‘A Peek in the Boxes, A Collection’ open house

On April 22, from 2 to 4 p.m., the Newark Valley Historical Society (NVHS) will host an open house that will offer a peek in the boxes from their collections. The open house will take place at the Newark Valley Municipal Building’s Rollie Noble Room and is free and open to the public.

Here is your chance to see a few of the wonderful collections items, which have been tucked away in storage boxes for many years. In this first “Collections Open House” will be a selection of seldom seen treasures. 

The public will see a few of the beautiful costumes, antique books, quilts and coverlets they possess and even some mystery items. Like many museums and Historical Societies, there are many more things in storage than can be exhibited at a given time due to space limitations. The open house is their opportunity to “show off” some of these treasures.    

The Historical Society recently received, from Lillian Gregrow, a gift of items from her sister Dorothy Torrey, who passed away last spring. Included in the gift are some gorgeous coverlets and a quilt, which will be shown for the first time. 

The Collections Committee will be on hand to talk about these items and the work they have been doing with collections records for the past six months. This project started last summer when a dedicated storage room was acquired in the Municipal Building for the Society’s collections. 

The work includes moving these items from previous storage area and updating the collections records. The goal is quite simply to know exactly what they have and where it is located. With over 800 items stored in the Municipal Building, this is quite a job. 

For those who are willing to venture upstairs, members will be happy to show off their new storage room and shiny new shelves as well.