education Committee Summer, 2023 The Sandwich Historical Society has received a grant from Historic New England to do research on the authenticity and cultural context of the small grouping of Native American artifacts in our collection, and to create programming for the public related to it. We will seek the advice of cultural anthropologists, collegiate academic institutions, and Abenaki leaders in this assessment and planning. Since its inception, the Sandwich Historical Society has primarily focused on the colonial and postcolonial Euro-American history of the town. We would like to explore, acknowledge, and document pre-contact and simultaneous uses of this land too. We wish to place in context the Indigenous Peoples, First Nation historical experience in the mountains and lakes region, as a foundational and inclusive element in our complete and evolving history. We are reaching out to the Sandwich community and beyond, with two questions that might assist us in our research, via crowdsourcing techniques:
1. Are there any residents with direct Indigenous lines in their family, with stories that would be pertinent to our town’s historical timeline and before our incorporation as a town? 2. Do you have artifacts within your family that you would be willing to lend or allow us to document, or sites on your property we may photograph, for specific summer programming that would give us further insight on the Indigenous history of this town? If so, please feel free to contact Franz Nicolay at sittingrock@gmail.com, on behalf of the Programs & Education, Collections, and Exhibition Committees at the Sandwich Historical Society. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Save the Notch Campaign. As it was in the 1970s, the debate of conservation versus use and development remains at the forefront of discussions regarding the wilds of, not only New Hampshire, but many areas of the world. In our small corner, we have decided to highlight the persistence of our community to persuade those with the power to preserve the Sandwich Notch for future generations. Our seasonal exhibit can be seen in the Elisha Marston House, Barn & Gift Shop, which will be open on June 25 from 10 AM - 3 PM. Don't forget to check out the Gift Shop and all the new items! Elisha Marston House Reimagined: If you're new to Sandwich or the area or you have not visited us in a few years, this summer is a great opportunity to see what our Collections team, led by our Museum and Collections Coordinator - Lauren Hansen - have been up to! Lauren shares, "The last two years of quarantine and limited visitors have allowed us to do some thinking on more than just conservation. We have had some significant acquisitions in recent years, so we decided to rearrange some rooms throughout the house. Some objects have been on display for many years. It was with this in mind that we put some to bed for a rest, brought out some to say hello, and are highlighting those who have recently joined "our family." Visit, and see if you can spot all of the changes we have made! Special Events 12 ~ 3pmThe fun and special events continue at the Quimby Barn & Transportation Museum which will be open from 12 - 3 PM. Outside we will have live demonstrations of traditional arts and our artisans include:
Tina Greenfield, from Rensselaer, New York, will be sharing her skills in decorative painting, often known as “tole” painting. It is the folk tradition of embellishing household utilitarian objects with surface paint to transform that object into one of beauty. Ms. Greenfield has been painting in this style on wood and metal for close to thirty years, and has received both regional and national recognition for her work. Her pieces have been shown at the Library of Congress and the White House, as well as at several New England conventions in this field. Suzanne Weil will be creating pottery on the wheel during the afternoon. Ms. Weil makes functional stoneware pottery in Sandwich, NH, and teaches writing at Plymouth State University. Her appreciation of the rich historical pottery tradition in Sandwich, and the simplicity and integrity of pots made for everyday use, inspires her work. Corey Slater, from Ashland, NH, is a pack basket weaver. He will be showing and creating backpack baskets out of traditional materials. His backpacks are especially loved among mushroom collectors. Mr. Slater learned the craft from his father who has been teaching the craft in the Adirondack Mountain range for over twenty years. He focuses on making backpack baskets; however, he creates a variety of other basket forms as well. We will also be commemorating the 10-year anniversary of moving the Quimby Barn to its present location as well as a special dedication of the Slade Room (which houses our Concord Coach). This special event will be held at 1:00 PM. Denison R. Slade's family gave the Concord Coach to the town of Sandwich. ~ Denison Slade was a benefactor and friend to the town, and his only request was that the Concord Coach have a proper storage space. In 2012, after almost one hundred years of being stored in various barns and sheds in Sandwich, and a lengthy sojourn in Meredith at the Pinnacle Park Zoo and return to Sandwich in 1939, the Sandwich Historical Society and the Alfred Quimby Fund trustees finally provided “A Proper Room” for the Coach’s storage and preservation. Help us commemorate this special 10-year anniversary since the Quimby Barn was moved across Maple Street to its new home and rebirth as the Quimby Barn Transportation Museum. We will also have the grill fired up outside the Quimby Barn! Grange Hall will be