Category: News & Events

News and Events

Saturday 6/10

10-1:30 PM

CT Open House

EVERYBODY HAS A (HI)STORY

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Friday 6/16

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MERIDEN

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Wednesday, 6/21 INTERNATIONAL MAKE MUSIC DAY

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Thursday 6/29 6:30

STONE BREAKER AND THE HANGING HILLS

Join us here at the Historical Society to create a special memory with a young person who is special to you. The theme is Everybody Has a (Hi)story. We will provide a question template which you can use to write your story!  It is a series of questions that a child can ask their special adult and can be done at home. The questions are on the last page. Our request is that the child(ren) along with their significant adult, visit us with their story on Saturday June 10th between 10 and 1:30.  We will take your picture and story and turn it into a finished document and email it back to you or you can come back in a week and pick it up.

Join us for a scavenger hunt. Email director@meridenhistsoc.org to request a copy of the rules. (They will be emailed on Friday at Noon to all) Each riddle describes a Meriden landmark or site and has a point value. You can choose which questions you answer, but your goal is to earn as many points as possible by solving the riddle, going to the site, photographing your team in front of each, and returning your answers in person to 41 West Main Street by noon on the 17^th OR emailing them by to director@meridenhistsoc.org The team with the most points and proper photographs at 12 noon on Saturday the 17th wins! Prizes will be awarded!

Come enjoy music from 11-7 in the plaza next to the Historical Society and look at our music themed window display. This event is presented by Meriden Parks and Recreation and the Olde Church Acoustic Series.

Join us at the Historical Society to hear Kathleen Housley, author of Stone Breaker: James Gates Percival and the Beginning of Geology in New England. She will be sharing the life of James Gates Percival. His love of the Hanging Hills was lifelong. It was his realization that the Hanging Hills were volcanic and far older than 6,000 years, the presumed age of the Earth during his time, that helped push geology forward as a science in New England.

Admission is free to members. Suggested donation is $10.00 for non-members.

Please contact the office to reserve your seat (203-639-1913) or by email: info@MeridenHistSoc.org or click HERE to reserve online.

Thursday 7/27 6:30 at the Meriden Museum and History Center 41 W Main Street Meriden

STRIKES, SPARES AND GUTTER BALLS

Tuesday 8/1 5-8 at Hubbard Park

NATIONAL NIGHT OUT

There is no Thursday evening presentation in August.

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MEMBERSHIP

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Join us at the Historical Society to hear Art Dutra and Tony Ezzo. They will be sharing the history of bowling in Meriden and unveiling the model of the Ezzo Building.

Admission is free to members. Suggested donation is $5.00 for non-members.

Please contact the office to reserve your seat (203-639-1913) or by email: info@MeridenHistSoc.org or click HERE to reserve online.

Meriden’s 13th annual National Night Out being planned by the Council of Neighborhoods and the Meriden Police Department’s Neighborhood Initiative Unit will be held on Tuesday August 1st 5pm to 8pm at Hubbard Park. Rain date is Wednesday August 2nd. The event is free of charge including food and beverages, entertainment and children’s activities. Please bring your families and friends and join us!

COME SEE OUR WINDOWS

Flags are in our entryway. June Bride is in our eastern Window and Advertising in Meriden in our Western Window. The window facing the park features Music in Meriden.

Welcome to our new members

Stephen M. Clough, Sr. Rachel Nieland

Cheryl & Daimer Weston

ZEFFY – A NEW WAY TO MAKE RESERVATIONS, PAY DUES & MAKE DONATIONS TO THE SOCIETY

Welcome to Zeffy, our new online fundraising platform that now manages our event reservations, ticket purchases, donations, membership, volunteers and more. While other platforms take a portion of donations in fees, Zeffy gives 100% of all donations directly to nonprofits and relies on voluntary contributions as a source of income. When you use the platform it will ask you for a voluntary contribution to Zeffy, the default suggested is 18%. Just click on the 18%, scroll down and choose “other” which allows you to enter any dollar amount including zero.

If you prefer to use PayPal – we are subscribed to PayPal too.

Everybody has a (hi)story!

CT OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY JUNE 10 10-1:30

My important adult’s name is ___________________________________________________

Where was s/h born? _________________________________________________________

S/he is ______________ years old.

His/her favorite thing to do when s/he was my age was _______________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

S/he went to school at __________________________________________________________

His/her favorite thing about Meriden is _____________________________________________

His/her favorite thing about me is _________________________________________________

What’s one thing s/he wants me to remember when I am an adult _______________________

______________________________________________________________________________

What’s one thing about our [family] history s/he thinks I should know _____________________

______________________________________________________________________________

His/her favorite subject in school ___________________________________________________

His/her favorite place to visit as a child ______________________________________________

If s/he could do anything in the world what would it be? ________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Where should we email your picture and story?

