Pittsford Historical Society Inc.
News
Museum Hours:
Tuesdays from 9 am to 4
pm, April through October.
During this time, volunteers gather for a
variety of constructive activities, and company is always
welcome. Visitors to town outside normal hours should contact
our Curator, Anne Pelkey, or Steve Belcher, for access to the
museum.
Located in Eaton Hall, 3399 US Route 7.
Address mail to:
PO Box 423, Pittsford, VT 05763
(802) 483-2040
Curator: Anne Pelkey 483-6178
Membership: Steve Belcher
Newsletter: Steve Belcher, spbelcher4@myfairpoint.net 483-2852
Genealogy Research: Peggy Armitage 483-2108.
peggy.armitage@gmail.com
Pittsford Historical Society, Inc.
PO
Box 423, Pittsford, VT 05763
802.483-2040
www.pittsfordhistorical.com
Newsletter - Spring 2018
Museum Notes
The Museum at Eaton Hall (3399 US Rte 7) is now open again; regular hours
are 9 am-4 pm on Tuesdays. Visits can be scheduled at other times,
preferably in advance. Volunteers interested in helping our activities are
always welcome, as are visitors with inquiries and questions.
Member Meetings and Schedule of Events
We do not yet have a confirmed schedule of activities for the Society
through the end of the year, but the coming months (until the next
newsletter) are covered.
- Member Meetings
May 6, 2-4 pm. at the Congregational Church
This meeting will be an opportunity to say farewell to David and Tracey
Barnard. The Barnard Funeral Home opened in 1895 (per Pittsford’s Second
Century); David represents the fifth generation of the family to ply the
trade. He has now sold the business to Aldous of Rutland; he and Tracey
plan to move south to Myrtle Beach. Their talk thus marks the closing of
a long-standing Pittsford tradition (although people will continue to be
buried here, of course).
June 24, 2-4 pm. at the Congregational Church
Lance Mead will talk on the subject “Pittsford’s Contribution to the
World of Marble.” The town is the site of many abandoned marble
quarries, but at one time the industry employed many people.
September, date TBA
Bill Powers will lead a historical walk over Hawk Hill (behind the Otter
Valley High School) to explore the remains of the first settlements in
the area.
The topic and exact date of the October Annual meeting have not yet been
settled.
- Other Activities
May 28, Memorial Day
The PHS will of course be involved in the Memorial Day ceremonies. The
speaker will be Frank Hudson, U.S. Navy.
July 21 – Tag and Bake Sale, 9 am-2 pm at Eaton Hall
This is an annual fund-raising event. Donations, edible and otherwise,
are requested and will be gratefully received. It is the time to get rid
of the white elephants cluttering the house, however small they may be.
It may be the opportunity for a guilt-free disposal of that lamp that
great-aunt Thelma gave your mother on her wedding.
Aug. 23 – Pittsford Day (date to be confirmed)
The Society will have a booth with displays and articles for sale on
this occasion.
Exhibits
The Museum is planning an exhibit on World War I – November will mark the
centennial of Armistice Day/Veteran’s Day. The Museum has some materials,
but would be grateful for the offer or loan of any additional objects or
memorabilia.
Eaton Hall, the Building
Winter brought concerns. The water stopped flowing into the taps during a
period of extended cold, and so our new President, Ernie Clerihew, plans to
enlist the help of a plumber to explore and, we hope, correct the problem.
As the weather warmed, water began flowing from a large flat space on the
roof (in the NW corner at the front of the building) under the slate and
down into the area where the Katherine Crockett cards are stored. This is a
situation that clearly calls for remediation and very very tall ladders
The Caleb Houghton Monument at Fort Vengeance Committee
Bill Powers, Past President, has been appointed to arrange for a cleaning
and restoration of the monument. It was erected in 1873 and was last cleaned
up in 1950 or so.
Town Notes
We have had alternate thaws and freezes and heavy snowfalls. Mud season is
behaving like an operatic soprano, refusing to die before trilling a few
more notes. Pot holes have been appearing all over. On the plus side, the
sugaring season seems also to have been extended.
Aspects of Governance, in sequence
The ‘Village Farm’ Debates
The disposition of the ‘Village Farm’ (aka Forrest Farm, and before that the
Swift and Caverly residences) has been the subject of several meetings; the
property lies across Elm St. from Kamuda’s Market. A first meeting, in
January, invited participants to identify the possible functions of the
property. A second meeting, held in February, winnowed the possibilities
down to three. The process was entertaining. The moderator listed the
proposed uses, with the assistance of the audience members who read out the
descriptions of the uses. Hanging behind her were large poster-size papers
labeled with the eleven proposed uses. Applause went to one of the youngest
attendees, a hobbit-sized volunteer who read the description of ‘Enhancing
Pittsford Tourism’, with some assistance in the pronunciation of words such
as venue.
