The Tolland Historical Society is pleased to announce that the Tolland Antiques Show will return after a two-year hiatus on Sunday, March 19 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Tolland Middle School at 1 Falcon Way in Tolland.
     This will be the society’s 54^th show and is being held with a new partner, Goosefare Antiques & Promotions of Saco, Maine. Owned by John and Elizabeth DeSimone, Goosefare has been promoting high-quality antiques shows throughout New England for 40 years.
     Antiques lovers: make plans to come to the Tolland show, which will feature 40 dealers from throughout New England, New York, New Jersey, and Ohio. It has been one of the premier events in the Northeast dealing in early Americana for more than five decades. 
     The show will feature 18th- and 19th-century American furniture, accessories, textiles, rugs, prints, folk art, paintings, redware and early iron. Many items are of museum quality.
Admission is $10. Parking is free, and lunch will be available for a modest price.
The show is a benefit for the Tolland Historical Society, with proceeds supporting the three museums the society operates, the Old Tolland County Court House Museum, the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum and the Daniel Benton Homestead, and the Tolland Military Museum, which it sponsors. Proceeds also support the many programs that the society holds for the public and its curriculum-related programs in the Tolland school system.
     There’s still time for Tolland-area businesses to take advantage of special advertising pricing by bundling ads in the Antiques Show Book, the society’s quarterly newsletter, the Tolland Times, and at its website, tollandhistorical.org. For details, contact Show Director Mary-Pat Soucy at mpsoucy@comcast.net or 860-803-0034. 
For dealer information, contact John or Elizabeth DeSimone at goosefare@gwi.net or 800-641-6908.

Amazon has announced that it is ending its giving program, AmazonSmile, on Feb. 20, but remember, between then and now, you can designate the Tolland Historical Society to receive a portion of your purchases through the AmazonSmile website.

As always, we appreciate your support as we preserve and tell Tolland’s story.

On Giving Tuesday 2022, Nov. 29, please consider making a tax-deductible gift to the Tolland Historical Society to help us preserve and tell Tolland’s story.

Donations can be made directly on this web site by using the yellow “Donate” button or checks can be mailed to Tolland Historical Society, P.O. Box 107, Tolland, CT 06084.

You can also designate the society to receive a portion of your purchases made through AmazonSmile.

Your gift of any size is much appreciated and will be used to support our programs for Tolland schoolchildren and residents of town and their guests as well as helping us to preserve and maintain our four museums: the Daniel Benton Homestead, the Old Tolland County Court House Museum, the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum and the Tolland Military Museum.

Carl Stidsen from Tolland (Major, USAF, Ret.), will give a free talk on Saturday, Nov. 12 on the Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program called “Life in a Cold War ICBM Site: On the Nuclear Bullseye.” 

The talk, set for 11 a.m. at the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum at 52 Tolland Green, is being co-sponsored by the Tolland Historical Society and the Tolland Veterans Recognition Commission. The talk will be followed by a light lunch at the Tolland Military Museum, which is behind the jail and accessible from Route 74. Admission, parking and lunch are all free.


During the Vietnam War-era, Stidsen served as a missile combat crew commander at a Titan II site in Arizona, logging over 8,000 hours underground during more than 380 nuclear alert tours, which each lasted 24 hours.
The weapon his crew controlled had a hydrogen bomb equal to nine megatons of dynamite, and yet – at age 24 – he was the oldest member of the four-man crew. Titan II was the last and largest liquid-fuel ICBM the U.S. ever fielded. 

Stidsen, the research librarian at the New England Air Museum, has been a pilot for 56 years and has been a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for 52 years. 

Come have a spooky experience on Halloween, Oct. 31, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. by trick or treating at the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum on 52 Tolland Green.

Free and sponsored by the Tolland Historical Society.

On Saturday, Oct. 22, the Tolland Historical Society celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Old Tolland County Court House with festivities, period costumes, cupcakes and the long-awaited drawing to win a beautiful quilt made and donated by Society board member Sandy Gallup.

