Winter/Spring 09

selected articles from Winter/Spring 2009 Newsletter

Communal Humanities Grant

by Jim Kopp
ACHS has received a $1000 grant from the Oregon Council for the Humanities for six public programs from May to September that explore aspects of “Communal Humanities.”  These sessions that will be held in various locations in Aurora will examine how history, oral traditions, music, arts and crafts, religion, architecture, and literature are reflected in the Aurora Colony and in other communal groups in Oregon over the past 150 years.  Each two-hour session will include presentation by two or three individuals on the highlighted topic. See the Event Calendar for dates.
ACHS Board member Jim Kopp is project director for this series. For more information see his blog at communalhumanities.typepad.com

4th Grade Living History Programs Filled

by Patrick Harris
The Stauffer-Will and the Village Programs are once again sold out for the Spring of 2009, this despite the doom and gloom that has swept over the school budgets.  Obviously this is a great testimony to the quality of our program and the dedication of our small staff and many volunteers.
The Village program at the main museum will be greatly enhanced this spring with the installation of a replica 1860’s stove that is powered by the modern conductivity of electricity.  This wonderful suggestion came from our Chimney Sweep Kent Swanson.
The children will now be able to bake their bread in a working stove in the Kraus Colony Home.  This project was largely funded by a grant from the Juan Young Trust with matching funds provided by ACHS.  A significant portion of these dollars came from the sales generated at the annual garage sale during Aurora Colony Days.  Other aspects of the fundraising around the grant include new permanent exhibit signs, spectacular photographic images, and reproduction wallpaper for the Kraus House.  We also received contributions from the Marion County Cultural Development Corporation and the City of Aurora Revenue Sharing Program.

Music Award Update

As you can see from Gail Robinson’s report which follows, the Oregon Music Project is coming to a successful conclusion.  On the heels of an Oregon State Heritage award as well as a National one from the American Association for State and Local History, Board Member Jim Kopp has published an article about the project in the History News, the monthly magazine publication of the AASLH.  Gail sums it up with:
The Oregon Music Project grant is completed…... that is, except for my writing the final report.
On April 1, 2009,  Steve Moore brought the cello (actually both cellos) home.  He had taken lots of photos during his restoration process and has given them to us on disc.  Inside the cello the notes of previous repairers stated that the first repair had been done in November 1844.  A subsequent note states:  Repaired for George Ehlen of Aurora Oregon by John G Henrici Instrument Repair Portland Oregon November 21, 1894.
Steve does not do a lot of restoration work.  He prefers to build a cello from scratch and sells them for $20K.  So we are truly fortunate that he was willing to take our cello and make it playable.  And play it he did.  Beautiful tone.  Steve admits he is not a cellist and then added that he was better with guitar.  So we brought him the newly restored Forstner guitar.  And we got to hear it, too.
And…... on April 17 at the Northwest History and Heritage (as in Oregon Heritage Commission) Extravaganza at the Airport Holiday Inn, our two restored violins will be played during the reception time before the awards dinner.  Adam Lamotte (http://www.adamlamotte.com) will be the lead violist of the duet.
Isn’t this cool!!! Last year we were driving to Eugene to receive our award from OHC.  And this year we are supplying instruments for the reception restored through the latest grant.  ......  Must plan more concerts for this summer…...  and fall.
Restoring these instruments (and the citern and three more guitars) has in many ways been as important as the digitalization on the band music.  I mean once you’ve seen an old cello….........  but to hear the sound from this (maybe) 200 year old bundle of wood and string creates many goose bumps and a few lumps in the throat.
Thank you so very much for helping to make all this possible for ACHS.
P.S.  The second cello….......  turns out the top is not original, the cracks in the back have been repaired and more cracks are evident.  Steve says that to make it playable there would be almost nothing left of the original instrument.  So we are going to exhibit it as the cello the horse sat on and get mileage out of that story.