The Hebron Historical Society

Hebron Historical Society's participation in Maple Fest 2014 was great fun as well as being a successful fundraiser for the Society. All profits will be applied to building expenses and program costs of The Society.

Old Town Hall was filled to the brim with colorful and interesting quilts, both old and new. The quilts were hung by Nathalie Peltier-Horton who has organized the show for over twenty years. A visitor from out of town said, "Even though it is a small show, it is a beautiful one." For all who visited, the opportunity to ask questions of Nathalie and Karen Strid, in addition to the information provided on each label, made the show even better.

The Tea Cup Auction was a fantastic success. There were items to please everyone from restaurant, hair salon, and service gift certificates to artwork, crafts and themed gift baskets. The Historical Society greatly appreciates donations from the following Hebron businesses: Gina Marie's, Capricorn I Hair Studio, Zen Garden, DaVinci's Pizzaria, Something Simple Café, Dunkin' Donuts, Colonial Country Store, The Hairline, Ted's Supermarket, SiS Designs, the Douglas Library, and Hebron Quick Lube. Also appreciated are our local friends like Tom and Linda Stevenson, Pat Carter, Carolyn Aubin, Andrea Lattanzi, Louise Cassarella, Helen Reardon, and Anne-Marie Piggott. We want to thank both Peter Billard Photography and Radiant Yoga for their donations, and to Mary-Ellen Gonci for her handmade quilt. Other than the quilt drawing, all other donations had their winning tickets drawn at the end of the Show.

Maple Milk was as popular as ever. Thanks to The Farmer's Cow for donating much of the milk and to Ted's Supermarket for providing its refrigeration, we were able to sell 35 gallons of our seasonal, secret recipe drink. Having two-legged cows on site, both male and female, helped sell this favorite beverage.

There was even a bit of room in the Old Town Hall for "Hebron Heritage Photo Project". Peter Billard, its organizer, was there to display many of the photos already scanned and in the collection. He spoke about the project and invited visitors to bring their old photos for the scannings.

Our RHAM High School Honor Society volunteers made all the difference in the success of our sales. These students were willing to help with set-up, sales, and are also on the list for taking down the quilt racks and everything for next year.

Old Gravestones and Their Carvers

October 27 - As a Halloween special, Ruth Shapleigh-Brown, Director of the Connecticut Gravestone Network, will present a program focusing on Wall Street’s Old Hebron Cemetery. The group will walk with Ruth, stopping to observe various gravestones and identifying their carvers. Ruth will also speak about the proper cleaning of stones, as well as how to read and photograph illegible stones.

The group will meet Shapleigh-Brown at the Town Office Building (15 Gilead St.), at 1:30, she will present introductory information.  The group will then proceed to the Old Cemetery on Wall Street, on the right, past RHAM and opposite Ridge Road.

Click on the headstone for a larger view.

Historical Society to Host Plant Sale on June 8th

On Saturday, June 8th, The Hebron Historical Society will host its 5th annual plant sale from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the Old Town Hall at 26 Main Street in Hebron.

The sale will feature a large variety of both indoor and outdoor plants donated by area residents and other organizations. In addition to the plants, ground cover and small trees will also be available.

This annual fund-raising event has grown in popularity each year. Helen Reardon, president of The Hebron Historical Society spearheads the effort, with a lot of support from Carolyn Aubin. Many of the plants in the sale will come from these two ladies’ spectacular gardens. In addition, the women will coordinate the work of seeking donations of plants from friends, neighbors and other local residents.

If you have plants you would like to donate to this fundraiser, please contact Carolyn Aubin at 860-228-1665 or Helen Reardon at 860-604-6395. After the sale, any unsold plants will be planted around Old Town Hall or donated to other non-profit organizations and volunteer efforts to beautify Hebron.

At the same time as the Plant Sale, the Friends of the Douglas Library will be holding their summer used book sale right next door. So a single visit will enable you to stock up on both your summer gardening and summer reading needs. Plenty of public parking will be available at the library and across the street behind Century 21 Realtors.

