• Welcome new staff

• This season's exhibits

• Strategic Planning Review

• Do you have an idea ?

• The garden girls

• Western gateway project

• Pratt reunion

• Historic Registers

• Read the newsletter here,
  or download it in WORD.

• Wish List

• 2004 Membership

• Platinum Business Membership

• Corporate Matching Funds

• Please Remember us

• Upcoming Events 2003

• Mission

• Board of directors

• 2003 Support

• 2003 Membership Form

WELCOME NEW STAFF!!!

Over the winter, the Board conducted an intensive search for two new staff members, whose responsibilities were determined in accordance with last year�s �Strategic Planning Review�.  Please join us this summer in welcoming our new staff!!!!

It is with extreme pleasure that we welcome Nancy Boulin and Sandra Pettersen as our new Director and Administrative Assistant, respectively.   See staff & board members photo.

Director � Nancy Boulin has her degree in Art History from Hartwick College with a minor in Museum Studies.  Her experience with Hartwick College, the Yager Museum, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Farmer�s Museum (Cooperstown) also extends to maintaining her other part-time position as the Executive Director of the Andes Society for History and Culture.  She has curated and installed exhibits, has collection management and preservation experience, as well as grant writing and fundraising skills � all of which are very important to us, here at the Pratt Museum.  Since our season is just about to start, over the next few months, Nancy will quickly become acquainted with our Museum and our Town.  We think you�ll agree that we�ve chosen the very best of many candidates who applied for this position�.

Administrative Assistant � Sandra Pettersen graduated from Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and has worked for many years in customer service and as an administrator with VIP Tours, GE, American Scientific Lighting, and Crosley Medical Products.  She is a trained Den Leader for the Boy Scouts of America and (as we are finding more and more important) proficient in the use of the computer and the internet.  Sandra will manage day-to-day operations of the Museum during its open season, including tours and volunteers; as well as keeping the Museum �in order� throughout the remaining months of the year. We cannot begin to express how happy we are to have found someone with so many crucial talents the Museum will need over the ensuing years!   ^Top

THIS SEASON�S EXHIBITS

Our primary exhibit, Rip VanWinkle, is well worth a single visit just to cherish the items on display.  It was made possible by a collection donated this year by Patricia VanWinkle of Pennsylvania, in honor of her late husband. Patricia contacted the Museum after reading an article on the internet written by Carolyn Bennett, a prior Director.  This exhibit includes three Rip Van Winkle Rogers� Groups, an old oil painting of Rip Van Winkle, music boxes, puzzles, postcards, advertising,, mugs, brochures, books��and more!!

Our second exhibit will unfold on the July 4^th weekend.  On July 23, 1848 Zadock Pratt received an honorary degree of Master of Arts from Union College, Schenectady, New York - the first such honor conferred upon a self-taught mechanic in New York State. Mechanical Arts of Farm Tools in the Mid-nineteenth Century will display both familiar and unfamiliar tools that Zadock Pratt might have used on his 365-acre farm, highly heralded for its efficiency, in Prattsville during the mid-1800�s.  While locally-known as a tanner, Zadock Pratt was nationally-known as an innovator who employed new farming methods and products that fostered efficiency in his time, as well as  in the years to come.   ^Top

STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW

Our "Strategic Planning Review" funded by a grant from The Upstate History Alliance was completed last year.  Not only did we increase the Board�s size to 15 Directors, but we also established the following committees:

• Collections � training, inventory and preservation

• Visitor Center Steering Committee � restoration of the Pratt Commercial Building (see below)

• Buildings and Grounds � conservation and restoration

• Development � grant writing, fundraising and capital campaigns

• Public Relations � publicity and advertising, community relations

• Education � program development and tours

• Finance � competitive bidding, contracts, financial reporting, budgets, capital spending

• Membership � newsletters, membership campaigns

If you would like to join the Board or a committee, please contact our President, Ruth Pelkey.  ^Top

DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA?

