Tag: 200th Anniversary

Categories
Americana Journal Joy Notes

Fun for the 200th Anniversary of our church

JoAnne and Kelvin Jones in costume for the 200th anniversary celebration at Copper Hill Church
JoAnne and Kelvin Jones in costume for the 200th anniversary celebration at Copper Hill Church

 

The early part of our church’s history was during the Victorian era. So to enhance the sense of the age of our church, our Anniversary committee invited people to dress Victorian if they desired for the 200th Anniversary Sunday. JoAnne and I thought that would be a lot of fun. She has been a subscriber to Victoria magazine for a long time anyway. So we thought about how to make it happen. Actually, it was a serendipity for me. I saw in the Yankee Flyer that Simsbury Theater was having a costume sale so I showed up at their warehouse for it, explaining what I was looking for. They quickly told me that they had nothing that would help me on sale but that they did have such things for rent. That suited me fine —ahm — pardon the pun. So I had the able assistance of costumer Darlene of Simsbury Theater and her helper in getting fitted for Victorian clothes. Plus, Darlene found the perfect hat for JoAnne, who already had a black dress she felt would work for the occasion, one she had crafted herself years ago, and could still wear.

I had decided months ago to grow a beard for the occasion. I had never grown a beard before. I thought that if I ever did grow one it would be like Lincoln’s. So now you see it.

Everyone loved our outfits. I even got to wear suspenders underneath. They are very comfortable, I must say. They even rented me a string tie. They could not find a 19th century round collared shirt big enough so I had to make do by folding the collar of one of my shirts under. But with that some compromise, I was good to go. Also, since it was an inside event, I did not need the top hat.

We had a lot of fun with it as you can see.

In costume with DS Rev. Ken Kieffer and former 61st Rep. Ruth Fahrbach
JoAnne at the keyboard looking the part
JoAnne leads children's church in costume
We even took a selfie
JoAnne in the rose arbor
Kelvin in the rose arbor
My new profile pic

[Show as slideshow]
Categories
Church Leadership Journal

Wisdom for Preserving Things

NYAC Archivist, Beth Patkus, discussing preservation

 

Maybe it’s natural as we get older be more interested in preserving things. When I was younger, I don’t recall being interested in preserving history in the way that I am now. Especially since becoming pastor of a church with a 200 year time-line, I’ve become very aware of the value of the story that is told by the collection of anecdotes, pictures, records, and objects that are collected over the years.  For example, this year as a part of our 200th anniversary celebration at Copper Hill church, we read from the Bible that was printed in 1839, the same year that the church sanctuary was built.  I illustrated one sermon with anecdotes of revivals taken from the records of the church and a town history.

 

This last Wednesday, (August 10, 2016), our 200th anniversary committee sponsored a presentation by Beth Patkus, archivist of the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.  As a part of our celebration, we have discovered numerous old records, pictures, etc. And we are creating more historical material as the celebration proceeds.   We have also become very aware of how fragile the material is, and how prone it is to being lost during times between big anniversaries when it might be considered “in the way.”

 

Ms. Patkus’ presentation was very interesting and I came away with a number of immediate takeaways.  I’ll call them “Wisdom for Preserving Things.  Here are five.

 

  1. Label your pictures. Even the next generation will not know who many of the people are.  I have a picture of the congregation of my childhood church from my grandparent’s generation.  I would only know one or two people, except for the fact that the picture is accompanied with a labeling chart.  But I discovered a picture of a large baptismal class I had at Kirkville that is not labeled and already I am unable to recall names for some of the faces.

 

  1. Digital preservation does not necessarily replace physical preservation. This was a new thought for me. As a computer buff, I have come to think digital. But I am also aware that websites get completely redone, computers crash, and Beth informed us that even CDs and DVDs do not last as well as techies originally thought they would.    The cloud may help but it is still too new to see how well it will work for long-range storage.

 

  1. Use acid-free, lignin free and PH buffered storage folders and boxes. For photo albums with plastic, avoid PVC’s. I had heard of acid-free, but the rest of this information was new to me.  I am going to invest in some proper storage materials.

 

  1. Choose a good storage spot. This was just common sense, but I know I have lost things because they were not in a good spot. Especially avoid light exposure, high humidity, and potential for water damage. In addition, high temperature is detrimental.  When possible, display a copy rather than the original to avoid the long-term light exposure incurred by display.

 

  1. Don’t try to fix a torn or damaged artifact yourself. You’re more likely to cause irreversible damage. If the object is truly valuable, a conservator may be able to repair it properly (for a price).  We were glad we had followed this advice on a church-related but badly-torn poster one family found that may be 140 years old.