Contact Us:
phone: (413) 357.8814
fax: (413) 357.6314
email: ncchp.org@gmail.com

SAVE THE DATE!  Saturday, February 4th from 12:00 – 3:00 is the fourth annual ice harvest on the shop pond at 42 Water Street in Granville, MA.  The event is being co-sponsored by NCCHP, the Suffield Historical Society, the Suffield Land Conservancy and the Granville Cultural Council.  Come join Dennis Picard of Storrowton Village Museum as he demonstrates and encourages others to take a turn using the ice saw, breaker bar, pike pole and ice tongs to harvest ice the way our ancestors did in the days before refrigeration.  For your listening pleasure, Rick Spencer will be performing a selection of songs from his “Historic Songs of American Work and Trades” program during the ice harvest.  Guided tours of the museum will also be available.  There is no charge for the event or for refreshments, but donations will be gratefully accepted.  Rain date will be Sunday, 2/5.  Check the museum website www.ncchp.org for updates.

New winter hours are in effect for January - March.   Museum tours will only be available by appointment Monday – Friday for groups of 10 or more, or when the museum is open for special events.  The Gift Shop is open daily Monday - Friday from 8:30 – 3:30.  This winter we’ll be busy planning new exhibits and finalizing our “living history” series schedule for 2012.

 

During the Harvest Fair this year a group of knitters made a blanket to donate to the Springfield Chapter of Project Linus.  Project Linus delivers blankets to Baystate Medical Center, Shriners Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Gray House, and MSPCC.

On Thursday,  October 27th from 6-8PM the NCCHP Museum will host Elaine Kuzmeskus, nationally recognized Spiritualist medium and author at the Noble & Cooley Drum Factory, 42 Water Street in Granville. This promises to be a fun and fascinating program that will begin with a talk about "Ghosts of CT and MA”, including Ghosts of Granville.  Following her talk, Elaine will do some mediumship readings for  selected  members of the audience.  This event is sure to delight anyone who is interested in spooky New England history, ghosts and the paranormal; especially since it is located at the historic, over 120 year old Noble & Cooley Drum Factory in the charming town of Granville, MA!  

Everyone is welcome.  Free to NCCHP members, donations appreciated from all others.  Cider, cookies and Halloween candy will be served after the event.

Back by popular demand!  Support our annual fundraiser and bring your old electronic items to the museum for recycling.

October 8th - 10th - The museum will be open all three days of the Granville Harvest Fair

October 27th - Elaine Kuzmeskus will present "Ghosts of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts" from 6:00 - 8:00.

August 17th - Rick Spencer will be performing selections in the debut of his "Civil War Songs of the Boys on the Battlefield" from 6:00 - 8:00.  Check out Rick's site at: www.catfeather.com

We're proud to launch our “2011 Living History Series” on Wednesday, May 11th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the museum. 

Baseball Historian Dan "Gunner" Genovese of Westfield, Massachusetts will present on Granville's connection to the evolution of the game of baseball with a presentation about an early bat and ball game known as "wicket ball," the sport of choice in the hill towns in the early to mid 19th Century. Wicket ball, a direct predecessor of America's Past Time was a popular game in the region prior to the American Civil War but its importance had been ignored for more than a century and a half. Genovese, an author of two books on Westfield baseball history and a member of the local SABR Chapter (Society of American Baseball Research), will present his research on the sport and will highlight a game played in 1850 between Granville and Westfield that ended in controversy. "The subject of baseball's origin is an on-going fascinating subject and is currently a hot topic right now as the commissioner of Major League Baseball recently appointed a special commission to investigate it origins once again," noted Genovese. "In my opinion Granville has a lot to offer to the evolution of the game and should be aware of what they have."

Genovese is also the captain and founder of the Westfield Wheelmen Vintage Base Ball Club and the winner of the Westfield Historical Commission's Annual Preservation Award in 2010.  

Bring the family and come on out to hear all about a favorite sport played by our ancestors – and the great rivalries between towns.

