During our Annual Meeting, on November 15, members had the opportunity to talk briefly about a family heirloom or tell a family history, as part of our traditional show-and-tell.
Marcia Pertuz started us off with a PowerPoint presentation on town bands in the early 1900s. We also learned that in NY State each city, town, village, or borough has a town historian, who can be an invaluable source of information. Jim Shroads put time, place and information into context, based on a 90-year-old newspaper that he had found under his house during renovation work. Jean Mann went even further back in time. She showed us a 19th century Nassau County ballot box, and explained how elections were held in those days. Gus Reinwald told us the story about his father’s uncle, an inventor and held many patents, in particular of carnival rides which he opened all over the US and Canada. His story was illustrated by many photos, drawings and other documents. Finally, Dennis Partridge described the accomplishments of Thomas Hanson Braddock (1931-2022), culminating with his induction into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame. Tom had given Dennis a pair of expensive boots, but as Dennis concluded: “I fit in Tom’s boots, but I don’t think I’ll ever fill them”.
We thank all the presenters for their very entertaining and informative contributions.