10th Annual Concert Under the Stars and Irish Festival

10th Annual Concert Under the Stars and Irish Festival
Featuring Hair of the Dog
"...America's number one Irish folk band."
August 13, 2011

Plans are underway for this big event which will replace Heritage Day this year. The festival will take place along the Waterford waterfront from the early afternoon until 9pm. We are putting together a day of all things Irish and welcome your ideas and your help!

To share your ideas and/or to express interest in helping out please e-mail the Museum at info@waterfordmuseum.com

Janney Contributes Toward CanalWays and DVC Positions

The Museum is proud to announce that Janney Montgomery Scott, LLC, a full-service financial services firm, has made a contribution of $1,250 toward our CanalWays fourth grade education program and our Docent Volunteer Coordinator (DVC). The donation will help pay the salaries of our CanalWays Project Coordinator and DVC.

These funds have enabled us to re-hire Aine Leader-Nagy to continue her work as the DVC. We have also been able to hire Aaron Robinson as our new CanalWays Project Coordinator. This will enable us to maintain our expanded hours on Saturdays and continue to run our successful CanalWays program.

Expanded Gift Shop

The Museum has expanded its inventory for the gift shop and will continue to do so over the next few months. We have purchased over 800 new children’s books priced between $1.50 and $7.00! The books represent a wide variety of topics and are sure to please the pickiest child.
We also have new books for adults, like local canal expert Russ VanDervoort’s new book “Canal Canaries: and Other Tough Old Birds” and we have the last run of the “Erie Canal Through Saratoga County” by Amelia O’Shea. This hard to find book will sell out quickly so stop by to get your copy today!

THANK YOU

Thank you to McGreivey’s for hosting the wonderful IrishFord night and for donating $5 per person to the Museum!

Thank you Maloney’s Flower Shop for donating a flower arrangement for our opening and a gift certificate that we will be raffling off at our next First Friday.

Thank you Keybank for the 21st Annual Neighbors Make the Difference Day. Although we got rained out, we appreciate the efforts of our local Keybank staff who were ready to help.

Thank you Tim Starr for donating 10 copies of his book “Invented in Saratoga County.” Now on sale in our gift shop!

A Case for Conservation

From our most recent Newsletter-
Featured Artifact: 1854 pencil-on-paper sketch of Isaac Newtown Eddy’s burial site. This article is a follow up to the one which appeared in our last Piece of History written by our guest columnist Paul Schneider, Independent Historian.
For a quick reminder I have inserted a section of his article-

Dating from late 1854 this sketch was drawn by a sailor named Walter A. Kizar, a former crew member of the schooner Eleanor, on which Thomas Jefferson Eddy’s oldest son, Isaac Newton Eddy, briefly served until his early death, at age 19, thousands of miles from home.
In pursuit of the truth of his son’s disappearance from Waterford in 1853, Thomas traveled to Salem, Massachusetts to talk with the Captain of the Eleanor. In a letter dated November 1854 he recounts the origin of the sketch:
“...he [Benjamin Swasey, Captain of the Eleanor] introduced me to a young man, Walter A Kizar ….He is very good at drawing and made me a sketch of Comoro, the tree where Newton and Allen [another sailor] were buried, how their graves are located as described by Captain Swasey.”
Kizar promised to send Thomas a more complete sketch; this is the one believed to now be in the museum’s collections. When Thomas returned to Waterford, he commissioned local artist Ralph A. Savage to memorialize his son’s final resting place through the creation of a painting based on the details provided in Kizar’s sketch. The painting survives today in the collections of the Albany Institute of History and Art, but the sketch from which that painting was done was never mentioned again and was presumed lost—until I opened that folded piece of paper in 2010!

Paul ended the article by saying that we had arranged for a conservator to view the sketch and provide us with an estimate to have it conserved and properly mounted for viewing and storage. We did just that and we have a treatment proposal for this wonderful treasure.
The treatment proposal includes: minor surface cleaning; humidification to flatten the piece; structural repairs; mounting and preservation framing. The new frame will be a UV filtering acrylic box that will allow viewing of the front and back while providing the safest environment possible to help ensure the longevity of the sketch for future generations.
The total cost for all of this work is only $500. We are looking for a sponsor or sponsors to help fund this project– to save a true piece of Waterford’s history.
If you would like to donate toward our Conservation Fund, please send a check or money order to the Waterford Museum, Conservation Fund, 2 Museum Lane, Waterford, N.Y.

Museum to Offer Free Admission to Military Families Memorial Day – Labor Day

The Waterford Museum is proud to announce the launch of Blue Star Museums, a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and more than 1,300 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2011. Leadership support has been provided by the MetLife Foundation through Blue Star Families. The complete list of participating museums is available at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

“The Waterford Museum is proud to give free admission to military families as just a small gesture of our gratitude for all they to do preserve our freedom,” stated Museum Director, Brad Utter.

Wish List—

Sponsor for Adobe Creative Suite 3 (or higher)- this would help us work with photographs and design exhibits. Roughly $500 for older version up to $1,500 for newer version.
Newer Model Dehumidifier
8 1/2 x 11 Photo Paper
Stamps
Sponsor for an Area Rug to go in the Chestnut Room/Gift Shop- $150-$200

New Porch and Updated Security Becoming Reality

As you may remember, the Museum received a legislative initiative of $10,000 from Assemblyman Canestari in the 2009-10 State budget. The grant process requires that the Museum pay for the services and then get reimbursed by the State. This provided the Museum with a challenge and the Town of Waterford IDA has come to our rescue and is providing the Museum with a non-interest loan so we can get the work started.
The work will be completed in June and will include new decking for our main porch and an updated security system.

Thank You Assemblyman Canestari and the Waterford IDA!

Museum Receives Grants for Online Immigrant Exhibit

We are proud to announce that we have received two grants toward our next exhibit in the immigrant series, “Making Waterford Our Home: Online.” We have been awarded $4,846 from the New York State Council on the Arts and $3,000 from the New York Council for the Humanities. Board member Patrick Richar is donating his time as our web designer! The project would not be possible without this huge donation!
The new website will include an exhibit comparing the experiences of each of the immigrant groups we have researched. Work for the project has already begun and we are planning to include interactive maps, walking tours, a database with additional information and a way for people to submit more family stories, genealogy and pictures for our collection.

The Irish Bring Out Further Support
Support for the Irish exhibit and the Immigrant Series has been tremendous. Mohawk Fine Papers has donated $1,000 for the series and over $500 from private donors has been received! One Day Signs donated the panels and banners for the exhibit!

Thank you for your
support!

Thank you Town of Waterford and Waterford IDA

Once again the Town of Waterford government has demonstrated its commitment to heritage tourism and the preservation and interpretation of Waterford’s treasured past by appropriating $5,000 to the Museum. These much needed and appreciated funds will help the Museum to pay general operating expenses.
The Waterford Industrial Development Agency has also stepped up to help the Museum as an anchor of Waterford’s tourism efforts by granting the Museum $2,000 to help purchase new marketing materials.
THANK YOU!

Making Waterford Our Home: Irish Exhibit Now Open

Come see our third installment of this popular
series and learn the story of
Waterford, New York’s Irish-Americans.

First Fridays 7-9pm at the Museum
June 3rd – Made in Ireland– come explore special Irish antiques that will be on display courtesy of “Tipperary at Tara” from Brunswick. Irish themed refreshments will be available.
August 5th – Home Brewing Tasting and Pipers- come sample some locally brewed Irish beer and enjoy the music of a local Irish pipe band.