The lecture is free to museum members, with donations gratefully accepted from other guests.  There will be light refreshments served.

For more information about Dan, visit his website at www.mrbaseball.com

Thursday, May 13th 6:30PM

Rick will perform songs of the era as well as provide some interesting background about the song origins.

Rick is known internationally for his work as a historian, researcher, singer, songwriter and performer of music in the American folk tradition. For over 25 years he has traveled and performed at venues which include concert stages, folk festivals, museums, historical societies, schools, libraries, pubs and others. He is the Executive Director of the Dr. Ashbel Woodward Museum in Franklin, CT.

This event is free to NCCHP members. All guests are welcome - a donation is appreciated. Refreshments will be served.

March 24th 2010
One of the first women to work in an emerging field dominated by men, Miss Johnston achieved acclaim in the late 19th century as the "Photographer of the American Court." The lecture will present a look into Miss Johnston's colorful life as well as her rare photographs of life in the United States at the turn of the century. Subjects include: Portraits of famous Americans, workers, expositions, industry, the Spanish-American War, share-croppers, schools and architecture.

Tickets are $5 or free with your NCCHP membership.

NCCHP (Noble & Cooley Center for Historic Preservation) will host an electronics recycling fundraiser for the whole month of September. Simply drop off any of the following items at the Drum Shop Monday through Friday 8AM - 3PM or on Saturday September 11th or 25th from 9:00AM to noon.

This is a great opportunity to clean out all those broken and obsolete electronics and support a good cause! We do ask that you remove the hard drive from your computer before dropping it off. If you are unable to remove it, we’ll do it for you. When CRT Recycling* picks up our collection, they will shred the hard drives and send a “certificate of destruction”.

Here is a list of what we will accept and your costs. If you have any questions, please call 357-6321.

Computer Monitor:                      $5.00
CPU:                                                 8.00
Keyboard:                                        2.00
Mouse:                                                .50
Speakers:                                        2.00
Laptop:                                           10.00
Accessory wires, cables etc.:      No charge

DVD or VHS Player:                       3.00
Walkman:                                        1.00
Copiers/Fax/Scanner:                   5.00
Camera/Video/Audio Equip.:       5.00
Stereo:                                              5.00
Stereo Speakers:                           5.00
Phones of any kind:                       2.00

Television Plastic:                        15.00
Television Wood:                         18.00

For Granville residents who are unable to drop off items, please call and we will arrange to pick them up. All donations are tax deductible.

*CRT Recycling is a Massachusetts Class A Permitted Universal Recycling Facility that properly disposes of items that can no longer be accepted by Massachusetts landfills as of April 01, 2000.

The Noble & Cooley Center for Historic Preservation (NCCHP) announces that Dennis D. Picard, Director of Storrowton Village Museum, will participate in the Center's Lecture Series at the Granville factory on August 11, 2010 at 6:30 PM. The subject of his talk will be "A Day in the Life of a Civil War Soldier." Picard will share stories of how the common soldier lived and show examples of their equipment and uniforms. Picard is a captivating speaker who excites and stimulates his audiences’ imagination.

Dennis Picard has been a museum professional in the "Living History" field for almost 30 years. He started out at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Mass., where he was employed for 12 years as a lead interpreter, researching and developing public programs which are performed to the present. He has previously talked and demonstrated ice cutting at the Noble & Cooley Center.

A Westfield resident, Picard has also demonstrated maple syrup open kettle boiling and lectured on the story of Hessian Prisoners during the War of Independence. His background is in sociology and museum studies and he is an expert on the lifestyles and folkways of New England. He also serves as a consultant for Historical Societies and Museums. Picard has held the position of Assistant Director and Director at several sites including Fort Number Four in Charlestown New Hampshire, and the Sheffield Historical Society in the Massachusetts Berkshires.

The program is open to the public. It is free to all NCCHP members; donations gratefully appreciated from guests. Refreshments will be served after the talk.