Sunday, September 30, 2012

A trip back to the past..and the memories linger!

Sometimes memories are a bit painful as well as wonderful and this weekend brought those emotions to the forefront for me.

Eaton when I first moved here was such a wonderful place filled with friends and good times.  Oh yes the going was tough since we bought this house before the wrecking ball got it and had to struggle to stay warm in Eaton's seriously cold winters...but the neighbors became family and we had fun.

This weekend I had a wonderful visitor from North Carolina named Jill.  I met Jill when she was just a young girl who came up to Eaton to stay with her grandmother for a few weeks every summer.  Her grandmother was my best friend and fishing buddy...and summers were made up of picnics, swimming in the little pool we had out back, and trips to pick cowslips..berries....and all the things that make country life so wonderful.

So in this dreary weather Jill and I set off to revisit a few of the old haunts....we laughed...and later when she left I cried....not a horrible cry but a painful cry because now all my dear friends and neighbors are dead ...and the street though filled with new young people ...that is still quiet and safe... is missing that wonderful older segment of the population that let you remember Eaton's past.

A past that included a closed atmosphere where everyone worried about everyone else and enjoyed life for its simple pleasures like just walking to the neighbors uninvited for coffee, having lunch on the porch listening to tales of the past....learning what the family and friends were up to....or sitting by the woodstove in winter chatting about the coming springs adventures.  We called ourselves "Back Door Friends"..but we were more like family...and unfortunately they are all dead and the young have moved away.

Well today we have Facebook..and although the new neighbors and I do Facebook with each other....its not the same.....and with the introduction of the internet...it will never be the same again...never I fear!

A trip back was fun!

So a toast to those good times and to those now gone....I still remember...!



Sad that we can only revisit those good times as memories.....and the summers seem to get much shorter as you get older...and the winters much longer!

Thanks for the visit Jill....

Friday, September 21, 2012

This museum junkie does Eaton's Churches....at the Old Town of Eaton Museum

I have been working non-stop on the Eaton Museum for weeks and finally have gotten to setting up the displays....finally.  I had begun to drag under the load of getting the museum repaired and painted and then.... two friends picked me up and we toured two museum....I am energized...now perhaps I can have some fun!



So today I started the Eaton Churches corner and realized what an unbelievable history old Eaton has. Most people do not realize that two of the original incorporators of the Eaton Congregational Church were also 2 of the 5 original incorporators of the Baptist Theological Seminary that became Madison University and then Colgate.  As a matter of fact the Eaton Baptist Minister at that time became the first President of Madison University!

Not impressive enough..well the first graduate of the school was Missionary Jonathan Wade of Eaton, Eaton also was the home of Andrew Bigelow Morse an American youth missionary to Burma, also it is cool that the Rev. William Dean - missionary to China, is currently being recognized for his missionary work there.  Eaton's Emily Chubbuck "Fanny Forester"married America's famous missionary Adoniram Judson and returned to Burma with him as a missionary!

In its "hay-day" Eaton had 3 churches with a population of about 450.  These churches remained in the community even though they became "Federated"as church going declined....

Eventually, the 2nd Baptist Church was sold and torn down by Arthur Yale, a postman.  Industrious to the cored he used the building to build three cottages on the Bradley Brook....I have a copy of one of the cottages using the wood, roofing, and pews from the church in the museum.




The Methodist Church is gone..tho many thought it to be the prettiest..and the the only building standing is the Congregational ...now the Eaton Community Bible Church..and what a history that has.




It was from that church in 1848 the Congregational Society of the Northeast met and declared their abolition stanza.  It's famous members included all of the the Wood, Taber and Morse Company, as well as the Landon Family whose son Melville made it famous in his book "Saratoga in 1901", and also included in its many pastors was Rev. William Cleveland.. the President's brother.

Today with in the structure is a rare Meneely clock built by Andrew himself and a world class Meneley Bell...something the Meneely Company keeps check on....so do I!

So if you get a chance visit me when we get the museum finished....and view an interesting piece of not only Eaton's history but the history of Madison County.  For more history and videos go to www.historystarproductions.com.

Take a tour.....


Friday, September 14, 2012

Saving Electricity..My newest method....Bulb Snatching

We all know all of the energy saving tips...Energy Star appliances (if you can afford them), use cold water to wash clothes with, turn off computers and TV's that have heater thingys to keep them ready to spring alive....turn off lights when not in use.....ahhh but I never seemed to be able to remember to do that...!

I have done them all..I am poor and need to save energy as my electric bill is high.  Down here in the country I have electric water pump, electric stove, electric water heater and in the winter electric fans and a space heater in the bathroom.

I have closed the house down to two rooms, cooked on a wood stove if possible in winter, and have little multiple outlets with interrupters on them attached to computers, TVs etc.  I flip the switch after I use it and ..bam no electric use...I disconnect chargers the same way.....bam!

But the most energy I have saved on my electric bill came from my newest dilemma...no lightbulbs.  Yes I use the squiggly kind to save energy but they have died.  So now I use my new energy saving method...BULB SNATCHING!!!