On this beautiful fall day, about 40 people toured the court house and viewed photos taken by Society board member Perne Maynard over the years as well as his photos of artifacts and historic photos in the Society’s collection.

Sandy Vicky was the happy winner of the quilt when Sandy Gallup and board member Cathy Wilcox, who organized the quilt drawing and sold tickets since the spring, drew the winning entry.

President Kathy Bach summed up the day and the Society’s mission by saying, “We keep and tell Tolland’s stories.”

Enjoy these photos of the special day by President Kathy Bach, Vice President Celeste Senechal, Perne Maynard and board member Mary-Pat Soucy. Pictured: Sal Carmosino, President Kathy Bach and Vice President in costume; board member Dave Geissler in green shirt; Sandy Gallup in the dark blue shirt; Cathy Wilcox in the lighter blue sweater and Sandy Vicky holding the quilt she won.

The public is invited to join the Tolland Historical Society in celebrating the 200th anniversary of the museum at 53 Tolland Green from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine, with festivities and a final chance to view depicting the Court House over its 200 years.

Society volunteer Perne Maynard provided many recent photos of the courthouse for the exhibit and photographed many images and artifacts in the Historical Society’s collection.

Cupcakes will be prepared by LuAnn’s Bakery. For a $1 donation, people can take photos of friends and relatives in the wooden pillory. The celebration is free, and no advance registration is required.

At the event, the name of a ticket-holder will be drawn to win a beautiful handmade quilt by Tolland Historical Society volunteer Sandy Gallup.

The quilt, following a pattern called Sister’s Choice, is 70 inches x 82 inches. Tickets are $2 each and can be obtained by sending a check for the number of tickets desired and a stamped self-addressed envelope to Cathy Wilcox, 535 Old Stafford Rd., Tolland, CT 06084. Checks should be made out to Tolland Historical Society and include the word “quilt” on the memo line.

If requesting by mail, please identify your name and phone number where you can be reached so we can add it to the ticket stub. Allow about a week for the tickets to arrive from your request.

Damien Cregeau, an independent Connecticut historian, will present an overview of Ukraine’s history over the past 150 years in a talk titled, “Ukraine: Then and Now,” on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. at the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum at 52 Tolland Green in Tolland.

The free talk is sponsored by the Tolland Historical Society.

Cregeau has given history talks throughout the eastern United States since 2007. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from Hillsdale College and a master’s degree in European history from Colorado State University.

His work has been published in several journals and magazines, including the Journal of the American Revolution and Connecticut History Review. He has traveled in Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine and given talks on Ukrainian-Russian history since 2014 following the Russian invasions of Crimea and southeastern Ukraine that year.

Cregeau will present a detailed look at Ukraine’s history as well as an overview of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s life and strategy in the invasions of Ukraine this year and in the past in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria.

It’s a big weekend coming up for the Tolland Historical Society. Stop by our table at Celebrate Tolland on Saturday, Sept. 10 from noon to 4 at Tolland Middle School to learn more about local history, browse our books and merchandise and purchase a ticket for $2 to enter the drawing to win this beautiful homemade quilt by Sandy Gallup of Tolland.

Then on Sunday, come visit our museums and take part in the Tolland Public Library Foundation’s Oral History Training from 1:30 p.m. to 3 at the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum at 52 Tolland Green. For more information or to register, email Kate Farrish at katefarrish@gmail.com.

Three of the Tolland Historical Society’s museums, the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum, the Old Tolland County Court House Museum and the Tolland Military Museum will mark Memorial Day by opening to the public on Sunday, May 29 from noon to 3 p.m.

Come visit the museums before or after the 30th annual Tolland Memorial Day Parade, that starts at 1 p.m. along the Tolland Green.

The court house museum is at 53 Tolland Green. The jail museum is at 52 Tolland Green, and the military museum is housed in the former barn behind the jail.

Free parking is available in front of the military museum or behind the court house. Admission is free, but donations to support the museums are always appreciated.