The Little Falls Historical Society Museum 2019 Annual Report

2019 was another successful year for the Historical Society. Our organization remains in sound financial condition, our membership base expanded, and nearly 1500 visitors passed through our doors in 2019. Physical maintenance of our 187-year old building is always challenging and interesting, but our greatest challenge continues to be the need to attract the next generation of organization volunteers if we are to continue functioning as an integral part of the Little Falls community. Can you help us with this need?

MUSEUM AND ATTENDANCE

Our museum motto “Where Community History Lives” both defines and challenges us. We were able to maintain our traditional Tuesday thru Saturday schedule from mid-May thru October in 2019. During these months, our Old Bank Museum also functions as a tourist information center with museum docents serving as community goodwill ambassadors. We also have extended hours of operation during each of our community festivals and for most Third Thursday events. Special thanks to the six new docents who helped us maintain this schedule.

One of our biggest accomplishments for 2019 was extensive reorganization of our “Cooney Room” documents and our complete file system. One of the most interesting artifacts to emerge during this process was a small box containing a tightly rolled ten-foot long 1851 petition containing signatures of approximately 500 residents urging the reversal of the 1850 decision to change our village name to Rockton.

And so, ROCKTON became both a museum exhibit and the subject of a writing series article. Other new exhibits for 2019 included THE HISTORY OF LITTLE FALLS ATHLETICS, CAMP JOLLY, and LITTLE FALLS DURING PROHIBITION. Our tribute exhibit to the 135 Little Falls residents who served in the Vietnam War and our pre-urban renewal commercial district exhibits continue to attract the attention of museum visitors as do our Little Falls diamonds collection, 1940 Gulf Curve Crash, 1912 Textile Strike, Sister City Myjava, Slovakia  and Little Falls Cheese Market exhibits.

We are most grateful to those individuals and families who entrust us with their keepsakes and artifacts for display purposes. Thank you.    

About half of the nearly 1500 visitors to the museum came during community festivals – the Cheese Festival, Canal Celebration, the Garlic Festival, and Christmas in Little Falls. About two-thirds of our visitors were from the immediate area, and another 20% from other NYS communities. Nearly 200 visitors came from 31 other states, many of whom are “expatriates” visiting their hometown. Other museum visitors in 2019 were from Canada, England, Russia, Slovania, Nepal, Mexico, and Germany.   

2019 HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESENTATIONS / MEETINGS

March                                Mike and Gail Potter  –  Digitized photos of Little Falls

April                                   Byron Roth  –  Role of DNA in genealogical research

May                                    2019 museum opening reception

June                                    Annual summer picnic at Rotary Park

September                         Terry McMaster  –   Scots-Irish migration into our area

October                              Maynard Blask  –  Vets Park and professional baseball in LF

November                          Elections and Mike and Gail Potter’s digitized photos of LF

December                          Annual Christmas luncheon at Travelodge

We are both fortunate and grateful to have access to the beautiful historic WCA building (1826) for our monthly general membership meetings and presentations. The WCA was the home of Nathaniel Benton, our first village president. All Society meetings and presentations are free and open to the public. We wish to thank WCA building manager Bonnie Bunker for her aid and assistance at each meeting.

We also wish to formally thank Society members Barbara Connor, Eileen Bennett, Mary Alice Rieman, and Catherine Sweet for orchestrating phone calls to local Society members for each monthly meeting.

PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

2019 PATRIOTS DAY PROGRAM AT EMMANUEL EPISCOPAL CHURCH  –  Our tenth annual Patriots Day observance program on May 18 was well attended. We have hosted previous Patriots Day events at Yellow Church Cemetery, Herkimer Home, Fort Herkimer Church, Indian Castle Church, Snells Bush Church, the former Masonic Temple in LF, Herkimer Reformed Church, Fairfield’s Historic Trinity, and in 2018 at Paine’s Hollow Church. The purpose of Patriots Day is to recognize the contributions of our ancestors to our nation’s quest for independence during the Colonial and Revolutionary War eras. We are honored to be able to host our annual event in such well-preserved historic buildings. We have scheduled our Patriots Day 2020 program at the Norway Historical Society on Saturday May 23.

2019 Program speaking topics included:  “Welcome and Introduction” – Anita Dulak, “Emmanuel Episcopal Church – A History” –  Father Steve Scarcia, “Yellow Church Road Cemetery” and DAR closing remarks – Patricia Stock, “Major Andrew Eacker Finck & General Lafayette” – Robin Critser-Prinzhorn, “Local Patriots and Historic Documents” – Pat Frezza-Gressler, “Walter Butler, a Reexamination” – Marc Butler, “The Little Falls Grist Mill Attack” – Louis Baum, and “The Battles of Oriskany and Saratoga” and “Closing Remarks” – Jeffrey Gressler. Dr. Oscar Stivala played “Taps” and Robert Schmelcher provided additional musical accompaniment. 

