NMHS NEWSLETTER February 1984

Dear Friends of the Community,

Congratulations on this first edition of your newsletter. May it serve the goals of the Historical Society and bring pleasure to its members.

Your unique perspective on community makes you a vital contribution to the quality of life we enjoy.  I hope that this newsletter serves to share that perspective with enthusiasm.

Your continued dedication benefits every member of this community.

Sincerely,
David D. Grandstaff
for Town Board

As of December 30, 1983, the North Manchester Historical Society counted in its membership: 130 individuals; 50 non-members on our mailing list; and five corporate members, for a total of 185.

In addition, our first letter is being mailed as a complimentary issue to those on the Chamber of Commerce mailing list.

Our Active Little Hoosiers & Dyanne

Our community boasts a Little Hoosiers Historian Club and a seemingly tireless sponsor, Dyanne Tracy.

Little Hoosier Historian Clubs are a statewide organization under the auspices of the Indiana Junior Historical Society.  The IJHS office in Indianapolis employs one fulltime director and two field representatives.

Little Hoosiers can be in fourth, fifth or sixth grade and generally need to enjoy learning about Indiana history.  Presently, there are over 80 LHHC chapters in Indiana.

Our Maple Park LHHC chapter, founded by Dyanne Tracy, received its charter December 1982 with a membership of 13.  Maple Park Elementary is the only local school that has been given school board/superintendent permission to include, as an extra-curricular activity, the Little Hoosier program; however, the other three elementaries in the Manchester Community Schools have been afforded the possibility, pending the settlement of the 1983-84 contract. 

In its second year, Maple Park Little Hoosier Historians Club has grown to 24 members.  Its constitution provides for seven club officers, a $2.00 membership fee and one-hour meetings twice per month.  The current officers are:

Chad Duffy, President
Jarrod Thompson, Vice President
Sarah Borg, Secretary
Shilo Thompson, Corresponding Secretary
Robyn Jones, Treasurer
Greg Good, Reporter
Sean Duffy, Historian

Activities past include: nomination and election of officers, a trip to Conner Prairie Settlement, assisting the North Manchester Historical Society with their 1983 Christmas Homes Tour, an old-fashioned taffy pull and having several guest speakers.

Future activities include: a trip to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, researching a famous Hoosier and writing a first-person report to be presented at the North Manchester Historical Society meeting, preparing a state convention entry for its May date, and a fund-raising, Funnel Cake Fry.

Memorials placed in the North Manchester Public Library by the North Manchester Historical Society

1975  In memory of Martha Rupley Farmer. The American Dream: Shadow and Substance. By Marvin Miller.

1978  In memory of Harry Ingraham.  Two  Hundred Years of American Clocks and Watches.  By Chris Bailey.

In memory of Mary Louise Little.  The House Book.  By Terence Conran.

In memory of Wayne Rittenhouse.  The Mill at Phillipsburg Manor, Upper Mills and a Brief History of Milling.  By Charles Howell and Allen Keller.

1980  In memory of Mrs. Herman (Beulah) Meyer.  The Rug Book.  By Lillian Mary Quirke.

1982  In memory of Vaughn Smallwood.  Cabinets, Bookcases, and Closets.   By Tom Philbin

Holderman Plaque

A new cemetery plaque is nearly completed for Holderman Cemetery listing those buried there.  Since there were virtually no records in existence, this has been a two-year project for the Society to compile the material for the new plaque. 

The next step is to decide how to display the plaque.  Current plans call for a wall to be built in the northeast section of the cemetery and the plaque mounted on it.  Some of the tombstones may be encased in the wall; some of the larger obelisk stones will become part of the landscaping in that area. 

It will be good for the Society to center its attention on this project in the near future to give it the just attention it deserves.

At the Library

Ask to see the copy of Historic American Buildings Survey in Indiana with special interest in pages 91 and 92.  (ed. Thomas Slade.  Indiana University Press.  1983). The North Manchester Public Library was studied, measured and drawn for nomination to HABS in 1975.