Dear Friends and Neighbors:

Greetings from our new normal!  Back in May we announced this season’s summer exhibit would be virtual and remote.  Since then, we have been very hard at work on the exhibit, and the time has come to reveal!

We are excited to announce our 2020 Summer Exhibit ~ Our Women of Sandwich ~ is now live!  Whether you visit us virtually or are able to go on our self-guided walking tour, we hope you enjoy it!  While the walking tour will remain the same throughout the summer and fall, our virtual exhibit will be updated weekly, and we encourage you to add to it!  Please read on to find out more.  

How will you know where to find these amazing women? We have created a map which is available on our website as well as a limited quantity available outside the Elisha Marston House.  Of course, you may also just “stumble” upon them as you move about town in the course of your weekly activities! And, again, all of the women are featured on our website, which you may view from the comfort of home!

We are also celebrating other women of Sandwich virtually.  We are featuring a few as part of our exhibit kick-off women right away on our website. We will be adding to this list of virtual vignettes as the summer progresses.  In fact, we welcome you to add a woman (or two!) to our special virtual exhibit by sending us a personal story…. a paragraph or several.  It need not be lengthy, but it is a wonderful way to acknowledge a Sandwich woman of significance to you.  It would be helpful if you could provide at least one picture of her too! In this way our celebration of Sandwich Women will continue to grow all summer!  We can also add your story(ies) to the women we are already highlighting.  The more voices, the better!  Email us at sandwichhistory@gmail.com.

Finally, we will have a little something extra associated with our exhibit this summer. Coming out July 31 and running through August 21 there will be a scavenger hunt format for children (11 & under) and a bingo format for adults (12 & up).  We hope this will encourage folks to visit our remote exhibit sites, our website, and celebrate the time of summer that includes Old Home Week! Stay tuned for more information on these and other virtual offerings that we may have this summer.
 
Although this “new normal” is uncharted territory, the staff and trustees of the Sandwich Historical Society are working hard to ensure that we continue to share Sandwich History.  Our Excursion Bulletin will be published as usual! Our Museum Shop is open online and features wonderful gift items, clothing, publications, and postcards.  Be well and we hope you enjoy Our Women of Sandwich! 
 
Abby Hambrook, Director
Geoff Burrows, President
Web:  sandwichhistorical.org Email:  sandwichhistory@gmail.com

The Exhibit Team would like to extend special thanks to the following for their help with our exhibit:
 
Property & Business Owners:  “Maple House” (David Patridge & Mallory Hathaway); Town Hall & the Old Fire Station (Sandwich Board of Selectmen & Fire Chief Ted Call); Parade & Fair Museum Buildings (Sandwich Fair Association President, Dan Peaslee & the Board of Directors); Baptist Meetinghouse & Methodist Meetinghouse (Trustees, Community Church of Sandwich); Samuel H. Wentworth Library (Director Nancy Fredrickson), Sandwich Home Industries (Manager Martha Nichols); Center Post Office (Trustees, Alfred Quimby Fund & the Postmaster); Tappan Chair Shop (Artisan Adam Nudd-Homeyer); and the Corner House Inn (Lexi Townsend)
 
Pictures (to date):  Carl Hansen, Sue Greene, Abby Hambrook, Wendy Ritger, Deb Kerr, David Crory, Joan Cook, Trecia McEvoy, Susan Lirakis  and Geoff Burrows.
 
Map:  Bob Dustin and Jim Hambrook 

Ole Anderson writes: Hi all, There will be an Old Home Week this year, but it will be different than years’ past.  Old Home Week is Sunday 8/9 – 8/16.  We are doing our best to create activities and events for the community to safely engage. Many of the groups who usually offer events and activities are working on dynamic planning in order to deliver a safe and meaningful experience for community members.

I can say with certainty that there will not be an Old Home Week Brochure. The nature of planning for the week with attention to Covid-19 guidelines and recommendations, or the potential of rising confirmed cases in our area, make it necessary for each group to have the ability to adjust their event rather than feel committed to what is published in a brochure weeks in advance.  

We will be populating the town website with a schedule at sandwichnh.com. This page is currently blank, but as events and activities are confirmed, we will add them, starting on July 14.  We will try and post on the SandwichBoard as each new activity and event is added. We will certainly post an update if an already posted event has been modified or canceled.

Please know we are doing our best to create safe, fun, and interesting events and activities; however, this means many of the traditional Old Home Week events will not be able to take place this year.  Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we work on Sandwich’s 122nd Old Home Week.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Ole Anderson, Sandwich Parks and Recreation Director, 284-6473, sandwichrecreation@gmail.com

Center Sandwich, NH: July 4th, 2020 – Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery is pleased to open Sandwiched in Seasons, an exhibit of new work by artist, Kathryn Field.

Field is a painter, sculptor and art teacher who lives and works in Sandwich, NH. Follow Field through her spring and summer walks, hikes and swims into intense fall color and icy winter streams.  Each painting is a personal experience, and adventure in color, light and shadow.  This series is an exquisite testimony to the artist’s talents.  

Preview Field's work at her website or even better visit Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery at 69 Maple Street in Center Sandwich, NH.  We will open July 1 for the summer.  Though there is no opening reception to meet the artist this year, the paintings will be on exhibit until July 25th.  Gallery hours are from 10 to 5 Monday through Saturday and 12 to 5 on Sunday.  For more information about the artist or the gallery please visit the website or give us a call at 603 284 7728.