MAY 21 MUSEUM OPENING RECEPTION  –  This event was “standing room only” with athletes, both past and present, parents and families, coaches, and Society members in attendance. Our HISTORY OF LITTLE FALLS ATHLETICS exhibit was the main attraction.

SEPTEMBER 21  –  AFTERNOON TEA THYME LASSIES  –  The Historical Society hosted this fundraiser event at the Canal Side Inn which was attended by over 30 people.

OCTOBER 3  –  NYS COMMANDERS OF AMERICAN LEGION  –  We once again hosted a museum visit by the commanders of the NYS American Legion. The group was comprised of 25 visitors, mostly veterans, who were particularly interested in our Vietnam War and other military exhibits. 

OCTOBER 17  –  CLOSING RECEPTION  –  This well-attended event coincided with Third Thursday.

DECEMBER 10  –  The Society hosted 75 Benton Hall Academy students and their teachers who decorated the museum’s Christmas tree with handmade ornaments and learned some local history. This is an annual tradition much enjoyed by everyone involved.

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

BRENDAN BROWN-McCUE MEMORIAL MEDIA CENTER  –  To honor this fine young man and loyal museum volunteer, his family and friends donated funds to purchase a big screen television and other equipment for museum use.

NEW WEBSITE AND COMPUTER  –  Thanks to the technological wizardry of member Ginny Rogers, the Historical Society has a new state-of-the-art website. Ginny also helped us out in a myriad of other ways, including guiding us in the selection of a new Apple computer to replace our outdated computer and in establishing a “This Day In Little Falls History” feature on our website. If you have not already done so, please check out the website at: littlefallshistoricalsociety.org                   

SUNY ONEONTA / HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLABORATION  –  In August 2019, Dr. Erik Stengler of the SUNY Oneonta Museum Studies Graduate Program at Cooperstown reached out to the Historical Society about the possibility of establishing a working partnership between his program and students and our organization. We are presently working with Dr. Stengler to help establish the syllabus for a spring semester Museum Studies course entitled “Science Cabinet of Curiosity” for second year graduate students. SUNY students will use Little Falls’ rich industrial and waterway history and our Old Bank Museum artifacts and materials to complete the field work requirements for this challenging and exciting course. Plans are in the offing to make this a multi-year collaboration. This is entirely “new ground” for the Historical Society, but we are confident that we are up to the task. Who says you can’t teach an old organization new tricks?

LITTLE FALLS GRISTMILL HISTORIC MARKER  –  Society member George Clingen pointed out at a meeting some months back that at one time there was a gristmill historic marker along Mill Street near the old Gilbert Knitting Mill. We have been hard at work on this project and confident that with the help of a Pomeroy Foundation grant we will be able to replace this marker in 2020.

NEW YORK STATE LIBRARY RESOURCE COUNCIL  –  In 2019, the Historical Society joined this organization which will allow us to have access to their assistance and resources. 

RESEARCH COMMITTEE  –  The Historical Society receives many requests each year for assistance with family genealogical research. We have recently established a committee under Louie Baum’s guidance to more professionalize our ability to provide research services.

MEMBERSHIP

We are a self-supporting not-for-profit organization. Since most of our income comes from membership dues and donations, it is important that we have a strong and supportive membership base. Thank you for your support.

A majority of our members are Patrons ($50), Sustaining ($25), Family ($15) and Individual ($10). We have 254 memberships totaling 339 members in addition to 33 corporate / business memberships. We ask that you support these businesses whenever possible. Think and shop locally, we all benefit. 

About half of our members live in Little Falls, 20% from other NYS communities, and the other 30% from 28 other states and Germany and Slovakia. This geographical diversity speaks well of hometown roots. Please encourage your friends to become Society members and support the conservation of our rich community history.

2019 BUSINESS AND CORPORATE MEMBERS

• A.M. Blask Realty  
• Adirondack Bank
• Beardslee Castle
• Bonita’s Sandwich Chef
• Burrows Foundation
• Chapman-Moser Funeral Home
• Copper Moose Ale House
• David Chlus: Morgan Stanley
• Dunteman Corporation
• Empire Fibreglass Products
• Enea Family Funeral Home
• Fall Hill Bead and Gems
• Feldmeier Equipment
• Floor and Furniture Restoration
• George’s Lumber
• H & H Accounting
• Hummel’s Office Plus
• Inn at Stone Mill/Canal Side
• Kress Physical Therapy
• Little Falls Dental: Dr. Yallowitz
• Little Falls Hospital
• Little Falls Veterinary Clinic
• One Leaf Genealogy
• Paca Gardens
• PEM’s Tool and Machine
• Pohlig’s Enterprises
• RD’s Mountain View Trucking  
• Ruggerio’s Trattoria
• Stewart’s Shops, Inc. 
• Travelodge
• Twin Rivers Paper Company
• Van Meter & Van Meter
• White Rose Bakery

