May 2010 Letter from the President

The hectic season has arrived at the Newtown Square Historical Preservation Society.  Last Saturday (after much planning), a group of 25+ Boy Scouts and willing parents descended on the Mill House property, to do trail clearing, build a footbridge, plant ornamental grasses and plants at various locations, and do general cleanup at the property.  A few days before that, a local contractor had come out to power wash and then paint the footbridge over Darby Creek.  On Sunday I returned to the Mill House - a pile of mulch remained and I spent some time trying to fill up the nearby planting bed with the mulch.  Still more to do there for future weekends-finish moving the mulch pile, mark the plants to keep them safe from the lawn mowers, water the new plants if we have don't get regular rain.  On Tuesday, the Delaware County Heritage Commission held its award ceremony in Media and gave out preservation awards; the Saw Mill road tenant house that was saved from demolition some years ago is now a gorgeous renovated and expanded single family home.  We had nominated the builder, Jim Nappi, for a preservation award, and were very proud to see his efforts recognized.  Tuesday night there was a meeting of the committee organizing Colonial Heritage Day this year.  A smaller committee than in years past - around eight of us - but this year promises to be our best event ever.  On Wednesday, our regular board meeting - dominated by the Colonial Day discussions, but many other projects are in various stages.  On Thursday, I attended a meeting with the Bartram Bridge Commission on coordinating the events at the bridge for Colonial Heritage Day.  Our 4th grade school tours are coming next week at the Paper Mill House; organized with the help of Lisa and Bronwyn Livezey and a large band of home school parents and children, and Andrea Povey who helps arrange for additional guides.  All of the board members are actively trying to sell ads for our Colonial Heritage Day program book - the main fundraiser of the Society.  We are also selling tickets for the event, and raffle tickets for the prize of a dinner at Massey House.  We have a joint program with the Library on Amelia Earhart in two weeks - and so must plan and advertise that event.  Our Bartram Bridge book should arrive from the publisher in the next ten days - and we then have to sign the first 100 copies as promised - and begin filling the orders that have arrived so far, and increase the marketing effort to sell the run of 500 books.  We are again having the Sandy Flash Dash, a 5K run on Colonial Heritage Day, which involves coordination with the township, PennDOT, the police, and the neighborhoods impacted by the road closure.  The race has to have t shirts, food and drink, race results, and a photographer, among other things.  Looking ahead past Colonial Heritage Day, we open the Paper Mill House on weekends in the summer, and so have to plan and staff for those dates.  On hold until the dust settles are plans for an annual scholarship; revision of our long term plan, continued reorganization of the displays in the Museum, writing manuals with background information for guides, having a maintenance manual for taking care of the Mill House, and planning the Phase 2 improvements at the Mill House, involving uncovering the mill ruins, signs interpreting those ruins, trail improvements, benches and perhaps a picnic area, and parking lot improvements.   We need to develop a grant writing committee to help us to continue to fund our work.  We took a big bite out of organizing the various materials that have been donated to us over the years and stored at the Mill House, but more needs to be done there - reviewing each item, deciding what needs conservation attention, scanning what we can, itemizing and indexing the materials so that they can be searched and found, and then organizing them in folders and storing them. 

In all of this effort, is there any area that appeals to you, the reader?  We all have particular skills and interests, and there is something in this Society for all of us to contribute.  Can you give us one hour a year, or a month, or a week, to help out?  We could use your help in continuing to move these projects forward and continuing to have a vital Society that is involved in the community.  Please, call me, or your favorite Society member, to ask "what you can do for your country".  You can find me at 610-724-7222, or by e mail at doughumes@psualum.com.