Newsletter - 2022 2nd Quarter

News and Events

(For other ongoing News & Events, check our web site or our Facebook page.)

Peace Garden Project People
Digging Needs Doing!

We like to keep our historic site as green as possible. Our landscape reflects the way rural America used to look. We have many different areas that exhibit the past at the farm. We have remnants of some of the things that were on the site including apples, berries, cherries, hops, nut trees and perhaps some other treasures yet to be discovered. We are a designated Habitat for Wildlife approved by the National Wildlife Federation.

This year we are especially looking for volunteers who would like to tend our Peace Garden out in front of Valentown Hall. Any green thumb will do. We are the inheritors of some very rich soil. The very same that grew those famous potatoes.  But that means the weeds like it too. If you want to expand your garden skills or perhaps you don’t have as much garden and would still like to get your hands dirty on a bigger worth while project with us? Just let us know -  info@historicvalentownmuseum.org. We have several board members who are working on this and would love some company. 

New Facebook Group for Historic Homes in Victor, NY

We all love to see historic homes in a town. They stand out as little islands of the past. They can be in various states of condition and in many towns they can be there one day and gone the next. But those historic home owners who own and love them are dedicated to their care and are proud to inherit all the stories of those who lived in the home before them. This love is what gave Erica - a Victor historic home owner - the idea to gather all the historic home owners of Victor and fans of old homes as well. What a great idea to put all the owners together to exchange ideas and stories of owning an historic home. The FB group is located here: Historic Homes of Victor

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Web Site News

Valentown Grange Booklets

The story that has evolved over this past winter between the founding Valentown families, their ties to the potato boom, and their formation of the Victor Grange is amazing! We are so excited to begin telling it... but there is so much to tell! So as part of the Victor Grange tour information that we'll be adding this year, we have organized our research material (but not all of it!) into six condensed booklets that will be available both in print at the Hall (in b&w only) and are available as "read view" .pdf files on the web site (here). The printed booklet handouts are 8 pages (including cover and back) and sized 5-1/2"W x 8"L.

The booklets are compiled to tell the stories by mostly using the transcribed words and images from historical newspaper articles, online publication reproductions, research books purchased at Amazon, the town of Victor historians web site, images and documents we discovered in our own archives, and information obtained directly from the Ontario County Grange and the New York State Grange.

It really is quite a story! The six booklets are as follows: 

Link to the "read view" web site versions for your viewing pleasure directly:
https://historicvalentownmuseum.org/filemgmt/viewcat.php?cid=23

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Newsletter Archives on the Web SIte

We're pleased to let you know that we are now archiving our new quarterly newsletters on the web site! So if you ever want to refer back to something that was in a newsletter, you can find it quickly by going to the archive (located here: Forum Index - Historic Valentown Museum.
 

Old Newsletters - They're Baaa-ack! We've been working this spring on moving text versions of our old monthly newsletters to the web site. Those newsletters ran from September 2017 thru September 2019. This addition will be helpful for people who are searching through the web site (or even through Google or other search sites) for specific items which may have been included at any point in those newsletters.
They are available here: Monthly Newsletters 2017-2019

Also, from the "Search Valentown" at the top of the web site, you can do a general website search using  keywords. If the keywords match an entry in a web archived newsletter, it will pop up for you in the search results along with anyplace else on the web site with matches to your keywords.

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EVENTS

WHEN :

Thursday April 21st, 2022 @ 7pm. EST

Sunday April 24th, 2022 @ 1pm. EST

Sunday April 24th, 2022 @ 4pm. EST

WHERE : Virtual Meeting on Zoom

WHAT : A presentation on raising gentle mason bees for growers and backyard gardeners. The presentation includes lecture, slides, videos, nesting material displays, question and answer sessions, and a live demo of harvesting cocoons. The events will probably take at least an hour but not more than two.

For more information or to register, please visit Mason Bee Presentation Spring 2022 - Historic Valentown Museum

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First Tour of 2022

This private frozen tour was for the brave people from the Victor Hiking Trails. And they have actually done this before!  On Sunday March 27th we had our first tour of the 2022 season. Our building is in its original condition and that means no heat- and it was freezing  that day! Additionally, we're not technically open for visitors until June, so a lot of our museum is in storage or packed away until we're ready to open. We've dubbed this tour the "Spartan Special".  But as c-c-cold as it was, we were all warmed by the good company.

Just a reminder, your Amazon shopping can help Historic Valentown!

See illustrated instructions on how to set it up  and what to visually expect in our forums:
How to set up a Smile.Amazon.com Account

Please consider becoming a community member of Victor Historical Society and support
HISTORIC VALENTOWN on a yearly basis. Members get to vote and have other perks as well.

Recipes

See our collection of recipes and hints, tips and substitutions at
http://historicvalentownmuseum.org/forum/index.php?cat=2

FARM FRESH IN YOUR LOCAL MARKET RIGHT NOW

Asparagus  Broccoli  Peas  Kale  Lettuce  Rhubarb

Just a note about our recipe plant, Rhubarb. Is it a vegetable or a fruit? Since its current culinary use is as a   desert, it is often referred to as a fruit. It has an ancient history but was until recent times considered a medicinal plant. If you want the whole story about the interesting history of this Asiatic plant read on here: History-of-Rhubarb

Easy Rhubarb Cobbler

Fresh rhubarb brings a tart and tangy flavor to our this cobbler, a perfect dessert for a sunny spring day.
~~~ Submitted by Lynne

INGREDIENTS (4 servings)

    4-1⁄2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
    1 cup sugar (for rhubarb)
    1 1⁄4 cups flour
    3 tablespoons sugar (for batter)
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1⁄4 teaspoon salt
    1⁄3 cup cold butter, cut into pieces (no subs please!)
    1 egg, beaten
    1⁄2 cup half-and-half cream or 1/2 cup whole milk
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375F.
Grease a 9-inch baking dish.
Mix the rhubarb and 1 cup sugar, and place in the baking dish.
   
Cobbler Batter: 
In a mixing bowl combine flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt.
Using a fork, cut in the cold butter to make a crumbly mixture.
In another small bowl, whisk the egg, extract and cream (or whole milk).
Add to the flour mix and stir with a fork to make a stiff batter.

Assembly:
Drop the batter by spoonfuls on top the rhubarb/sugar mixture in the baking dish
    (does not have to cover completely)

Bake for 35-40 minutes.
Serve warm, topped with a dollop of ice cream or whip cream.
  
Yummmm!

Levi's Tool Box

Hello Friends,

As you know, Valentown Hall is a very unique building. When it was operating the shop keepers would use tools like the ones in our collection for their work. Also in our collection are many household tools. Some tools require a skilled hand and muscular limbs, but other tools have specific purposes for use in the kitchen, for sewing and dressing, and a variety of other purposes. Levi's Tool Box shares images and history of  unique tools as presented by one of our Tool Talkers. We hope you enjoy learning about tools from yesteryear.

  - LEVI

Every one is familiar with those fancy little individual pats of butter you get with bread servings at restaurants, right? But did you know how far back those little pats go? Well, back on December 24th, 1916 a company in Minneapolis had patented the Champion Butter Cutter. This tool quickly created large volumes of butter pats from then standard size butter blocks. Back then, these pats of butter were typically served arranged on a butter tray, or at more upscale dinner settings were individually served on little trays made specifically to hold a pat of butter. Today's sticks of butter are 1/2 the size of the old butter blocks and today the kitchen butter pat cutter is much more lightweight and sleek.

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