The Sandwich Fair Association Board of Directors has announced that it will be canceling the Sandwich Fair for the 2020 Season. With the uncertainty of the direction of the coronavirus pandemic and how it will affect large group gatherings into the fall, the Board of Directors felt that cancelling the fair was the safest option for the fair community and the public.

The Sandwich Fair started in 1886 as an agricultural event where local farmers could trade and sell their cattle. It has since grown into a 3-day event held annually over the Columbus Day Weekend and is a mainstay of the New Hampshire fall foliage season, with 30,000 visitors annually coming to see agricultural exhibits, crafts, farm animals and, of course, get their fill of fried dough and midway rides.

As the last fair of the New Hampshire fair season, the Sandwich Fair puts an exclamation point on the state’s tradition of agricultural fairs. Ironically, the only other time the Sandwich Fair has been canceled was in 1919 during the Spanish Flu pandemic. Dan Peaslee, President of the Sandwich Fair Association, said of the Boards decision, “It was an incredibly hard decision to make, but the board felt it could not in good conscience bring so many people together in the fall if there was a chance that this virus would still be capable of infecting people.” As part of its decision, the fair board weighed several factors, including how the pandemic could impact all the vendors, concessionaires, entertainers, farm families and the visiting public.

While it is sad to think about missing the Sandwich Fair this fall, it will be back on October 9 - 11, 2021 bigger and better than ever. The Sandwich Fair Board of Directors wishes everyone a safe summer and we look forward to seeing you at the Fair in 2021. For more information about the Sandwich Fair, contact the fair at office@thesandwichfair.com or visit our website.

Jude Davis writes: The Community Church of Sandwich held an outdoor Easter Morning Service on the flower and cross adorned front steps of the Methodist Meetinghouse. Everyone kept their appropriate social distance. Face masks, hymnals, and hand sanitizer were available for all. Twenty to twenty-five people stood in front of the church, on the sidewalk across the street, sat on their door steps or porches, or enjoyed the service from their car. Judy English played the pipe organ inside the church and folks sang traditional hymns led by Rev. Deb Hoffman (on the steps nearest the  cross).

During this time of  COVID-19, Pastor Deb sends out daily uplifting messages and a weekly Sunday Service on YouTube. If you would like to receive these posts in your email, you can call 284-6151 or email sandwichchurch@gmail.com.

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Note: The Sandwich Business Group, which produces this website, is pleased to welcome The Community Church of Sandwich as one of our newest members.

For over 40 years, the first full weekend in Sandwich has been a celebration of craftsmanship. This year is no exception. Over 40 artisans, farmers, bakers, craftspeople, individuals, businesses, and organizations are each doing something in the spirit of community and the holidays. December 6, 7 and 8 will feature a tree-lighting, live entertainment, food, local hand-made gifts, gift wrapping, fund-raisers for youth, live animals, and so much more. Combined efforts will mean a weekend of fun and festivities for all who come to enjoy.

New artisans this year are two enterprising teens who will be selling their handmade items at the Benz Center on Saturday, Dec 7 from 9 am to 4 pm. Laura Cove and Hazel Dassori-Kaye have been mentored for the past year by Wendy Shambaugh, a Sandwich Business Group member with two local businesses, Wayside Farm and The Dessert Table. Wendy has been teaching the girls how to sew and also how to sell their products.

Wendy says, “Laura’s & Hazel’s moms were looking for someone to teach them sewing a year or so ago, as they both had starter sewing machines at that time. I love working with young people, encouraging them to be creative and experiment with different mediums, so it was a good fit. I worked with them making pillows, ornaments, and clothes for themselves and for dolls, teaching them as we went about proper techniques to end up with a quality product.
 
They both are very creative and extremely fast learners. Laura loves to design clothes for herself. Hazel started making different styles of bags she developed, with ideas from Marcy Greene of Greene Studios. I suggested that they join the Christmas fair and they were very eager. We have worked on how to set up a budget for materials, setting pricing, advertising their work, displaying their work on a table, interacting with customers, and totaling and make change for orders.”

Make sure to check out Laura and Hazel’s table when you visit the Benz Center this Saturday.

Christmas in the Village is a great chance to BUY LOCAL. It’s a great chance to BE LOCAL! There have always been good reasons to buy from your friends and neighbors instead of big box stores selling goods made in China.

Supporting our local communities, supporting local sustainable economic systems, is a win-win. We all win. We keep our money in local circulation, we help to increase the vibrancy of the town we live in, and we help to make the world a better place with less waste and more caring.

Christmas in the Village maps and events listings will be available around town and information (and photos) can be found on Facebook at Christmas in the Village–Sandwich, NH and on this website.

Sandwich author, Lisa Gruenberg , will be at Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery on October 5th to sign and read excerpts from her new book, My City of Dreams. Join us for a reception to meet the author at 4 p.m.  In her book Lisa Gruenberg not only records her own life but also that of her father who survived the Holocaust in Vienna and slowly made his way to the United States via the UK and Canada.   Gruenberg’s story includes the tales of relatives lost to “darkness, terror and murder.” Her adventure begins and ends in Center Sandwich.   Gruenberg’s journey combines exploration with imagination as she attempts to relive her father’s Holocaust experience and through him the stories of her many relatives.

 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. University Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at Harvard Kennedy School and author of Do Morals Matter?  Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump, writes “ This beautifully written book takes you from America to Vienna and back as it explores the meaning of the Holocaust, memory, mortality and life.  

The book will be available at Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery through Columbus Day, October 14.  Gallery hours are from 10 to 5 Tuesday through Saturday and 12 to 5 Sunday and Monday.  For more information please call 603 284 7728 or visit our website at www.patricialaddcarega.com.