open 12 - 3 PM. Come see our rare 19th century curtain painting of Mount Israel located on the upper level. Stop by and help us celebrate our season opening! We look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday, June 25! Summer hours at the Elisha Marston Museum, Barn and Gift Shop will be Friday and Saturday, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM, from Saturday, June 25 to Saturday, September 3. The Quimby Transportation Museum will be open every Saturday from 10:00 - 2:00 PM. Our other buildings will be open during Old Home Week. For the most up-to-date information, please visit our website: http://www.sandwichhistorical.org or email us at sandwichhistory@gmail.com. What is your name and the name of your organization? Jim Mykland of the Sandwich Historical Society. How did you get to Sandwich, NH? I first washed up on the ledges at the Pothole in July or August of 1956 when I was six months old. My parents were friends in New York with the Pohls and the Lungams who had bought houses in the Maple Ridge/Mount Israel Road area and we came up to visit them that summer. We came back summers after that, staying in the cabin that the Pohls had on Maple Ridge Road. In the mid 1960’s my father retired and, the North Shore of Long Island having grown up from the farms and pine barrens of the immediate post war years when they moved there, my parents decided to move to Sandwich full time in 1966. We moved here the October I was in fifth grade, just after the Fair. I went from a baby boom Town with three elementary schools (and building a fourth) of three or four classes of each grade to Sandwich Central School with a combined fifth and sixth grade class of about 16 students. What got you started working with SHS? I have always loved our little Town between the lakes and the mountains. All the old houses and fascinating people I remember growing up. I first visited the Museum probably the summer after we moved here. The thing that grabbed my attention at 11 years old, naturally, was the dugout canoe. And the model of Center Sandwich made by the Quimby School boys in the 1930’s. I came back often over the years to wander around the house. I was fascinated by Sandwich history. In the late 1980’s, in what I can only assume was an act of desperation, I was asked to serve as a Trustee of the Society. I’ve been here pretty much ever since serving as a Trustee and officer including four years as President. I came back in the 2010s as a Trustee and later Vice President. In December 2020 I was asked by the Trustees to serve as Interim Executive Director. Tell us about your organization. What do you make, do, or offer as a service? The Sandwich Historical Society has, in its hundred plus years, made a concerted effort to collect and preserve historic artifacts and ephemera that directly relate to Sandwich. It became evident that a building would be needed to house this collection and in the 1920’s the Society bought the Elisha Marston house at 4 Maple Street in The Center. Over the succeeding years, the Society has added other buildings to our holdings as the need became evident. We currently own the former Quimby School barn, which was moved across Maple Street and now houses the Transportation Museum of Sandwich-related vehicles, both great and small, including the magnificent Sandwich Coach that used to transport mail and people from Center Harbor to Sandwich and West Ossipee. We also own the former Mount Israel Grange Hall on Maple Street, the former Heard family barn off Skinner Street in The Center, and the former Lower Corner Schoolhouse on Schoolhouse Road. Throughout the year the Society sponsors programs, talks and walks that highlight features and people of our little hill town. One of the more popular programs is ‘Pictures from the Vault’, an hour or so sample of some of the thousands of images in our collections. Another day might find a walk in The Center or Lower Corner or The Notch highlighting architecture and people who have lived in the area in the past. Perhaps of more lasting impact than artifacts and buildings, the Society, following its founding principle of collecting and sharing the history of Sandwich, has a unique canon of over a hundred years of written history of the Town in our annual Excursion Booklets. These Excursion Booklets cover the entire history of the Town from the very beginning until today. In the early years these were truly excursions to various neighborhoods in Town sharing the history of each area and collecting the precious memories of older residents before they slipped away. These booklets form an invaluable history of our small town between the lakes and the foothills of the White Mountains. In 1995 the Society published ‘Sandwich, New Hampshire 1763-1990’ a one volume history of the Town compiled by a number of talented writers who were also members of the Society. How did SHS get started? The Sandwich Historical Society was founded in 1917 by a group of full-time and seasonal residents who had grown concerned with the steady loss of artifacts leaving Town as old homesteads were sold and auctioned off as well as the loss of the unwritten Town history as older residents passed away and their stories and memories vanished with them. For a more detailed history of SHS, please visit: http://www.sandwichhistorical.org/society-history.html What is the most fun/satisfying aspect of your work? Working with our great knowledgeable staff Jennifer Wright and Lauren Hansen and our Trustees and Officers. The Society is truly a group effort and being able to interact with these smart, hard working staff and volunteers