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.

This summer, the Daniel Benton Homestead Museum is making its garden space available to Tolland people or groups.

It is inviting up to five families, residents, friends or groups to adopt a raised bed at the property at 154 Metcalf Road for the growing season. It will be up to the group or people to grow vegetables, pollinators or flowers in the beds, which are about 3-feet wide by 15-feet long.

They will also have to tend the garden while the museum will provide the raised bed and water (depending on weather conditions.) No chemicals, pesticides, herbicides or invasive species, please.We prefer annuals. If you do put in perennials, you will be responsible for removing them when the gardens are put to bed for the winter.

Your design does not have to recreate a colonial garden.Anyone who is interested should write up or draw a proposal for the bed and send it to Museum Director Gail Usher, 2 Bungay Hill Road, Woodstock, CT 06281 or by email to danielbentonmuseum@gmail.com by May 20.

The Tolland Historical Society has been awarded an $11,300 CT Cultural Fund Operating Support Grant from CT Humanities.

The grant is for general operating support for museums and non-profit, municipal, state or Connecticut-based tribal nation organizations that provide cultural, humanities and arts projects and activities for the public.

The grant is among $16 million awarded to 624 organizations to help the state’s museums, cultural, humanities and arts organizations maintain and grow their ability to serve their community and the public. The grants can also be used to connect K-12 teachers and students to strong humanities and arts content and to improve and to improve the organizations’ information technology and digital infrastructure.

The Society will use the support grant for outreach to the Tolland community and local schools. The Society is grateful to CT Humanities and the selection committee for realizing the importance of our mission.

These grants are being administered by CT Humanities, with funding provided by the state Department of Economic and Community Development and the Connecticut Office of the Arts from the state legislature. The Society operates four museums: the Daniel Benton Homestead Museum, the Old Tolland County Court House Museum, the Old Tolland County Jail and Museum and the Tolland Military Museum.

Thank you to the 40 supporters and donors to the Tolland Historical Society who turned out Nov. 14 to rededicate the bell tower on the Old Tolland County Court House Museum.

With many gifts, large and small, the society raised more than $100,000 to match a $100,000 state historic preservation grant to repair and restore the bell tower when extensive rot was found inside the structure holding the original bell.

Over five months this summer and fall, Valley Restoration of Torrington did an excellent job on the project. The society’s fundraising motto had been “Let History Ring!” and on Sunday, we were once again able to ring the bell.

The committee that oversaw the project, from left to right: consulting architect Robert Hurd, Society volunteer Dr. Sharron Laplante, Paul Bastiaane, president of Valley Restoration; Society President Kathy Bach; Society volunteer Dave Geissler and Vice President Celeste Senechal.

Thank you very much to Jeff Kelly, the owner of Willington Pizza House and Willington Pizza Too, for making a $7,000 donation to the Tolland Historical Society, which equal the proceeds of a recent fundraiser.

Kelly agreed to donate a portion of sales at both restaurants on Nov. 5, 6 and 7 to help the society cover an unanticipated $24,000 in repairs that were discovered while we were restoring the bell tower on the Old Tolland County Court House Museum.

Kelly opened Willington Pizza in 1978 with four tables as basically as a one-man operation. By 1981, it had outgrown its original location and moved to its current location at 25 River Road (Route 32) in Willington. The second location, at 11 Phelps Way in Willington, opened in 1988.

Any business that would like to hold a similar fundraiser may contact society volunteer Mary-Pat Soucy at mpsoucy@comcast.net.

Individual donations are always welcome as well and can be made at this website or by mail to Tolland Historical Society, P.O. Box 107, Tolland, CT 06084.

More than 300 trick and treaters and their parents stopped by the Jail Museum on Halloween evening where Museum Director Kathy Bach, her trusty friend Gidget and the dedicated interns in the Tolland Historical Society supplied the treats.