Happy New Year from the Guilford Historical Society

This is an actual Christmas Card received from Marlene O'Connell and her sister and mother. I think it is very reflective of our society and our area. What do you think? Also, we wish to express a hearty welcome to Marlene and her family as lifetime members! We also welcome Diana Heeman as a new member. Our membership is growing and local members are doing wonderful things to record the history of Guilford. Even those members that are a distance away (Many thanks Bruce) from Guilford participate when they can not attend meetings as they live too far away. We have collected many genealogies of which the last was the Sherwood ancestry. Many thanks to Lynn for the research and providing it. This was a great find as a few years ago we had another from the same family that provided photos so connecting the dots was exciting to put the two families together.

Another newly joined member had her ancestry on the Internet. As a result of a contact with her, a relative they joined also. Thanks Louise for sharing and adding Mr. & Mrs. Pearsall to our membership list.

Speaking of our membership list. Many of you do not realize how many are from other states. We have members from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington, Delaware, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Arizona, Virginia, California, Florida, D.C., Utah, Michigan, and South Carolina. Many of you have contributed your genealogy to our files and also contributed photos of ancestors. I truly love the photos of the past residents of Guilford and they are really beneficial to our cemetery research.

Cemetery research and the committee headed up by Tina have done a great job. You saw the last piece on collecting cemetery wreaths to remember our veterans. Well, Betsy collected 17 wreaths, wow! That was terrific and thanks to all who contributed. At our January meeting we will find out how the placement of the wreaths went. Without all these volunteers on the special project committees we would never be able to produce such great results for our community.

So everyone contributes in some manner one way or another. Many thanks to all. We wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Guilford Historical Society Honors Veterans on December 13th

With praise for a successful Memorial Day this year, the Guilford Historical Society is still in "the mood". Therefore, this small non-profit organization has under taken the project Operation Christmas Wreaths. It was decided to memorialize our Guilford deceased veterans by placing Christmas wreaths on the Town of Guilford major cemeteries, one per each this year. At least eleven are needed to place on the gates or fences of these cemeteries with two at each of the Memorials in Mt. Upton and Guilford.
GHS realizes the sacrifices of our veterans and their families and this is a small way to express our appreciation. However, we need help from our community and area communities and individuals with donations of wreaths or a donation to purchase a wreath. The wreaths or money may be donated in the name of an individual family member you may wish to remember.
The cemeteries scheduled at this time are Maplewood in Mt. Upton, Sunset Hill in Guilford, Godfrey Cemetery, North Guilford Pioneer Cemetery, Cooper Cemetery, Yaleville Cemetery, Ives Settlement Cemetery, East Guilford Cemetery, and Guilford Center Cemetery. There are 22 cemeteries in Guilford and with more wreath donations we can include some of the smaller family cemeteries.
GHS would also like to invite you to attend the wreath laying on December 13th at each or one of the locations. We welcome all veterans and veteran organizations and families to attend. Anyone wishing to place their own personal wreath on a loved ones grave is also invited to do so at this time. For more information and to donate please call (607) 895-6131 or (607) 895-895-6660 by December 10th. All are welcome who wish to participate in the day’s event.