Email address: _________________________________________________________________

Your name _____________________________________________________________________

Join us for our first annual series of walking tours, led by current and former MHS Board members. We will visit a different cemetery every Saturday to “meet” residents who made Meriden great as well as look at some of our more unusual gravestones.  We will meet at the entrance of each cemetery at 1:00. Tours are approximately two hours long.  Each tour is limited to 20 participants.  Tickets are $10 for each individual tour. Registration is required for each event. For more details and to register click the link below.

We will visit a different cemetery every Saturday to “meet” residents who made Meriden great as well as look at some of our more unusual gravestones.  We will meet at the entrance of each cemetery at 1:00. Tours are approximately two hours long.  Each tour is limited to 20 participants.  Tickets are $10 for each individual tour.Registration is required for each event. For more details and to register click the links below.
October 21^th       1863                    Walnut Grove Cemetery        Register Walnut by Thursday October 19^th
October 28^th       1876                    Sacred Heart Cemetery          Register Sacred by Thursday October 26^th

Call us for details: 203-639-1913.

Show and Tell – Thursday, March 30th, 2023 6:30 pm, 41 W. Main St. downtown Meriden

Meriden Show and Tell: What is it? Where is it? Who is it? – Thursday, 3/30/2023 6:30 PM

Join us at the Society’s Museum and History Center to share your stories, discoveries and queries relating to Meriden and its history. A panel of members of the Society will be on hand to answer questions and present unusual items from the Society’s collection.
Seating is limited. Admission is free. Reservations are recommended, by calling the office (203-639-1913) or emailing us: info@meridenhistsoc.org

OCTAGONAL HOUSES – Thursday, February 23rd, 2023 6:30 pm, 41 W. Main St. downtown Meriden

PAST EVENTS

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

The Meriden Historical Society’s Annual Membership Meeting will take place on Thursday, September 8, 2022

6:00 pm

at our downtown Museum & History Center 41 W. Main Street, Meriden.

Agenda: Committee reports; President’s report; Meet Michael J. Zaffino – our administrator; Eat and schmooze on the patio

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JULY PROGRAM: An Aerial View – Meriden Present and Past

Thursday, July 28, 2022 6:30 pm at our Museum and History Center 41 W. Main St. Meriden, and streaming on Zoom.

Free admission. Donations gratefully accepted and help keep our doors open.

Sam Carr – Will present photographs of Meriden from the view of drones providing mostly current images of both iconic and typical views of the City from unique perspectives.  There will also be some older views of Meriden, taken from an airplane from the 1930’s thru 1980’s, that will be compared to recent images to show how the city has changed over the years.  A short discussion of drone rules and regulations will be included.  Sam holds a private pilot license from the FAA as well as a commercial UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle – drone) license.

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JULY PROGRAM Co-sponsored with the Meriden Public Library:

Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 6:30 pm at the Meriden Mall, 470 Lewis Ave, Meriden – next to Champs. Presented by Christina Rewinski

Which side are you on? That’s the question that every single person in Connecticut had to answer in 1775, as the thirteen colonies began a rebellion against British rule. Loyalty was not only a matter of words or opinion, For soldiers and civilians alike, loyalty could mean loss of fortune, of friends, and even of life. This presentation reveals stories – some well known, some obscure – of Nutmeggers who risked and sacrificed to support their chosen side during this “tumultuous jarring time of civil war”

Link to register: https://meriden.librarycalendar.com/event/tories-spies-traitors-divided-loyalty-revolutionary-connecticut
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/35205933023569

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JUNE PROGRAM

SYLVESTER POLI – THEATER MAGNATE, his life and involvement in Meriden.

Presented by Michael J. Zaffino.

Thursday, June 30^th at 6:30 pm at the Meriden Historical Society’s Museum and History Center, 41 W. Main St. Meriden CT

41 w. Main St., downtown Meriden

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OUR MISSION
To steward the rich and diverse history of Meriden, Connecticut and its people. We collect, preserve, research, and exhibit artifacts; create educational programming; and support research that accurately interprets Meriden’s past. We inspire and engage others to learn about and take pride in the history of our community.

OUR VISION
To be a vibrant center, providing multi-media access and resources for all members of our community, scholars, students, and others, to understand, appreciate, and experience the history of Meriden.

Presented by William (Bill) J. Glick

Thursday, November 9, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. at the Meriden Public Library 105 Miller Street, Meriden

William J. (Bill) Glick will present an illustrated talk about the Meriden Gravure Company and the talented people who were the driving force behind this world renowned, Meriden based, printing company. In his presentation, Bill will draw on his 30 year association with the company as well as on his extensive research when writing his recently published book IN THE SERVICE OF SCHOLARSHIP: HAROLD HUGO & THE MERIDEN GRAVURE COMPANY (Oak Knoll Press 2017).

Book signing will follow the discussion.

This program is free to both members and non-members of the Meriden Historical Society. Refreshments will be served.