Museum News
By Carle J. Kopecky, Director
2000 was a good year for the Old Stone Fort Museum Complex. Total visitation was up for the third straight year with 7100 people visiting the museum and a record 625 researches using the library. Library usage is ten times what it was a decade ago! We had a very exciting and educational Stone Fort Days in October. Hundreds of enthusiastic troops and their families gave a realistic impression of 18th century military life as we commemorated the 220th Anniversary of the Johnson Brant Raid of 1780 that attacked the Middle and Lower (Old Stone) Forts. The devastation of that raid was reenacted with the actual burning of three small structures erected on our “battlefield” for the event! The crowds were delighted and the weather was glorious.
Christmas in Schoharie was one of the best-attended in recent years, with over 20 beautiful trees. One tree was donated by the New York Power Authority for our raffle, which raised $181 toward offsetting the cost of the event. A first this year was the decoration of the Oliver Schoolhouse with handmade ornaments as the students might have done, by the Schoharie Valley Garden Club. In addition to musical entertainment by Camille Grace and Mary Jane Bianchine, musicians from the Knox Country Store and The Schoharie Presbyterian Church, a children’s activity program conducted by Vena Ray and students from SUNY Cobleskill was extremely popular.
Now we are speeding toward opening day for our 2001 season with some very exciting prospects in sight. Even before we open, a series of Spring Break Crafts Workshops will be held during the week of April 17-20. During that school vacation, children (4th grade and above) and adults can attend afternoon workshops for hands-on experiences in calligraphy, paper crafts, tinsmithing, stenciling and decorative arts and home crafts. We plan to offer similar workshops in the summer and for future school vacation weeks. If you wish to participate or volunteer to learn to help with these hands-on programs, please contact our education coordinator, George Benson at the museum.
When we do open on Saturday, April 28 there will be a new temporary exhibit in the Badgley Annex. Tentatively entitled “Hats Off to Schoharie County,” it will feature many of the - you guessed it - hats in our collection. In contrast to the ubiquitous baseball cap of today, you will be amazed and amused by the variety of materials, styles and functions of things people put on their heads in the last two centuries.
The Oliver Schoolhouse exhibit improvements near completion with the installation of an audio recording that describes a typical day in the one-room school of 100 years ago. The committee has gathered many objects for display which make it seem to the visitor as if the students had just gone to recess. There will be minor, evolutionary changes to the other exhibit areas on an ongoing basis.
A membership drive and other fund-raising activities are planned to provide for the continuing expansion of the scope and quality of our programs and exhibits. One way of generating more revenue is by increasing the number of visitors who pay admission. When we go to events, tourist information displays and attractions such as the Cobleskill Sunshine Fair, we will bring with us a wonderful new model of the Museum Complex. Built by Society Trustee Maurice Hodder of Schoharie, the model was will help convince potential visitors that we are much more than just an “old stone fort”. We will need volunteers for these activities! If you live in the area, please call our volunteer coordinator, Lois Kling, at the museum to join our Planning and Development Committee and to get on her call list for public appearances.