Participants were then given little brown envelopes containing strips of
round colored stickers (2 red and 4 blue; red counted for 2 points and blue
for 1) that participants were invited to stick on the posters labeled with
their preferred uses. Some people, clearly, assigned all their eight points
to a single use (especially the commercial/retail); others spread them over
the range. The moderators then withdrew and tallied the stickers, and
announced the results. The eleven were winnowed down to seven (after
discussion) and a second round of stickers reduced that number to three:
commercial/retail, community center, and agricultural hub. Further meetings
are scheduled.
The event was covered by the media, most notably by Nina Peck of Vermont
Public Radio, who had earlier interviewed Anne Pelkey and Ernie Clerihew on
the history of the farm. Her reports can be found on the web, through
vpr.org (search Nina Peck and Pittsford). There was also video and print
coverage. The effect made a curious echo to the propaganda movie filmed in
Pittsford some seventy years ago, “A Town Solves A Problem,” intended for
distribution in Germany and Japan. The movie focused on the human and
institutional process involved in a decision to provide hot lunches to the
students at the Furnace School (some of whom are still with us, thus showing
the benefits of hot lunches). The 11-minute movie, for those interested, is
available through the Vermont Historical Society website; the PHS also has
digital copies.
The Dollar General store
The developers have presented proposals for traffic management. The Planning
Commission has asked them to submit a final proposal to be voted on. The
town lawns sport signs saying ‘We don’t want your Dollar General,’ but none
calling for its acceptance.
Town Meeting, 5 March 2018
The Town Report is available at the Pittsford Township website:
pittsfordvermont.com, under resources/documents
The honorees were the late Marsha McMahon, of Pittsford First Response, and
Tom Hooker, Chief of the Fire Department, who has stepped down from the Fire
Department, but is stepping up to replace Hank Pelkey as Chair of the
Selectmen.
The Meeting was moderated by Jim Carvey. Rep. Butch Shaw and Sen. Peg Flory
(by dispensation: she has become a resident of Rutland) reported on
Montpelier activities, and particularly on the issues of school funding and
guns. Marijuana legalization was conspicuously unmentioned.
The major budget items (highway and general fund) passed without much
substantive question. Citizens who asked about apparent spikes in the cost
of certain line items learned that, on the advice of the accountants,
certains categories had been combined (and the next page in the report did
show a string of 0s where those categories had once been listed) or that –
to save space – future expenses had been grouped into five-year increments
(and so the apparent increases represented 5-year totals).
The greatest debate came on the issue of joining the mosquito eradication
efforts of the Brandon-Leicester-Salisbury Goshen group. Many were worried
about chemicals. Dave Trombley may have swayed the vote by pointing out that
there was no leeway for further study, and that if Pittsford declined to
join the group now it might be some time before they could do so again. The
voice vote was too close to call, and so the moderator called for a show of
hands (not requiring the display of the colored cards issued to registered
voters as they entered, although many voters held them up). The motion to
join the group passed, 35-24.
Run-off Election
There was only one contested race in the next day’s Australian ballot
election: Jane Cornell (incumbent), Sue Markowski, and Alicia Malay competed
for a two-year seat on the select board. Sue and Alicia led, tied at 181
votes each, and a run-off election was scheduled for March 27. The results
of that election: of 459 ballots cast, 253 for Alicia and 204 for Sue; two
were blank. The Rutland Herald of March 28, announcing the victory below the
crease, carried as its headline story the news that State Senator Peg Flory
is not seeking re-election.
Pittsford Historical Society Directory

Memberships
Membership in the Society extends over a calendar year. Your dues support
the annual operating expenses of Eaton Hall. Please send your check, payable
to Pittsford Historical Society to: (Welcome to the new Membership Chairman)
Stephen P. Belcher IV. Send dues to
Stephen P. Belcher IV
PO Box 423
Pittsford, VT 05763
We thank you for your continued support.
Name(s)
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Please check amount enclosed:
Single $15_____ Family $20 _____ Contributing $25_____
Sponsor $50_____ Life Member $200 (per person) _____
A 501(c)(3) organization
since 1960