In the Society’s 23 years of existence, we’ve accomplished alot!
- We created a museum to house our town’s history, a 17-year journey that included moving the building to a new location with more land for parking and a shed housing an egg incubator. Now, we are managing the museum with both permanent and revolving exhibits and days where it’s open to the public.
- We have published the book The Spirit of Phillipston.
- We have established a tradition of quality historical programs that are open to the public, including the Memory Tree Ceremony.
- We have acquired the Goulding Village Mill Site, and with the help of the Boy Scouts, created a trail to the millworks.
- We have demonstrated that the youth in Phillipston are interested in town history, as seen in their spirited school visits to the museum, their enthusiastic embrace of The Spirit of Phillipston as a resource to them in their classrooms, and in their LEGO construction of the historical, 1891 town common under the guidance of Jane French.
- We are receiving an increasing number of inquiries from former residents and their families regarding genealogy, the history of artifacts they have inherited, and whether we would like to include their artifacts in our collections.
Twenty-three years represents a generation. It is also a good mile marker to re-assess and evaluate our goals and plans,, and to look forward to the Society’s next 25 years led by a new generation.
[From the invitation to the annual meeting on May 16 2023 from President, Mike Flye.]