WRITING SERIES

For the fifth consecutive year, various Historical Society members and other individuals authored articles related to museum exhibits. These articles and authors included: Louis Baum on THE LITTLE FALLS GRISTMILL ATTACK, Pat Frezza-Gressler on LITTLE FALLS TO ROCKTON TO LITTLE FALLS, Jeffrey Gressler on both LITTLE FALLS DURING PROHIBITION and LITTLE FALLS AND ITS FIVE NYS CHAMPIONSHIPS, David Krutz on CAMP JOLLY, Mary Ann Mucica on MY GRANDMOTHER THE BOOTLEGGER, and Pat Stock on YELLOW CHURCH ROAD CEMETERY.

Additionally, Society members Angela Harris, Krutz and Gressler also authored articles for the Herkimer County Historical Society’s 2019 publication MURDER & MAYHEM IN HERKIMER COUNTY which is for sale at the museum.

UPCOMING FOR 2020

One of our primary goals for 2020 is to better organize our basement area and materials. Our History of Little Falls Athletics, Vietnam War and Pre-Urban Renewal commercial exhibits will likely remain intact for another year. It is the centennial of the 19^th Amendment (Women’s Suffrage) and we aim to create an exhibit on this subject focused on related local events and individuals.

 Jim and Sharon Wright turned over to the museum all of Jim’s grandfather Jim Bronner’s extensive World War I collection of personal artifacts. These materials are in mint condition and will be used to augment our permanent military exhibit. 

Plans are in the offing for a springtime garage sale on Friday April 25 and Saturday April 26 at Holy Family parish hall to benefit the Society. We will communicate with our membership later about how to donate items for this sale. Please keep us in mind.

We have also received two estimates for the installation of a rubber roof on our entire building. We are attempting to secure grant assistance for this costly undertaking. Local mason contractor Jeff Korce removed and completely replaced the museum’s roof chimney this past summer.

FINANCES

Historical Society income for 2019 was $21,479 and expenses were $14,860, leaving a surplus of $6619. The generosity of our membership and benefactors provided 96% of our income through dues and donations. “Ongoing” expenses were museum utilities (gas, electric, internet, and water/sewer), and insurance accounted for 35% of expenses; building maintenance added 16%. Major new expenses included the purchase of a new computer and related equipment and installation of a museum security system which amounted to 19% of total expenses.

A major donation was received from Society members Blaise (LFHS class of 1969) and Leslie Carrig. We were one of six Little Falls not-for-profits included in this philanthropic action. 

Society members DeForest and Arlene Tinkler, Martin and Krista Babinec, Bob and Mary Ann Mucica, Ken and Lily Bagley, and Harold Blovat also made significant donations in 2019. Other Society members make extra donations along with their membership payments. Thank you.

The Historical Society also wishes to thank the City of Little Falls for its ongoing financial support.

SUMMARY

The Little Falls Historical Society continues to thrive in challenging times for non-profits and to expand our contributions to the greater community. This is only possible through the continued generous financial support of our membership and through the dedicated service of our volunteer docents, board directors, and officers. 

As we look toward the future, we remain forever grateful to those earlier individuals who saved the Old Bank from 1960’s urban renewal demolition. Without them, there would be no Historical Society, no museum, and no need for this annual report. The current generation is thankful for the opportunity to carry forward this legacy.

These founding members include Ruth Busaker, Edward and Mary Louise Cooney, Natalie Derby, John Gallager, John George, Mary Grace, Lyda Loucks, Robert McEvoy, Dr. Fred Sabin, Harold Sperbeck, and Ralph and Clarice Van Horn. Apologies if we omitted anyone from this listing.

Sadly, Society members Eileen Blovat, Barbara Cooney, Keith Davy, Leo Gregorka, Brendan Brown-McCue, David E. Miller, Lynn Strunk, and Father Thomas Vail all passed away in 2019. 

Annual elections were held at our Tuesday November 26 general membership meeting at the WCA. Board directors Gail Potter and Maryanne Terzi and all four officers were reelected to two-year terms. We much appreciate this show of support.    

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

• Louis Baum – Immediate Past President
• Jeffrey Gressler – President
• Scott Kinville – Vice-President
• Gail Potter
• Michael Smith
• Patricia Stock
• Maryanne Terzi

OTHER OFFICERS   
Anita Dulak – Secretary
David Krutz – Treasurer
Pat Frezza-Gressler  – Membership Chairperson     

PLEASE NOTE:  The 2019 Annual Report contains no pictures. Pictures taken at various 2019 programs and events can be viewed by visiting our website at: littlefallshistoricalsociety.org.