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| Tappantown Historical Society |
| Please click here to read THS Annual Reports from previous years. |
| Tappantown Historical Society Annual Meeting November 2, 2018 President’s Annual Report for 2018 Good evening and welcome to the 53rd annual meeting of the Tappantown Historical Society. I am Carol LaValle, president. Thank you for coming tonight and for all your support in ensuring that we are successful in fulfilling our mission of education and preservation. A successful year such as this one is only possible with the support of our members and volunteers, collaboration with other community organizations and historic societies, and a committed board of directors. They are Tom LaValle, John Morton, Joe Napoli, Marilyn Schauder, and Keith Walker. Officers are vice-president Chris Gremski, treasurer Michael Fiorentino, recording secretary Harold Jones, and corresponding secretary Betsy Walker. Particular thanks also goes to the Jones family and the Masons for the use of this beautiful historic site, where we meet every month and have held Colonial Day every September for many years. For only the third time in 34 years, we had to cancel Colonial Day because after a week of steady rain, the grounds were saturated and would not be able to sustain the heavy car and foot traffic that Colonial Day brings. Colonial Day is our most significant event and so it was with great reluctance that we had to cancel it. Still, there are many other ways in which THS carried on with our mission of education and preservation. One way is to recognize the efforts of others who contribute to education and preservation. We do that at our annual preservation awards dinner in February. The 2018 awards went to Tom and Dottie Kilroy for their perennial garden in front of their 18th century home on Oak Tree Road, to author Selene Castrovilla and illustrator John O’Brien for Revolutionary Rogues, a children’s book about the Arnold/Andre conspiracy, and to Evan Pritchard, director of the Center for Algonquin Culture, for his map of the Native American settlements in Rockland County and his new book The Tappans: Keepers of the River Crossings. Both books and the map are on display in the local history room in the Tappan Library. The framed map was a gift from Jose and Eileen Cardona. Another way we recognize other’s accomplishments is through our THS Scholarship for Excellence in US History. The 2018 recipient was Tappan Zee senior Thomas McKiernan. Developing and maintaining the local history room in the Tappan Library is another major commitment. Local historian Ken Kral has been organizing our archives over the past several years — quite a daunting task! — and Larry Vail is slowly ticking away at digitizing our records. They are available to the public, and several students have used our material in their research. Most recently, a great niece of Tom and Lee LoMedico, past presidents of THS, visit-ed Tappan and found material for a memoir she is writing about the LoMedicos. In the future, we will be adding new titles to the collection, and we have been thinking of starting a reading group. Currently on display in the room is a pictorial history of the Dutch settlement of Tap-pan and its environs. The panels were donated by the Orangetown Museum and Archives. Another major commitment this year has been “to do something!” about the small triangle installed by the Highway Department 10 years ago and which was adopted by THS, the Tappan Library, and the TRC. In June, we asked landscape designer and Tappan resident Mary Ellen LeWarn to design a low maintenance plan for the triangle. Her plan of perennials, shrubs, ground covers, bulbs, and annuals was approved by the Orangetown Highway Department, which recently prepared the site and is paying for half the cost of the plants. Through the efforts of John Morton, we received a $500.00 grant from Constellation Energy for plants, as well, and THS will pay for the rest and their installation, which Mary Ellen says will happen soon. Of course, maintenance is the key to keeping the triangle in good shape so we will be working on a plan for that. Also, the historic markers that had been in the larger Memorial Triangle, one about the first courthouse and the other about the Tappan Reformed Church, have been refurbished and will be put back in the historic area with the help of the Highway Department. Later this month, we will once again be decorating the lamp posts on Main Street and around the triangle for the holidays. All of these improvements in the historic area enhance our walking tours, which are an important part of the THS program. This year, Thano Schoppel, Marilyn Schauder, and Keith Walker gave tours to over 350 people. Many are students from the local elementary schools, but an increasing number are adult groups. For them, Marilyn has developed several talks that go into lesser known details of the way in which the ordinary lives of local residents were shaped by the larger events of a volatile time in our history. Over time, our membership has changed, and although we continue to attract new members and renewals, we have inevitably lost members because they have moved away or died. We need to increase our active membership, especially in having more people volunteer their time at the Tappan Zee Thrift Shop for the benefit of THS. THS and the Thrift Shop both were founded 53 years ago, and this relationship has sustained us quite well over the years. Now, however, there are only two members donating time for the benefit of THS and we are in danger of losing our share of the disbursements from the Thrift Shop. Your donations and purchases are an important part of the equation, but a few more volunteers spending a few hours a month helping at the shop would make all the difference. For the coming year, we will continue our usual activities, and work on new projects, and try to increase our active membership. Again, our success has always depended on the support of you, our members, local businesses and community organizations — the Masons, the TRC, the VFAT, the American Legion, the Tappan Library, OLSH, the HSRC,the Orangetown Museum, and the town of Orangetown. Thank you. Following the Annual Report, Michael Fiorentino gave the Treasurer’s Annual report. The final order of business was the election of new officers and directors: they are Betsy Walker for Corresponding Secretary, Alan Ryff for Recording Secretary, Keith Walker for a 3-year director term, Tom LaValle for a 2-year director term, and Larry Vail and Joe Napoli for 1-year directors terms. |
| Tappantown Historical Society |