Museum Board meetings are held the second Wednesday of every month.  We are always looking for ideas and volunteers.  If there is an event that you think could be successful, an exhibit that you would like to see, if you would like to volunteer your time or skills, please call ahead and we will arrange for you to attend one of our Board meetings.  ^Top

THE GARDEN GIRLS

Have you had the pleasure of seeing our herb garden in its full glory?  Well, now is the �thyme�!  Located at the side of the Pratt Museum, the Garden Girls maintain over 100 varieties of herbs for your horticultural pleasure.  Brochures are available at the Museum for a self-guided tour of the entire garden.   They also maintain the rest of our Museum gardens.  The �Garden Girls� comprise:  Lee Buchar, Nancy Cohen, Nancy Haney, Janet Orlando, Muriel Pons, and Barbara Vetter.  ^Top

WESTERN GATEWAY PROJECT

This project will restore the Pratt Commercial Building, circa 1824, to become the �Western Gateway to the Catskills". Donated to the Museum by Andy Dresser, this building was Zadock Pratt's first office and the first building in his planned community.   A $12,500 grant from The Catskill Watershed Corporation has been matched by $5,000 from The O�Connor Foundation to begin restoration.  The restoration will cost over $50,000. The Board voted to apply all donations made to the Museum on behalf of Andy Dresser to its restoration.   ^Top

PRATT REUNION

If you are a Pratt, Pratt descendant, or know someone who is, call Michele Brainard at 518-299-3125 (Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm) or 518-299-3362 at other times.  She is beginning to plan a "reunion".  Watch this space in the next issue.     ^Top

HISTORIC REGISTERS

An architectural survey done in the mid-1990�s shows that 94% of the structures Pratt built, in and surrounding Prattsville, still stand � over 160 years later.  If you think your home is one of those buildings, you may register it as a historic property.  Contact Muriel Pons, Town Historian, for an application package if you live in Prattsville: 518-299-3295 or write to Murielpons@hotmail.com.  ^Top
 

WISH LIST

• Signs for both sides of Town listing local sites on  Historic Registers

• Pentium III computers for media center

• Video camera in working order

• Large (at least 20� x 40�) engravable plaque

• Period Items (circa 1790 � 1880) for our  Collections

• Card tables and folding chairs

• Glass salt and pepper shakers   ^Top

2004 MEMBERSHIP

Starting with this season our Membership Year will be  from November 1, 2003 through October 31, 2004.  For this year, please see the enclosed list to determine if you have a 2003 Membership, effective as of May 15^th, 2003 or visit our web page listing members.

Members receive free tours at the Museum, four newsletters per year, and discounts on Museum Dinners and other events with entrance fees.   

Memberships are matched 1:1 by various matching grants that we receive throughout the year and represent the majority of the funds that we need to keep the Museum in operation.  Your support keeps this Historic Homestead alive!   ^Top

PLATINUM BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP

A $100 Platinum Business Membership entitles your organization to a web page on the Pratt Museum website.  In tthere he past two years - April 2001-April 2003, there have been over 45,000 �individual visits� to this site � people are using it to plan trips to the Catskill Region.  Please visit www.prattmuseum.com, and if interested in having a page, give us a call at 518-299-3395 or e-mail us at prattmuseum@hotmail.com.  ^Top

CORPORATE MATCHING FUNDS

Does your employer have a policy for donation matching?  Many companies match donations you make to a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization dollar-for-dollar�this means for every $1 you give, we get $2.  We are happy to provide documentation for you to accomplish this.  Make your donations count; check with your employer about these important programs.  ^Top

PLEASE REMEMBER US

We are a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, so please remember to consider us in your will.  You may either make a direct donation or contribute to our endowment fund.  All donations to our endowment fund are matched dollar-for-dollar by the O'Connor Foundation�.this, again, means for every $1 you give, we get $2.    ^Top

UPCOMING EVENTS 2003

MISSION

�The Zadock Pratt Museum is dedicated to exhibiting the history and culture of the Northern Catskill Region during the mid-nineteenth century, the heyday of the hemlock-based tanning industry in the area.  This area is best illustrated by reference to the life of Zadock Pratt, founder of Prattsville and the region�s most prominent tanner.� 

The Museum strives not only to preserve the Pratt Homestead and its collections, but also to interpret this period of history and to attract to the Museum, through diversified programs, all age and interest levels, using the Historic House Landmark as a backdrop to many education and cultural events and exhibits.  ^Top

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2003 SUPPORT

• We want to thank all of the organizations and individuals who have provided support this year:

• The O�Connor Foundation

• New York State Parks, Recreations and Historical Preservation

• The Troy Savings Bank

• The Town of Prattsville

• The Greene County Council on the Arts

• The Bank of Greene County

• Our Members and Donors      ^Top

New Museum staff, Nancy Boulin and Sandra Pettersen, our new Director and Administrative Assistant, respectively, on the steps of the Pratt Museum with Museum board members.

^Top

Download the Spring 2003 newsletter it in WORD
Download the Winter 2002-2003 newsletter it in WORD
Fall 2002 Newsletter
Summer 2003 Newsletter