is exciting and intellectually challenging and very educational to me. What has happened to your organization in this last Covid year? The Society offers an annual exhibit at the Elisha Marston House Museum. Last year due to Covid our buildings were closed and the volunteers and staff created a virtual exhibit, both remote and online, with banners and QR codes around Town highlighting historic women of Sandwich and their stories. There was also a virtual Excursion during Old Home Week that provided a driving tour to all their houses. This year we are planning to be back in the Elisha Marston House Museum with the exhibit featuring portraits by Susan Lirakis of Sandwich mothers and their daughters taken over the last forty years. There will also be an online exhibit again this year. What are your goals and hopes for the future? In the most immediate sense my goal is to get the Society back to its normal functioning level as quickly and as safely as possible. Our goal for this year is to have a summer exhibit and our annual excursion this August. What else can you tell us about yourself and your organization?
The Society is still governed by a volunteer board of trustees with the assistance of a few paid staff members. It exists through the generosity of our members and donations from the public and the thoughtfulness of benefactors over the years. We are here to try and answer your questions about Sandwich and what went on here and what is happening here today. We offer our superb research library to writers and those doing genealogical research. For more information on when our buildings are open and to check a listing of upcoming programs and events visit our website at www.sandwichhistorical.org. Or you can contact us at sandwichhistory@gmail.com. What is your name and the name of your organization? Jessie Chapman (Executive Director), Advice To The Players How did you get to Sandwich, NH? ATTP's founder, Caroline Nesbitt, was a guest Director at Plymouth State University while I was a student there. Caroline invited me to perform in As You Like It in the summer of 2007 and I fell in love with the town and the company. I returned many times as a teaching artist, stage manager, and performer and finally moved to Sandwich in the fall of 2019. What got you started in this job? I earned my degree in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College in hopes that I would be able to return to Sandwich someday and help the company that had meant so much to me thrive. I have always loved teaching, and working with ATTP has allowed me to share my love of teaching and theatre with this truly unique community. Tell us about your organization. Advice To The Players creates live theatre productions, Shakespeare based educational programs, and a myriad of other literary and performing arts opportunities for local teens, amateurs, and professional artists. We produce Shakespeare outdoors in the summer, working with area schools, performance venues and retirement communities—and even host an annual holiday production of Twelfth Night. We offer camps, workshops, and personalized mentorship opportunities for teens and early career theatre artists. How did your organization get started? Caroline Nesbitt founded Advice To The Players in 1999 after training with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. ATTP originally produced performances with Community School students and professional actors at The Barnstormers Theater in Tamworth. What is the most fun/satisfying aspect of your job? The best part of my job is seeing teens and young adults who have worked with ATTP grow up and discover how they'd like to engage with the world. There are many adults who now perform with the company or work as Teaching Artists who were students of mine in ATTP's camps or at Plymouth—and there are many others who do not continue in theatre but are making remarkable contributions to our world. What is the hardest? The most difficult aspect of my job is the hard decisions I need to make when income for a program falls short, or unexpected expenses arise. There is a level of personal sacrifice involved with running a small nonprofit that can be challenging—thankfully the boundless joy involved outweighs this almost every time. What has happened to your organization in this last Covid year? We saw tremendous support from the community, which allowed us to survive, despite losing over 80% or our anticipated earned revenue. We created theatre in new and innovative ways and were able to safely provide a full season. While we were able to provide lots of opportunities to local artists, many of the professional artists and emerging artists we hire rely on lodging in the community in order to come here, which was not possible last year because of Covid, so there were many artists who could not work with us due to these circumstances. How do you see the future of this organization? I see a future for ATTP where we have a much stronger and more involved connection to the area schools along with further developing many of our budding partnerships with other local institutions. What else can you tell us about yourself and your business? Since we could not safely have an audience for our March production this year or tour in person to area schools--we created a unique filmed performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the beautiful Partridge Hill Farm Barn in Sandwich (a thousand thanks to the Hird family for generously offering their beautiful venue). This production will be available to all virtually from April 23-May 2 only. We hope you will enjoy this one of a