It’s ironic to me when I hear one of our town council or school board members comment about the Windham Historical Society and add that he (or she) has never been there.

Just this past weekend, visitors from Oregon, New Hampshire and Wisconsin drove to Windham, and spent hours at the Society, doing research and looking at the various displays. I find that remarkable in today’s world of high gasoline prices! The tables were filled with genealogy files, old town reports and photos. This is a busy place on Saturdays and is also open on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Other visitors included volunteers and society members Roland and Linda Tetrault and Walter Lunt, all working on finishing touches to the small building which once housed the Windham Center Circulating Library – the first library in this section of town. As soon as the old desk, books and other items have been arranged, this building will be open to the public. This will be the third building the Society has acquired and is maintaining.

In addition, the Society has a beautiful and thriving herb garden, the handiwork of Elizabeth Winslow.

On display for a few more weeks, is the quilt top made by third grade students from Windham Primary School, and presented to the Society. If you want to get a look at what these youngsters think about Windham and its historic sites, stop in when we’re open and take a look. It’s true we’re not open all the time, but the Society is not a department of the town. All work is done by volunteer members, including staffing, research, paint scraping and window washing! We do appreciate very much the yard work which is done for us!

The Old Grocery Museum at the corner of Route 202 and Windham Center Road is open Thursday mornings and is a wonderful museum with displays of old tools, furniture, glassware, photos and even a horse-drawn hearse! This building was once a grocery store, and before that, a cobbler made shoes here. His tools and some sample shoes are on display.

Summer for me is steeped in history. As a result of the out-of-state visitors last week, I’ll now be digging into their genealogy to help supply facts so these descendants of Windham’s founding families can join the DAR or the Mayflower Society. It’s always satisfying to be of help to these people. One of the ladies who came from the mid-West, and is researching the Mayberry family, was thrilled to find a photo of the house in Ireland where the family who settled in Windham, originated.

See you next week – maybe at the Society!