|
Make A Difference Day
Volunteers of the Leffingwell House Museum were proud to "Make a Difference" on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Beginning at 9 AM with a breakfast of Newman's Own Strawberry and Vanilla Almond Flake cereals donated by Paul Newman's Own organization. The Leffingwell House Museum was selected by USATodays Weekend Magazine editors as one of fifty sites in the United States, and the only in Connecticut to receive the cereal. To honor Christopher Leffingwell (proprietor of a cocoa mill in 1770), hot cocoa was served in addition to coffee, Newman's Gorilla Grape and Mango Orange natural juices on the trestle table in the colonial kitchen. 
Some dressed in street clothes and some dressed in colonial period attire, each person contributed to a donation box bound for the local food pantry at the end of the day. Then the cleaning of the museum began from the top to the bottom. Three floors of rooms and furniture were wiped clean and dusted. Several spider homes and condos were relocated from the undersides of tables and chests thanks to the careful hands of 3 year old Dereck Tavaras and his mom, Robin. Lauren Veile, 12, accepted the responsibility of removing the small framed displays from the walls of the first and second floor, wiping and checking for frame splits. Some of the needlework has been in the same frame for 50 years or more and it's time for consideration to be given to reframing for the preservation of the pieces. Natali Wall became a kitchen commando taking charge of the cleaning and organizing of the volunteer's kitchen. The dry goods stores are packaged and ready for activities beginning in the spring. Jay Deming measured and cut the foil backed insulation for the fireplace blocks. They are light weight easy to install, remove and store but their real worth will be tested during the winter months with lower heating bills. Our museum does not have insulation in the walls so if we can stop some of the air movement it's a real achievement. 
Kate Clark is a dynamo with a broom. Every inch of floor space was touched with one or more of the brooms she used to move any grain of dirt on the floors out. The chemical properties of dirt have changed since colonial times. Modern dirt is contaminated with petroleum products making it "stickier" and more likely to develop a "film" that would not have developed in colonial times. Whoever would have thought so much study would go into the art of sweeping? The photos from breakfast are courtesy our photographer, Mike Przygoda. Mike was also busy working on projects, but found time to take these photos. Happy Fall! ~Beryl Fishbone, Program Manager |
