ALFRED — Most Tuesdays there’s a crew of volunteers who make their way to 118 Shaker Hill Road, to the Alfred Shaker Museum, to work on restoration of the building. The volunteers gather week after week, except in the dead of winter.

This past Tuesday, the crew was involved in the intricacies of installing a decorative tin ceiling in the community room, the place where workshops on such past-times as basket-making, tatting, or crocheting are conducted. On the second floor, volunteers are creating a resource room, where those who wish may come and study Shaker history.

The museum building is the Shaker community’s former wood, lumber storage and carriage house, moved down the road a bit from its original location in 2005. For many years after the Shakers left Alfred in 1931 to consolidate with the Shaker community in New Gloucester, the building was used by the new property owners, the Brothers of Christian Instruction, as a garage and then a recreation hall.

Now, it is a home for artifacts that marked the Shaker life. Among the treasures to be viewed are a horse-drawn cutter for cutting ice from Shaker Pond in winter, a wooden winnowing machine for removing chaff and debris from grain; sewing implements, cider-making equipment and other examples of a self-reliant lifestyle. As well, there’s a gift shop, offering items like hand-braided rugs and Shaker herbs, teas and spices from the New Gloucester community.

Friends of Alfred Shaker Museum was formed in the mid-1990s, upwards of 10 years before the museum came to fruition, in an effort to see to it that the history of Alfred’s Shaker community lives on. After all, it has been 80 years since the Shakers, formally called the United Society of Believers, lived on Shaker Hill.

The United Society of Believers maintained a community on Shaker Hill in Alfred for nearly 140 years. At one time, there were as many as 200 members. Established as a community in 1793, the population had dwindled to 21 souls by 1931, when the decision was made to close the community and move to Sabbathday Lake in New Gloucester. The Alfred Shaker properties were sold to the Brothers of Christian Instruction. Several of the original Shaker properties remain, including the carriage house.

Now, mindful of generations to come, “The Friends” are looking ahead to find ways to sustain the museum, so the 140-year history of the Shakers in Alfred is not lost.

To that end, members Urilla Cheverie and Earl Morrison have started an endowment fund. The goal is to raise $100,000, over time.

“We’ve had a lot of fundraisers and a lot of sales in the gift shop but we were looking for long-term idea,” said Cheverie.

The endowment program is modeled after one Cheverie was instrumental in starting when a scholarship program in the town where she used to live had flagged. Now, several years later, that endowment has an extremely healthy balance.

The purpose of an endowment is to provide funds over the long term. The principal is never touched, Cheverie pointed out.

Its premise is simple: Those who wish may open an accumulating account at $100. Money may be added to the account at any time, in any amount. When the accumulating account reaches $1,000, a permanent fund is established in the donor’s name.

The endowment could be considered as a memorial to a friend or loved one in lieu of flowers, or as a birthday gift for that hard-to-buy-for family member. A business could open an accumulating account, she said.

Cheverie became interested in Shaker history some year ago when she saw a news story about the Shaker museum. The story was written by Betty Morrison, Earl’s wife, a charter member and past president of the Friends of Alfred Shaker Museum.

Betty Morrison said her husband Earl is originally from New Gloucester, home of the last remaining working Shaker community. Some years ago, the couple attended a Shaker exhibit and, she said, her own interest was sparked.

Earl, one the volunteers who was helping install the tin ceiling, said his role in the endowment program is modest ”“ he’s “keeping the books,” he said.

 He, Betty, Urilla and others like Barbara Carlson, who operates the gift shop, worry that in time, without the Alfred Shaker Museum, the contribution of the three Shaker families who lived here for so long ”“ from 1793 to 1931, could quietly disappear.

“I think the Shakers would be totally lost to Alfred if we didn’t keep their history alive,” Cheverie said.

To learn more about the endowment fund, people may call 324-8669 or 324-7650.

The Alfred Shaker Museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.