Brief thoughts on some of the events making news from around Franklin County and the North Quabbin area:
When it comes to acquiring historically significant antique furniture, there are undoubtedly tense moments in the negotiations. But we have to think there was plenty of angst after Historic Deerfield curators identified the one-of-a-kind table desk owned by Rev. Nehemiah Bull of Westfield around 1700 and knew they wanted it for their collection.
The clues that helped Historic Deerfield to prove the provenance of the table included the construction details and that Bull’s signature was seen in two places in the desk. But the museum had to do its homework to make sure. Providing real help here was the Pocuntuck Valley Memorial Association, which owns Bull’s account book and journal, so that the desk signature could be verified. “This was made for a specific person in a specific profession, someone who writes and needs access to books. Everything is original: The finish, the wood, the nails. The fact that this has survived speaks to how well constructed it is,” Christine Ritok, Historic Deerfield’s associate curator, said about the piece. And it’s why Historic Deerfield is thrilled to have it now in its collection.
Given that local peaches are a true delight, the news from the area’s peach growers is disappointing. The yo-yo temperatures of the last couple of months has apparently done some damage to blossoms on peach trees, which has left many growers expecting a much smaller crop this year. It’s a reminder that the weather is always a wild card when it comes to farming and what it can do to crops.
Mahar Regional School and Orange got some good news recently. The state has restored the money targeted to help with repairing the dam near the school, funding that was pulled a couple of years ago. Getting $100,000 from the state will have a significant impact on reducing what the community will have to come up with, given the costs of the repairs and restoration are expected to run several hundreds of thousands of dollars. And since there’s a safety order to do something about the dam, issued by the Department of Conservation and Recreation in 2008, one has to think it’s time to get the work done.
A happy Patriots’ Day to one and all. It’s one of those holidays that is peculiar to a particular state or region. In this case, Massachusetts and Maine observe the day in commemoration of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, where British soldiers and colonial militiamen exchanged gunfire in what is now recognized as the first military engagement of the American Revolution. It’s interesting to note that Wisconsin, not exactly a New England state, observes the day in its public schools. The day here in Massachusetts also marks the first day of spring vacation for public school students.