For more information about The Hebron Historical Society and its educational programs and restoration projects, please visit www.hebronhistoricalsociety.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Joyce Kirkpatrick, 860/347-5709 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Premiere Sold Out and Preview Performance Added

GREATER MIDDLETOWN CHORALE's world premiere performance of Letter from Italy, 1944, is sold-out for Sunday, April 28, and a preview performance has been added for Friday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. The story of war, family love and post-traumatic stress is an original work commissioned by the GMC.

The story is told with GMC’s 80 singers, a full orchestra, staging and multimedia projection. GMC’s Artistic Director, Joseph D'Eugenio, is collaborating with the GMC's Drama Director in Residence, Dr. Sheila Garvey, using all the tools of the modern theater to present the work at the Performing Arts Center at Middletown High School.

Connecticut residents Sarah Meneely-Kyder, a Grammy-nominated composer, and her sister, published poet Nancy Meneely, collaborated on the true story of their father, Dr. John Meneely, a Yale-trained doctor who served as a medic in the 10th Mountain Division in Italy near the end of the World War II. D'Eugenio has been working with the Meneely sisters for over two years to bring Letter from Italy, 1944, to the stage.

The world premiere performance sold out three weeks ahead — a record for GMC – and there is strong demand for the added preview performance. This Friday evening show will be presented in its entirety, with full orchestra, although the audience may see some breaks to correct technical problems. Tickets for the April 26 preview are available through the production’s web site, LetterFromItaly.com, where information about the creative process and PTSD is also provided.

The Greater Middletown Chorale is a private, non-profit organization that has been providing great music for the people of Connecticut for 36 years. It is funded with the support of the State of Connecticut, Middletown Commission on the Arts, Connecticut DECD/Office of the Arts, Aetna Foundation, Chevron Humankind Grants and Pfizer Foundation, Unilever Foundation, United Technologies.

The Chorale's Letter from Italy, 1944, project is made possible with grants from Choral Arts New England, New England Foundation for the Arts' Meet the Composer/New England program, Connecticut DECD/ Office of the Arts, Community Foundation of Middlesex County, through the foundation’s Ann and George Petry Fund and The Arts Fund, Tenth Mountain Division Foundation, and sponsors Kaman Corporation, Brown & Brown and Middle Oak.

On Thursday, May 16th at 7:30 p.m., The Hebron Historical Society and the Connecticut Historical Society are teaming up to present “From Hula Hoops to High Fashion: G. Fox Co. in the 1950s” at the Old Town Hall on 26 Main Street in Hebron. The program, hosted by The Hebron Historical Society, is free and the general public is invited to attend.

For most Connecticut residents, the word “Fox’s” holds powerful associations. The name evokes images of a beautifully decorated, tall department store on Main Street filled with every imaginable garment, home furnishing or, domestic necessity dreamed of and warm memories of sharing time with family and
friends. From the marquee decorated for Christmas to shopping trips for back-to-school clothes, the days at G. Fox were filled with wonder. For a treat, nothing was better than cream cheese on date-nut bread with mother in the Connecticut Room.

Elizabeth Abbe, director of public outreach at the Connecticut Historical Society, will be your guide down memory lane, with a look at Connecticut’s favorite department store. She will take you back, floor by floor, to the days when Fox’s was the largest privately-owned department store in the U.S. Elizabeth, who grew up in Wethersfield, says she remembers how special it was to take the bus “uptown” to spend the day shopping with her mother at Fox’s.

Elizabeth will also give you some insight into the woman who made every shopping experience a joy – Beatrice Fox Auerbach. In addition to a substantial collection of business papers, clothing, furniture, and photographs tied to the story of G. Fox Co., the Connecticut Historical Society houses some of Mrs. Auerbach’s personal records including correspondence with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

It’s time to revisit G. Fox Co., where the customer was always right! Bring your memories along with your favorite purchases. We’ll have some tables for display of G. Fox Co. treasures and time for you to share a favorite G. Fox Co. story. You’ll also have the opportunity to go home with a booklet that gives a brief history of the store for a small donation.

This program is a part of the CHS adult outreach program. To learn more about CHS and its programs, visit www.chs.org. CHS is located at 1 Elizabeth Street in Hartford, CT.

For more information about Hebron history and other activities and programs of The Hebron Historical Society, visit www.hebronhistoricalsociety.org.