Candor Historical Society in Review

According to the annual Candor Historical Society Secretary’s Report, the Society continued to push through despite all odds. 

“Although the Historical Board continued to meet a few times during 2020, our last monthly membership meeting was February 2020 with Rob and Darlene Howland telling us about Fairfield Farming. Besides that, the Board continued business through emails. There was no annual meeting in 2020, or 2021. For 2020, the Board voted to have current officers continue until we could have an annual meeting,” Secretary Rita Quinlan reported.

Elections in 2021 were held on-line. The new slate of officers was President Nancy Riggs, Vice President Melvin Foster, Secretary Rita Quinlan, and Treasurer Patti Reichert. Directors-at-large were Georgia Westgate to fill in for Patti Reichert’s position, and Dick Zavatto (three years). The 2021 year kicked off with an annual picnic in August at Moyer Park, followed by a meeting in September at the Town Hall where the outgoing President Milt Dougherty was presented a plaque for his 21 years of leadership, a talk with Bron and Hannah Robinson presenting a program on their business. Phil Jordan gave the final talk of the 2021 lineup in October at the Fire Hall, where he regaled the crowd with his involvement with the police department using his psychic abilities.

As usual the Historical Society breaks for the holidays, so there were no meeting in November, December, and January. Starting in February, Denise Liske, executive director of Wildlife Division of Angel Eyes Animal Rescue and Wildlife Rehabilitation, gave a talk at the Fire Hall.

“We learned a lot about what her job entails and she had a cat and a ferret with her. Their motto is to “rescue the mistreated, save the injured, and love the abandoned. She touched on all these jobs,” Quinlan reported. 

Then in March, Carol Henry presented a history talk on the Candor Center Building, better known more recently as the Candor Market. It had many uses over the years and was even repaired after a serious fire. Melvin Foster added his experiences from working in the Candor Market for several years. 

The April 27 program was ‘for the birds’. Bob Pantle, a licensed bird bander and current editor and production manager of a quality periodical for the North American Bird Banders, talked about the changes in birds [sightings] we see now as compared to ones we used to see. He had slides to go along with his talk.

The final talk for the 2021-2022 year, before the annual meeting in June, was given by Tom McEnteer on May 25, where he showed photos of and talked about the famous people of Tioga County.

“I think I might have liked history in high school if I’d had him for a teacher,” Rita Quinlan noted in her minutes.

Besides the many displays that are interchanged periodically inside the History Center, the recent Military Display to honor Servicemen and women of Candor, prepared by President Nancy Riggs, was a huge hit this past Memorial Day, and is currently on display inside the Center.

As for fundraisers, renovations at the History Center and other newsworthy events, the Historical Society is continuing to apply for grants in order to bring the building up to code, make it more handicapped accessible, and sustainable for the long-run. The Society was grateful for funds received from the Mildred Fulkner Truman Foundation, Tioga County Senior Citizens Foundation, Tioga State Bank, and The Community Foundation for South Central New York, and noted that more funds are needed to complete all phases of the History Center’s renovation projects.

As for fundraisers, they continue to collect cans and bottles at Home Central, where there is now a trailer to hold the cans and bottles. This makes it easier to transport to the Neighborhood Redemption Center in Owego. The raffle of Roger Westgate’s hand-carved “Frosty Morning Cardinal” raised $4,080, with Ginny Dawson being the lucky winner. And ticket sales for the current raffle, a painting of the Lower Dam by local artist Kay Stash, is underway.

For more information on what’s going on, you can visit the Candor Historical Society online at www.candorhistoricalsociety.weebly.com; or come to the annual dish-to-share picnic for a meet and greet and share a piece of your history on Aug. 13, beginning at noon at Moyer Park. You don’t have to be a member.

You can also stop by the Candor History Center any Monday morning between 9 a.m. and noon when several volunteers and Board Members are available to assist you in your search of Candor’s historic past.