In addition to maintaining our building and preserving our donated historical items, in 2016 the Franklin Township Historical Society:
- Celebrates our 41st year with the 2016 Annual Harvest Dinner, gathering at the south side MCL with a presentation on Franklin Township by our President, Nancy VanArendonk.
- Will enjoy our Old Fashioned Christmas at the Meeting House in December, and we
- Received a gift of 100 books about Indiana from the estate of charter member, Olga Woolman. Books include a 1912 James Whitcomb Riley and an early edition of the “Bears of Blue River” that we will use to raise money for the Society.
- Completed housekeeping things like insurance indemnifying Board members, the care and removal of the diseased Ash trees, and general maintenance of our Meeting House and grounds.
- Maintained our FTHS.org website and our presence on Facebook. In this October alone, we had 77 visitors to our website! Our Facebook posts are made available to almost 500 people. Our “Did You Know” bits of information, calendar of events, the Meeting Hose Memo, and information on membership are all available via social media.
- Had several school visits and tours. Ben Schuman lead a group to visit Kiley School and talk to second grade students who now have Indiana History as a part of their curriculum, once given to 4th
- A group of members visited the Indiana Historical Society.
- Conducted Open Hours programs include a presentation by Society member, Don Rabourn and his wife on Greentown Glass.
- Participated in Old Settlers Day with a booth.
- Provided information and sold our publications at the Acton United Methodist Craft Fair and at Christmas in Wanamaker.
- Had our second annual Vintage Yard Sale in June, which was even more successful than the first one!
- Produced five Meeting House Memos.
- Attended the Perry Township Historical Society meeting on the local postal service.
- Showcased the Society to the FT Chamber of Commerce with a power point presentation of our township history written and presented by Nancy VanArendonk.
- Worked on the gardens and walk way in front of the building, and
- Hosted Cub Scouts and Small Miracles.
We APPRECIATE our members and our community who do “special things” for us:
- FT Civic League, who offers us space in the FT Informer, and use of their community room
- Ben Schuman and Brenda Toney, who coordinate our school visits and tours
- Larry Stevenson, who keeps track of membership
- Bill Clark who provides guidance and watches after our Meeting House
- Marlena Linne, our archivist, who reviews and cares for our artifacts and materials
- Joe Seiter, provides guidance, his post cards, and eats our cookies!
- John and Carolyn Kanouse, who provide guidance, programs, and all sorts of things
- Jim Winton who provides guidance
- Dana Crapo, who provides guidance
- Sylvia Henricks, who produces our Meeting House Memo and is our “President Emerita”
- David Ostheimer, who promotes our society and publications at community events and talks with students
- Brenda Toney, who is ever-present at our events and as Treasurer takes care of our money
- Alena Van Arendonk who runs our beautiful website (FTHS.org) and is our Board secretary
- Ann Hansen, who writes our grants, tries to show up at most Board Meetings and is our Vice President
- Our energetic and awesome President, Nancy VanArendonk, who is “in charge” and watches over us, and lastly
- All our Society Members whose continued support keeps us going.
Until next year, Sylvia and Ann