I know this sounds funny but if I carry the same bulb from room to room with me..one - the light is off in the room I left..and  two - I only use light where I am...I cut my bill way down...way down!

So if you really need to save money...BULB SNATCH...you will see your bill go down !! REALLY! It works for me.

But if you come to my house at night ..wait for me to keep moving the bulb especially if I am in the front of the house and you are at the back door.  It takes time...for me to get there......or you can bring your own bulb!

Check this out!


Sunday, September 9, 2012

The Old Town of Eaton Museum needs your Help!






This past week has been a long one even though you could say it was like July and August.  I have been working at the Old Town of Eaton Museum trying to get the inside finished.  This has been a long haul-- since October of 2010--when a huge tree fell on the building, punching a hole in the old roof and allowing the downpour from a large rainstorm, a total of 5 inches, to enter the museum including the main room.


Many people think the Town of Eaton helps with the museum.  They do not. There are few funds for small local museums and less for this one since most members of the founding  group have died.


Chris Staudt  and I bought the museum at the instigation of the long-time residents of the town and the powers-that-be because they wanted this beautiful old historic building to be the museum for the town.


The building had been in the same family for years and then had been deserted for about 40 years, when it was sold a few times with no improvement and then sold to a man from New Jersey who was going to move it there.  He thought it was an 1830’s limestone building that could be disassembled and moved.  That didn't prove possible.
The building is an 1810 or so stone building, and when it could not be moved or sold the man offered it to Old Town Folks, the Eaton historical group.  However, that meant that to take it the group had to pay all the closing fees, his two attorneys, our attorney and all the back taxes.  Since no one in the group had money, Chris and I paid the costs. Then, since raccoons had lived there for 40 years, Chris and I had to finance the repairs necessary to get it opened.


It appealed to us personally because we had grown tired of having the museum in our home and having to open our house at all hours of the day and night to visitors, as well as serving food and refreshments to them when they lingered.

I finally got electric service installed and two heaters, opened the first floor, and paid for insurance and taxes on it for all these years.  Yes, museums do pay taxes if they aren't 501 (c) 3 organizations.


The area people are not rich, and donations have been miniscule in comparison to the costs.  The two previous "museums" in town folded. The “collectors” who were given stuff died, their things were sold at auction, and Chris and I vowed that would not happen this time.


Chris died several years ago,  and I have just finished the inside work after having put a new roof on the front during November & December  of 2010 in the snow. I will have to put a roof on the back next year, but that  can wait.


If we are to open the museum,  I need to raise $1300 plus for insurance by next year to be open for the Eaton Parade and History Day on Memorial Day. $1300 is a large amount of money to have to pay to be open one day on weekends from May 30th to October 1, but that is the cost. I also have to re-install the electric service that was taken out by the tree falling on the museum.

I have included a picture of the damage in a video below, and I am asking you to make a donation. I am not able to be in charge of all the costs anymore.  I live on  a small social security check.  All proceeds from my speaking, writing and books goes to the museum so buy a book or hire me to speak or make videos for you or an organization you belong to.  The books are available at Parry’s in Hamilton, Dougherty’s Phamacy in Morrisville, the Eaton A Z Mini Mart, Nelson Farms or on my website at www.Historystarproductions.com via PayPal.



To donate money (we are not a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization as we are too small) send a check to Old Town Folks Inc., 5823 Brooklyn Street, Eaton NY 13334.  You will be doing a lot of good for this area's history.

Thank you so much.
View video of some of the damage..below.







Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Have you hugged a newspaper today??? Why not!


I am becoming very skeptical about the future of newspapers in print!

You know this is going to be terrible for historians and writers if the newspapers in print continue to slip away.  I myself prefer a newspaper, even though I dash around to all of the on-line new sites during the day and night.

In the past local history, national history, and world history, have been clipped and snipped and pasted into scrapbooks for future generations to view in museums and archives. 

History hoarders tell me that have kept every one of my local history articles for their children’s children.  Right now I have 2 over 100 year old newspapers on my desk to read and get information from, information that really can’t be gleaned in many cases from a history book written on the subject.

It is said all of the news will be scanned and saved for the future…but in what form?  Will someone have to continually update its form to be viewed on new software as the old is discontinued?

Obituaries of the past are so useful in locating relatives when doing genealogy, some of the information is of course a little tilted or skewed…but overall it is there…dates, places, relatives, reasons for death...all of it.  Museums are filled with this kind of thing.

To truly know about your area in the past the old newsprint is vital…let alone know what's going on locally.  Think of those famous newspapermen of the past like Ben Franklin and Mark Twain..we have actual copies of what they wrote!

I really wonder how many people are going to print things out to clip and save...and if they do…is the ink they use going to survive or will it fade???? Good question…

So support your local historian and museum…buy a newspaper…enjoy holding it while you sip your coffee or tea….and remember  newspapers have been around for a long time……and I hope it stays that way!