226 Main Street, Lancaster, New Hampshire 03584, United States
About Us
Annual Report January 2024
Volunteer Activity-thanks to all!!!
Volunteer Activity-thanks to all!!!
Wow! What an exciting year this has been for The Lancaster Historical Society! The restoration of the Wilder-Holton House has begun anew. The sills have been replaced by Commonwealth Construction LLC of Lancaster. The sills were badly in need of replacement, some turned to dust as they were pulled out. Overall, Greg noted that the
Wow! What an exciting year this has been for The Lancaster Historical Society! The restoration of the Wilder-Holton House has begun anew. The sills have been replaced by Commonwealth Construction LLC of Lancaster. The sills were badly in need of replacement, some turned to dust as they were pulled out. Overall, Greg noted that the Holton building was surprisingly level and square, a compliment back to the original workmanship of 1780. We now have new sills that should last many years to come. The basement floor joists and beams have also been worked on and replaced and repaired as necessary and the stairs to the basement have been improved. In October, Quality Insulation Company of Meredith, NH, came and insulated the walls and attic. This was funded by a grant from the Tillotson Foundation through the New Hampshire Charitable Trust.
This winter the windows will be pulled out one by one and restored and returned to their original openings. You may have noticed that the black shutters that grace the house are being removed for restoration. Volunteers are scraping the loose paint and preparing the shutters to be painted. If you would like to help out on this project, please contact us.
Next summer, the old siding will be removed and new wooden siding, mimicking the old, will be put on. It will then need to be painted and the newly painted shutters returned to their proper places. We will need your help in funding the new clapboard siding project.
Volunteer Activity-thanks to all!!!
Volunteer Activity-thanks to all!!!
Volunteer Activity-thanks to all!!!
Volunteers have been cleaning and organizing the Wilder-Holton museum. Thanks to all who have donated their time and efforts. A special thank you to Brittany and Chris who restored the Mary Brisson Smith Memorial Garden. Another special thank you to Ellen and Suzanne who spent many afternoons cleaning . Thanks to Gary and Linda for ge
Volunteers have been cleaning and organizing the Wilder-Holton museum. Thanks to all who have donated their time and efforts. A special thank you to Brittany and Chris who restored the Mary Brisson Smith Memorial Garden. Another special thank you to Ellen and Suzanne who spent many afternoons cleaning . Thanks to Gary and Linda for getting our informative website established. . Thanks to all the Board of Directors and volunteers for the work they do every month. So much goes on behind the scenes and we thank each one of them especially Anne Morgan. Anne has served as president for a number of years and she has willing done every task that needed doing including the least glamorous of all - cleaning the porta-potties after each flea market. Thank You, Anne!
The flea market season was very successful. We only had one rain out date and that was the last one. The snack bar crew was awesome! Thanks to Gary, Trina, Cindy, Chris, Liz, Leslie, Denise, Les, Diane and Bill and others. Many of these folks gave up several Sundays during the summer for this purpose and we value their service. Tour guides in the Barn, especially Bob, Rick and Tim, answered lots of questions from our visitors plus kept the building neat and tidy. Thank you! Our Holton House tour guides have done a great job this summer. A special thank you to Abi who came every single Flea Market Sunday to act as a tour guide. Thanks to Betty as she fulfilled the role of official tour greeter every Sunday all summer. Sharon and Brittany were there as well sharing Lancaster’s history with all the visitors. Thanks to Anne for being in charge of the “Shed” which brings in a considerable amount of money for the restoration fund. Our volunteers are crucial to our success, so a big thank you to each of you.
Giving Back
Volunteer Activity-thanks to all!!!
Giving Back
Our 50/50 raffle winner this year was Whitefield resident, Marie Wotton. She was presented with a check for $600, which means the same amount went into our restoration fund. White Mountains Regional student, Destiny Egan, was chosen as the recipient of the Harry Phillips Scholarship.
In the spirit of giving back to the community, we hel
Our 50/50 raffle winner this year was Whitefield resident, Marie Wotton. She was presented with a check for $600, which means the same amount went into our restoration fund. White Mountains Regional student, Destiny Egan, was chosen as the recipient of the Harry Phillips Scholarship.
In the spirit of giving back to the community, we held a haunted house this Halloween called “ A Haunted Night at the Museum” and invited the public to come for a spooky visit. Thank you to the Beattie family for loaning us the props. It was very well received and we had a lot of fun planning and doing it. We had thirteen volunteers participating. A special thank you goes out to Rick Brisson for his role as the butcher and to Harry Hikel who provided “spooky” organ music. Our visitors loved it. We also had a table at the Lancaster Fair displaying our books, tote bags and ornaments. Many people stopped by to chat and ask questions. Our new ornament will be the “Lancaster Diner” and we expect delivery of it in early 2024. We also participated in the “Old Tyme Christmas” Event at the Town Hall.
Along with all the good comes some sadness too with the passing of our dear friend and director, Rosalind Eckman Ladd. Right up until her passing she was actively working on various projects for the society. We will miss her good cheer, her independent spirit and her fine mind. Rest in peace, Rosalind, you will always be in our hearts.
Please take the time to consider contributing to the “New Clapboard Siding Appeal”. We can’t do it without you. You can send a check made out to the Lancaster Historical Society, PO Box 473, Lancaster, NH 03584 with a notation of siding project OR go to our website www.lancasterhistorynh.org and click on the Donation button.
Best wishes to all of you for a happy and healthy 2024 from,
Lancaster Historical Society Board of Directors