Frank Molander, of Suffield, Conn., a historian, re-enacts the role of a French officer during the French & Indian War as part of a Living History event sponsored by the Noble and Cooley Center for Historic Preservation. The event was free and open to the public. (File photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – As nonprofit organizations from Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire Counties eagerly anticipate the second annual Valley Gives online event on December 12, NPOs from greater Westfield are hoping to receive donations, as well.
The Noble & Cooley Center for Historic Preservation (NCCHP) museum is one of the over 350 nonprofit organizations that are participating in the event.
The museum is hoping to raise enough in online donations to earn one of the top donor participation prizes for the day, which total $10,000, $7,500 and $5,000 for the top three finishers.
The NCCHP museum, located in Noble and Cooley Drum Factory in Granville, opened in 2007 to “preserve and present the rich history of manufacturing, agricultural pursuits and rural crafts in Granville and the surrounding hill towns.”
“My great-great-great grandfather started the factory, and we’re still making drums today,” said Liz Smith of the NCCHP. “(The museum) is all about living history, how it was in the hilltowns through the industrial revolution.”
With a mission of “Keeping the drumbeat of history” alive, the NCCHP’s goal is to teach area residents and children about how their ancestors lived, worked and spent their leisure time in the hilltowns.
“The first Saturday in February, we do an ice cutting demonstration on the shop pond with an artist in period costume, and we invite people to use the tools they used to cut ice to show how our ancestors kept things cold,” said Smith.
A “three seasons” museum open in the spring, summer, and fall, the factory, which produced 631 drums in 1854, a number which ballooned as high as 50,000 drums a year during the Civil War, opened up the museum when it was forced to outsource some of it’s production in 2007.
“An archeologist suggested we make a museum to show how things were made,” said Smith, whose factory also holds in it’s possession one of it’s drums which survived the Battle of Gettysburg.
“We’re very excited for this year’s Valley Gives event,” she added, saying that her NPO is looking to raise more funds this year and improve on it’s finish in last year’s event, in which it placed tenth in greatest number of indivual donations.
“We’re looking to do even better this year,” she said.
The NCCHP will be hosting a reception in their 42 Water Street factory in Granville on December 12 to track the organization’s progress, and encourages all to attend and visit www.ncchp.org to learn more about the museum and schedule a tax deductible donation.
