Page 6 - Town of Newcomb Newsletter - September 2020

Newcomb Historical Museum

7/22/20

As many of you know, several museums and other institutions have
chosen to close for the 2020 exhibit season. The Newcomb Historical Museum
has made the decision to do the same after consideration of Covid-19 guide-
lines, after following events and reports of the surrounding areas since March,
and after consultation with public health professionals. As many of you can
appreciate, the main reason for our decision is based on the small exhibit
rooms in our current facility that make social distancing difficult, if not impos-
sible. On behalf of the continued good health of Newcomb residents, our re-
turning visitors, and our staff members, we will practice caution and remain
closed.
Although public health has been our primary concern, there are addi-
tional factors we had to consider. It takes months of team preparation to put
an exhibit together, and since mid-March Laurinda and Suzanne have been
limited to work that could be accomplished only at home. In addition several
of our commercial suppliers and fabricators were identified as “non-essential”
and were totally closed for several months, therefore not able to take or de-
liver any orders. In terms of exhibits, we now look forward to 2021. We have
what we believe are interesting ideas for an exhibit entitled “From the May-
flower to the Mountains,” and we plan to prepare that for its 401st anniver-
sary celebration.
Even without an exhibit this year, our work at the McCoy House con-
tinues. Some of our collections need extensive reading, inspecting, accession-
ing, and preserving so that the artifacts will safely survive, and so visitors will
soon have access to these diverse materials we have been gifted or have ac-
quired. Our offices provide adequate separation for the three of us to practice
social distancing, Erika DeMars, senior at SUNY Plattsburgh, is working in a
temporary office during the summer months, and other downstairs spaces
have been converted into workrooms for Technical Drawings, Adirondack
Maps, tools and books from Tahawus Club, invoices from the 1941-42 con-
struction of County Rd. #25…. We also have a new volunteer, Patricia Sullivan.
Give us a call (582-2274) if you would like to see our work in progress.

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