The month of May brought warmer weather, visitors to the Howe House, spring cleaning jobs to be done and an event to plan.
      After the long winter it has been good to be able to welcome people stopping in to do family research, take a tour of the museum, donate items for our reference room and collection, make a purchase from our Gift Shoppe or just to say hello!
   The windows have been washed and the house cleaned (hired services), the flower gardens have been well tended and the banners are up (thank you volunteers!), and exhibits changed, so we are looking forward to our first public event in quite some time.  
      Open House is on Saturday, June 5 from 11am until 2pm. Tours will be available, the Gift Shoppe will be open and the antique cars will be on display. If it has been a while since your last visit, please stop in to see what is new. If you are not able to visit during our normal hours (Wednesday - Friday) or have never been to the Howe House, we hope you will take this opportunity to see the exhibits and learn about the research materials available to the community. The parking lots at the United Church of Phelps and the OTTC (Ontario & Trumansburg Telephone Companies)  will be available to PCHS visitors.
      If you are looking for a Father’s Day gift, please consider giving a PCHS gift membership to someone who may enjoy receiving our newsletter. Not sure if someone is already a member? Just contact our office. 
      Our Gift Shoppe has a new item (also online at phelpsnyhistory.com). The  11oz. white ceramic mug has a photo of the Howe House on the front (see insert).
    We would like to have a transportation exhibit in the Carriage House this summer to highlight the 1912 Ford Model T and the 1924 Essex. We are looking for Phelps transportation related items, such as signage, pictures, or anything from the horse and buggy days through the 1950s. The items would be on loan to the PCHS from June 2021 through September 2021. If you would like to help to tell the story of transportation in and around the Phelps community please contact the PCHS office,  either by phone or email.
                                                                               Diane Goodman

Please join us!

As we began our second year of social limitations, the work at the Howe House
Museum and PCHS continues behind the scenes. We have a new website (phelpsnyhistory.com), articles are being written for the newsletter, collection inventory is being updated, membership records are kept up to date, contractors are being consulted for estimates on roof repair and to update our security system, inside exhibits are changing, handwritten stories are being typed up, and we are planning events for this summer! (see newsletter insert). The Board of Trustees has held monthly meetings on Zoom and volunteered in numerous other ways. April 18-24 is Volunteer Appreciation Week. If you know someone who volunteers at the PCHS please thank them for all they do for this organization!