Hinesburg Historical Society

Minutes for December 11, 2008

Present: Marshall Delaire, Maggie Gordon, Jean Miner, John Roberts, Sue Roberts, Ann Thomas

Members met in the library of the Community School for a tour of the digital archive. Ann Thomas showed us a variety items that have been scanned in from the town library and from the digital photos taken by HCS students at the two 1-day museums. One highlight was a 1786 letter from one of the original proprietors, Cornelius Hurlburt. Ann also brought up several maps that she used to trace the path of the Burlington-Hinesburg railroad. John described a recent trip he made to the UVM trails near Potash brook (access off Swift Street) where he identified the ruins of the railroad. 

The 2009 One-Day Museum is scheduled for Saturday, January 31^st in the cafeteria of the Community School. We briefly discussed promoting the event – an article in the Hinesburg Record, posting flyers around town, mailing postcards and handing a stack to each HHS member to distribute, a banner at the town hall, and Front Porch Forum. It was suggested that bringing in (and helping to identify) unusual items or tools might be an interesting theme for the Museum. It was pointed out that John and Sue Roberts will be presenting on a similar topic: identifying people and places in old photographs. It was also noted that the hands-on table for children has also been a popular feature of the Museum in the past and should be continued.

The digital archive is available on the Community school server. The librarians can show visitors how to access it. Ann noted that it will eventually be available on the web. 

The next meeting of the Historical Society will be at 7pm on Thursday, January 22^nd in the Town Hall. A business meeting is planned.