kind offering featuring local talent and quite a bit of magic. Email contact@advicetotheplayers.org for the link! In this year of Covid, SBG is not undertaking many of our previous initiatives, such as a marketing brochure. Instead, we want to promote our members and the Sandwich business community in new ways. Meet Our Members will be a recurring feature in which we learn more about the Sandwich folk engaged in local businesses and nonprofit organizations. These will be stories about our friends and neighbors, as well as their businesses. What is your name and the name of your business/organization? Martha Nichols, Gallery Manager of The Sandwich Home Industries; aka League of NH Craftsmen Center Sandwich Gallery How did you get to Sandwich, NH? I have lived in Sandwich for 37 years! Before moving here in the early 1980s, I came to Sandwich as a child because my grandparents loved visiting the lakes and mountains of NH when they were young adults. They brought their family and rented a cottage on the lake and my parents continued that tradition every summer of my childhood. When my aunt and uncle bought an old farm in Sandwich in the 50s, I became a regular visitor to Sandwich. What got you started in this job? The manager job sort of fell into my lap when a friend told me about it. I had taken early retirement from teaching high school and was looking for a new adventure. Tell us about the Sandwich Home Industries. The Sandwich Home Industries is a non-profit organization supporting local artists and the local economy by providing a welcoming gallery and educational programs for area residents and visitors to Center Sandwich. The gallery sells a wide selection of fine hand-crafted items, and offers classes in arts and crafts. Our gallery stocks traditional and contemporary fine crafts made by juried members of the League of NH Craftsmen. Our Education Program is the cornerstone of our mission – we create a varied curriculum for both adults and children. How did the Sandwich Home Industries get started? The Sandwich Home Industries (SHI) has a rich history of supporting the craft economy of Sandwich. The Industries began in 1926 when Mrs. J. Randolph Coolidge and a committee of local Sandwich women organized an exhibition of locally made rugs and brought an expert from Boston to give a talk on the practical aspects of making and marketing rugs. From this experience the committee decided to form a cooperative venture. The Sandwich Home Industries opened in the summer of 1926 selling locally made handicrafts to support the local economy. It was such a success that, a few years later, Mrs. Coolidge went to the Governor of NH to request a state-wide arts and crafts organization. In 1931, NH Governor John Winant supported their idea, establishing and funding the NH Commission of Arts and Crafts. As a result, the League of NH Craftsmen was formed in 1932 with Mary Coolidge as their President. The League of NH Craftsmen has become one of the oldest and most recognized craft organizations in the country with seven galleries located throughout the state. For over 88 years, the nonprofit League has promoted fine craft, supported craftspeople, and educated and enriched New Hampshire’s communities. What is the most fun/satisfying aspect of your job? The manager job allows me to use skills I acquired in my career as a teacher. I find it most satisfying to collaborate with creative people, so setting up the gallery each season is quite fun. I am interested in Feng Shui and enjoy arranging the gallery so that it not only looks beautiful, but has the positive feel and flow of energy throughout. It is most satisfying to observe customers’ reactions when they visit the gallery. I also enjoy learning more about the many aspects of marketing and social media, which has been new to me! What is the hardest? The hardest part is schlepping inventory from League Headquarters! Many artists deliver their work to us (we take most work on consignment), but we will also pick up merchandise in Concord. What has happened to your business in this last Covid year? The beginning of the pandemic was nervewracking. We (the Board of Directors and myself) had no idea if it would be safe to open or if people would want to come out to shop. Ordinarily, we open mid-May, but we were in lockdown, so we waited to see what the State would decide. When we were able, we decided to open on a limited basis last year, which meant 3 days/week. We laid off staff and reduced my hours. We applied for the government grants and were able to stay afloat, thankfully. I was surprised at the number of people who came by to shop last summer. They were happy and thankful that we were open. Of course, we practiced safety measures recommended by the State, and the season progressed smoothly. This season, we are planning on opening mid-May with our usual 7-day schedule. We are also planning our 2021 education program. How do you see the future for this business? The brick and mortar retail business is challenging these days since one can buy almost anything on the internet. SHI has even started selling some inventory through the League Galleries Webstore. However, I believe that seeing fine craft in person at our historic gallery and being able to touch it and pick it up as well as imagine it in your own space is critical. Our town, in the summer particularly, is a tourist destination. People enjoy stopping by and finding that special NH-made gift or item for their home. It is best to experience art with the senses and one can’t get that while online shopping. What else can you tell us about yourself and your business?
