Antiques Expert To Appraise Items Sunday

By SARAH ROBERTS
FLY CREEK

On Sunday, June 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Fly Creek Area Historical Society will host an Antique Appraisal and Museum Day. Located at the former Grange in Fly Creek, at 208 Cemetery Road, the event will allow locals to bring up to two items for appraisal by Chris Brown, an antiques expert from Bainbridge, for a fee of $10.00. The event will raise funds for FCAHS and promote awareness of local and regional history.

“We want to foster more cooperation among historical societies and museums to increase historical knowledge and encourage more participation from the public,” explained Tony Kroker, FCAHS trustee.

As the appraisals are happening downstairs, upstairs will feature exhibitions from the Fort Plain Museum, Hanford Mills Museum, the Arkell Museum, Fenimore Art Museum, the Cherry Valley Historical Association, Otsego 2000 and an antique gun collection owned by FCAHS Trustee John Phillips, the event’s originator. Visitors can also explore the FCAHS regular museum. Food from Rick’s Hotdogs will be available.

A myriad of objects can be appraised. Kroker suggests items such as antique artwork, coins, postcards, pottery, writing samples, old fishing gear, vintage toys, and musical instruments, among other items.

On May 4, the FCAHS hosted a pancake breakfast event, with another scheduled for early October. In August, the museum is planning a three-day exhibit featuring the photographs of Lady Ostapeck. Plans are also in the works to expand the function of the Grange building, including utilizing the stage on the second floor for performances and improving access for patrons with disabilities to the building and second floor.

The historical society holds its regular meetings on the fourth Wednesday of each month, during which a guest speaker gives a presentation on local history. Recent speakers include Richard Ranieri, who presented on the Civilian Conservation Corps and the CCC Camp in Laurens on Gilbert Lake. The May meeting featured a discussion on the Battle of Cherry Valley, also known as the Cherry Valley Massacre.

The FCAHS mission is to “research, record, retain, preserve, and make available for study, artifacts, relics, books, manuscripts, papers, photographs, and other records from the late 18th century to the present, items relating to the history of New York and particularly to Fly Creek and the surrounding area.”

The historical society was founded in the summer of 1989 and obtained state and federal recognition, achieving 501c3 status in 1998. Its newsletter, “The Fly Creeker,” is published quarterly, and a 370-page book, “Fly Creek Area History,” was published in 2022.

The FCAHS can be reached with any questions or concerns at flycreekareahistoricalsociety@gmail.com or by contacting one of its officers, whose phone numbers can be found at flycreekareahistoricalsociety.org. Additional information on upcoming events, the history of the organization and information on how to join the FCAHS can also be found at the same web address.