When I heard the Herkimer County Historical Society was holding an open house on Saturday (yesterday), I was delighted. They are usually open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, when I happen to be at work. They open on Saturdays during July and August as well as between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but in the meantime, I have to grab my local history fix when I can.
I love, love, love local museums. Wherever I live, going to the local museum is one of my favorite things to do. I’ve been through Herkimer’s several times and I see something new each time. Saturday’s open house ran from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. I got there shortly after ten. I had beaten the crowds and walked around with a volunteer in kind of a personal informal tour. We chatted about lots of things. It was great fun.
I also checked out their archaeological dig, right on the museum grounds. How cool is that? The dig was excavated once before, but they have been able to open it again this summer. Many people have volunteered. Their big discovery this time is a well, but they have also uncovered many fragments of items such as bottles, pipes and pottery.
Two volunteers were on the porch between the museum’s two buildings, carefully cleaning and sorting the fragments. One lady showed me two bottle fragments of colored glass.
“Now I want you to find all the pieces of that bottle and put it back together,” I told her. She said she would get right on it. Then I praised them for using their own toothbrushes for the task and we all laughed. You know me; I have to be silly.
I really enjoyed my visit. I intend to write more about the historical society and their exhibits. However, for today I thought I would just give a brief shout out. Now I must get back to my usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday.
Mohawk Valley Girl 