We have amazing talent and dedication on our Board of SHI Directors and are working on strategic planning for the future. We maintain the historic character of the building while making necessary repairs and updating displays. Collaboration with local businesses is also important to us. Last summer we held an Artists on the Porch series where we invited local crafters to sell their work. We are always looking for new ways to engage our community and would love to hear more ideas from Sandwich folks. I am looking forward to Spring and starting our annual opening process. This year marks our 95th season and we are working to keep SHI going strong through its 100th Anniversary and beyond. Martha Nichols, Gallery Manager League of NH Craftsmen Center Sandwich Fine Craft Gallery PO Box 164, 32 Main Street Center Sandwich, NH 03227 603-284-6831 Open mid-May to mid-October Shop our gallery online!! The 2021 application deadline is Friday April 16 at 5:00 pm ET. Please share this information with any students who could benefit from these scholarships for Sandwich students. The Alfred Quimby Trust and the Doris L. Benz Trust both provide scholarships to Sandwich residents. These scholarships each have distinct and different criteria and processes.
Doris L. Benz Trust The Doris L. Benz Trust will consider scholarship awards to Sandwich residents who meet ALL of the following criteria: (1) Resident of Sandwich (2) Graduated from Interlakes High School (3) Enrolling in an accredited undergraduate post-secondary education program Alfred Quimby Trust Graduate and adult students or traditional students who did not graduate from Interlakes High School are not eligible for funding from the Doris L. Benz Trust. The Alfred Quimby Trust sponsors scholarships for residents who do NOT qualify for the Doris L. Benz Trust. This means if the student is a Sandwich resident but did not graduate from Interlakes High School or is a graduate student or an adult student, they qualify for the Alfred Quimby Trust. The Alfred Quimby Trust and the Doris L. Benz Trust scholarships are managed through the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s online application. The 2021 application deadline is Friday April 16 at 5:00 pm ET. To access the online application and to receive further instructions students should visit the Foundation’s website at www.nhcf.org. For more information about the Quimby or Benz scholarships or other student aid resources, please contact the Student Aid Office at the NH Charitable Foundation at 1-800-464-6641 or studentdocs@nhcf.org. Diane Johnson writes: Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for the Community Tree Party. The weather was amazing. Santa and Mrs. Claus were perfect and there were folks of all ages around the Library and Quimby Field and the Tennis Courts. Families and children were talking to Santa, leaving wish lists and letters, getting gifts, candy canes, and $10 family gift certificates to their choice of E.M. Heath Grocery and Hardware, Bayswater Bookstore, or Innisfree Bookshop. Kids and families were sledding and sliding, building snowmen, XC skiing, and a group of middle school youths were hard at work building forts and a maze in one of the tennis courts. Some families tromped through the snow to read the Story Trail--Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall--which is set up on the Library lawn. Many thanks go to all the elves, generous donors , and families who came out to set a truly Currier and Ives scene. It was Sandwich at its best. Covid protocols were followed and didn't dampen the atmosphere. A Brief History of the Party |
News & Views
News of what's happening in Sandwich and other items of interest. Meet Our Members
Please enjoy the Sandwich Business Group's 2021 project called Meet Our Members. Read interviews with fascinating people who live here and run businesses, organizations, and engage in other creative pursuits.
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