Dear Members & Friends:
Here it is Fall 2011. It was 349 years ago when Pieter Bronck purchased this site from the local Indian tribe. In 2013 it will be 350 years since the house was built and what is now Coxsackie was populated by the Dutch. It is truly a time to celebrate history here in Greene County.
It was a busy spring and summer.
- School groups visited the Bronck Museum in addition to receiving educational programs in the classroom conducted by several volunteers and staff.
- Professors from NYC came here to research the Bronck crest.
- An all day session was hosted with lectures and a tour for a group of educators from Ulster County BOCES who were studying the Dutch in the Hudson Valley.
- GCHS’s first summer intern, Jenna Melewski, a senior at Duquesne, who works on our school units was appointed.
- The septic tank was installed at the Hunter Education Center as well as a walkway along the back of the Bronck Barrack where visitors will eventually be able to see the exhibits in the spaces.
- Rev. Johannes Schuneman and Leonard Bronk exhorted the visitors to the site to sign the Coxsackie Declaration (Articles of Association) and Schuneman read the Declaration before the signings.
- Two new Bronck Family at Home programs were held on house cleaning and decorating. During the programs visitors got to use 17th and 18th century brooms, do laundry, hear the unusual ways they cleaned their house and receive tips on how to decorate a 17th or 18th century home.
- Our 35th Annual Tour of Homes was hosted in New Baltimore followed by a walk and talk program the next morning to the old papermill site in new Baltimore, followed then by the Bronck Family at Home decorating program on Sunday afternoon. We made a “weekend of history” in Greene County.
- Our first “asking for volunteers” event was held which brought in several new interested and enthusiastic volunteers.
Who said history is a dull subject? The second half of the season promises to have much of the same: Events, programs, visitors, new additions to the Bronck Museum and Vedder Research Library’s collections and, as yet, unknown events will make history here as well.
Financially we continue to do well being able to continue our programming, educational events, staff and maintenance and repairs. Some other historical societies and museums have seen hard times – cutting hours, cutting staff, reducing programming or in some cases, going out of business. Thanks to our members, our staff, our Board of Trustees, our officers and committees and all the volunteers for your assistance.
Much of what we do is now financed by our endowment funds, fueled by bequests over the years. Some large, some small, but all managed in a way to get the most benefit to the Society. Please consider the Society when you are determining what to do with your estate. Certainly we would like financial bequests, but historical papers or other materials are also welcome.
Just remember, Three Five O starts next year.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Hallock, President
