Fall 09

selected articles from Fall 2009 Newsletter

A Busy Summer For Volunteers

by Elizabeth Corley
Volunteers were kept busy throughout the summer with many activities. As we kicked off the summer with the 39th Annual Strawberry Social, PGE Volunteers were on hand to lend their support for this event. Thank you PGE and the many other volunteers that contribute to the fun and success of this tradition.
The following weekends were spent with Living History Days and the Communal Humanities lecture series.
Colony Days brought the annual yard sale, led by Board Vice President, Annette James, and another addition to the line-up, dinner in the park. Board Member, Roberta Hutton and her crew put on a wonderful picnic dinner in the Aurora City Park along with the City of Aurora who provided fun and games for kids and live music! Thank you to our sponsors of this event, Spirit Mountain Casino, Fir Point Farms, Food Service of America, Brett Hutton, and product sponsors, The Colony Pub and the General Store. Proceeds from the yard sale totaled $900 and dinner in the park $1500. We all know that a lot of hard work goes into these fundraisers and want to properly thank everyone for their support, so please mark your calendars for November 19th and plan on coming to the Annual Volunteer Recognition dinner.
Another highlight of Colony Days was the Ring of Fire. Wheelwright, Lonny Johnson assembled wagon wheels for a captivated crowd. He will be repeating this event during the Communal Studies Association Conference on October 2nd and 3rd at approximately 1:00PM each day.

ACHS Welcomes the Communal Studies Association

by Jim Kopp
We are pleased to be hosting the 36th annual conference of the Communal Studies Association on October 1-3. This is the third time that the conference has been held in Aurora, the first being in 1977 and the second in 1991. For those who attended one or both of these earlier conferences, we hope you will enjoy your return to Aurora, and for those visiting us for the first time we invite you to tour the Museum and the Aurora village over the course of the conference.
There are over 20 sessions in several venues with over 50 individuals sharing their experiences, research, and thoughts on communal societies throughout the United States from the 18th century to the present. Special events include a reception at the Frederick Keil House and a Friday night dinner hosted by the ACHS Board. This dinner will be followed by a candlelight tour of the Aurora village as Charles Nordhoff pays a visit to the community. Saturday’s lunch includes a presentation by Jane Kirkpatrick, who has written three historical novels based on the Aurora Colony experience as well as a nonfiction work on Aurora’s contributions to quilts, crafts, and community in the early history of the state of Oregon. During the day there will be demonstrations in the Museum courtyard of arts and crafts practiced during the Colony days.
We hope your visit to Aurora will be memorable and that you will come visit us again.

How to rescue a barn in only 250,000 little steps

by Gail Robinson
Our beloved barn at the Stauffer Will Farm is in need of a restoration. Our best cost estimate at this time is $250,000. Work is expected to be started next June and to be completed in time for a “festival” surrounded by hop fields.
The first question we needed to answer was, “How long do you want it to last?” Since the barn is a pivotal part of our education program, we want the barn to last as long as possible….. at least a second 130 years. One step we believe worth taking is to put a foundation under it. We must take further steps to divert the rain water away from the barn.
Some of the posts are failing, joints pulling apart, and the doors facing the street can no long be opened. The dairy end of the barn is pulling away from the main structure, and the roof has so many missing shakes that it is currently covered with a tarp.
The Will Family (or Stauffer and Will Families) have been challenged to pool their resources and then challenge the rest of us to meet and exceed their goal of $150,000. You can contribute in many ways. You can write ACHS a check or use your credit card for a single donation. You can pledge a monthly amount for a given period. You can “buy” symbolic barn parts, for example: a beam for $1000, a shake for $5.
Watch for project updates and opportunities to contribute, we need everyone’s help.