|
Repairs
Needed
The Harmon Museum's
beautiful 1866 Ithaca Company wall clock is in dire need of repair,
cleaning and tuneup (photo above is example, not actual
clock). The estimated cost of this work is $1,000.
Anyone interested in forming a clock committee, please email Dan Blaney or phone Dan
at 229-0133. |
Centennial Anniversary of the Great
Fire
The Harmon
Museum's 2007 Summer Display will recognize the centennial
anniversary of the August 15, 1907 fire which destroyed most of
downtown (photo above depicts the Hotel Fiske
burning). More details, including guest speaker and
special program dates, will follow in the next edition of
the newsletter (summer 2007). |
Harmon Museum Summer
Hours
The Harmon Museum, home of the Old
Orchard Beach Historical Society, is free & open to the public
Tuesday thru Saturday, Noon-5:00
Groups welcome.
| |
|
Harmon Museum Receives
Restoration Grant
Harry Jones (above center), flanked
by his mechanics, Alfred Morse and Louis Burnell, and his
Stinson Detroiter SB-1, September 1927.
Old Orchard Beach
Historical Society has received $540 to preserve and provide
better access to its aviation collection. The Maine Historical
Records Advisory Board provided the grant with funds from the
National Historical Publications and Records
Committee.
As many have
noted, the "creative economy" is an important factor in the
state's economic growth.
Old Orchard Beach, a resort community, relies on its
creative economy to bring in tourism and support its local
residents. Cultural resources like the Old Orchard Beach
Historical Society, The Harmon Museum and Old Orchard Beach
Public Library, these grants sustain the basic infrastructure
of this key sector of our economy.
"Grants of this
kind support community efforts to protect the stories of our
birth, property rights, government, and how we lived our
lives," noted Jim Henderson, Director the Maine State
Archives. Small grants have stimulated local citizens and
organizations to commit more of their own resources to these
projects. "Although financial support is important,
recognition of local concerns and efforts through an award
also generates a substantial amount of enthusiasm," Henderson
noted.
Anastasia S.
Weigle, Project Archivist, wrote the grant back in September
2006 and received the good news December 2006. The former
Director of Dyer Library, Anastasia was able to bring in a
grant for the Dyer Library Archives back in 2005. As the
project archivist, Anastasia; together with Evelyn Cooper,
historian and Joyce Rorabaugh, collection coordinator; will
survey, preserve, process and make available to the public the
aviation collection at The Harmon Museum. This collection
includes artifacts, photographs, postcards, and scrapbooks.
The Harry M. Jones Collection is a large part of this. Harry
M. Jones is one of Maine's great pioneers in aviation history
who, in 1919, began his career as operator of an airplane
hanger at Old Orchard Beach and made a number of promotional
flights.
Learn More...
Harry M. Jones (1890-1973) served as
Maine's State Aviation Commissioner in the 1930's and had a
long, distinguished and interesting career in aeronautics with
ties to Old Orchard Beach. Jones had a hangar at the Old
Orchard Beach airfield for his Jones Flying Corporation
and gave sightseeing flights. He made the
first air mail flight in Maine on October 23, 1919 flying
from Portland to Augusta. He was the first
(and last) person ever to land a plane on the Boston Common;
was pilot of the first-ever air parcel post flight from
Boston to New York in 1913, and a test pilot during
WWII. Jones was arguably the most visible New
England aviator in the 1920s. He served as Maine's State
Aviation Commissioner in the 1930s, and eventually became an
Inspector for the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
|
New Book Pictures
Town's Past
Local historian and Old Orchard Beach Historical Society
trustee Dan Blaney has released a new book, Postcard History Series: Old
Orchard Beach, containing 227 photos and
historical postcards of Old Orchard Beach from his
immense personal collection.
From 1631 to the present, Old Orchard Beach has had a
singularly rich history among New England's summer
communities. Old Orchard was originally a small seacoast
farming community nestled on the shore of Saco Bay. When the
railroad came in 1873, the coast exploded into one of the
grandest Victorian settings in Maine. It boasted famous
religious camp meetings, transatlantic flights, big bands, big
fires, harness racing, and automobile racing on the beach. The
Kennedy family, Bette Davis, Fred Allen, Rosa and Carmen
Ponselle, Pierre Trudeau, and Charles Lindbergh all
rejuvenated themselves in this community. Old Orchard Beach is
still a vacation mecca, and residents and visitors alike will
find enjoyment and education within these pages.
Postcard History Series: Old Orchard
Beach by Daniel Blaney is available at
Borders, Nonesuch Books, Ocean Park Gift Shop, direct from Dan
Blaney at Beach Glass in Old Orchard Beach, Cottage Decor in
Old Orchard Beach, Field Mouse in Saco, the OOB
Historical Society & Harmon Museum and online at Amazon.com |
 The
Moving Wall Vietnam Memorial Comes to Old Orchard Beach May
24th
The Moving
Wall will be at Memorial Park in Old
Orchard Beach May 24th through May 28th. This important
memorial requires many helping hands and volunteers are
needed. For information on volunteer opportunities,
contact Jason Webber at jwebber@oobmaine.com or phone 207-934-0860.
|
| Upcoming Events
The Moving Wall Vietnam Memorial ~ May 24 through 28,
2007 Memorial Park, Old Orchard
Beach. FMI contact Jason Webber at jwebber@oobmaine.com or phone
934-0860.
Old Orchard Beach Historical
Society 2007 Meeting Schedule
All meetings are open to the public and visitors are
welcome. Meetings Dates for 2007:
May 15, 2007 - 7:00 p.m.
July 10, 2007 - 7:00 p.m.
September 11, 2007 - 7:00 p.m.
November 13, 2007 - 7:00 p.m. (Election of
Officers) | | |
