The holidays are upon us and the end of 1998 is near. Looking back over the calendar year it is almost unbelievable how far Allison-Antrim Museum has come - from having very little in our treasury to receiving a very generous gift of $200,000; from having no property to acquiring a most suitable and lovely 1800’s house that we now call home; from having very few pieces in our collection to receiving many donations that have been viewed by over a thousand people since August 1. We have made great strides and are definitely on our way.

The board of directors has met three times this fall to work on the Three-year Long-range Plan. We have revised the statement of purpose to read as follows.

"The primary purpose of the Allison-Antrim Museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit, interpret and demonstrate items that will serve to illustrate the history of the Borough of Greencastle and Antrim Township.

The museum’s collections will contain items that best depict this history in terms of settlement, agriculture, industry and commerce, military, transportation and cultural and social development.

The secondary purpose of the Allison-Antrim Museum is to demonstrate items of special interest that will serve to complement the primary purpose and offer a more thorough understanding of the history of the Borough of Greencastle and Antrim Township in relationship to the history of the Cumberland Valley, Pennsylvania and the United States. Items collected to fulfill this purpose shall conform to the purposes and procedures of the museum."

A Mission Statement has also been written, goals set, and the process of establishing objectives and action plans has begun. We expect to have the process completed sometime after the beginning of the new year. The Three-year Long-range Plan will take us through the first year of the next millenium – the year 2001!

Bonnie A. Shockey

Part of the Mission Statement says, "Allison-Antrim Museum will serve as an educational resource and develop partnerships for and with the Greencastle-Antrim School District and other educational institutions enhancing the study of local and regional history."

We have begun to set the wheels in motion. The middle school team leaders and Mrs. Cornelius, the principal, toured the museum after school a month ago. The purpose of the visit was to familiarize the teachers with what we currently have in our collection. Our hope is to be able to incorporate visits to the museum with some of the course studies at the middle school.

A grant is being written at the middle school with the Cumberland Life Festival as its focus. The writers of the grant want to take digital pictures of our collection. These pictures will be downloaded into computers and then used in the classrooms for study.

The possibilities are endless and very exciting.

The board of directors has decided that the museum will be open regularly once per month, the second Sunday of each month, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The house will be cleaned the day before, Saturday, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

These days will present an opportunity for you to get involved by volunteering to be a host/hostess on open house days and/or to help with cleaning the house in preparation for being open to the public. Please call the museum at 597-9010 and leave a message with your name and telephone number and with what you are interested in doing.

The museum will also be open by appointment.

We do not usually have a general membership meeting in December but Ted Alexander has found a very interesting, holiday-related program that we felt should be shared with the community. On Tuesday, December 1, 1998 at 6:30 p.m. we will meet in the Antrim House Restaurant for dinner to be followed at approximately 7:30 p.m. by the speaker for the evening, Kevin Rawlings. Rawlings portrays a Civil War Santa and will share a slide presentation entitled American Christmas. He will also have for purchase, at a discount, a book that he has written entitled "We Were Marching on Christmas Day."

Reservations need to be made by Wednesday, November 25, 1998 by calling Bonnie A. Shockey at 597-9325. Guests are welcome. Those attending only the speaker’s presentation need not respond.

The Chamber of Commerce has asked the museum to participate in Heritage Christmas by hosting a special open house. This day will be on Saturday, December 12, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. the day before and in addition to our regular open house on Sunday, December 13.

These dates will be listed in their Heritage Christmas brochure.

December 1, 1998: General membership meeting; Antrim House Restaurant, 6:30 p.m.;

Kevin Rawlings, Civil War Santa, presenting American Christmas –

a slide presentation

December 12, 1998:Clean museum house, 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

December 12, 1998:Special Open House during Heritage Christmas, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Dr. James Craig will have on display to share with the community

December 13, 1998:Open House, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

January 9, 1999: Clean museum house, 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

January 10, 1999: Open House, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

January 14, 1999: General membership meeting; Mrs. Gibble’s Restaurant, 6:30 p.m.;

speaker to be announced

 

Corner Cupboard for a set of donated china originally bought at Hostetter’s

Period hanging hall light

Four period floor lamps

Several small-size dress forms

Padded cloth hangers

Do you know where the first industrial complex in Greencastle was built? For the answer stop by the museum and take a look at some of the memorabilia from the life of Joseph B. Crowell and learn about his influence on Greencastle-Antrim and Franklin County.