October News - Happy Birthday To Us!

Welcome to the 50^th year of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society! In 1975, a group of people inspired by the coming Bicentennial formed the HVHS and the rest is, as they say, history. We have grown to a remarkable 224 members! Thank you for your support and if you haven’t renewed your membership for the coming year, you can do so here.

We had a wonderful day at our very well-attended Annual Meeting on September 28 where it was announced that the site of the meeting, the Burrowes/Oldis house at 218 Washington Crossing/Pennington Road in Hopewell Township will hopefully be our new headquarters!  We have, as the lawyers say, “an agreement in principle” with the Township and hope to get the details ironed out and ready for a Board vote in the next few months. In the meantime, having the meeting in that house, which dates in part to 1716, was very cool and we have permission to continue to use it in the meantime so stay tuned for the next opportunity to visit this important Hopewell Valley artifact.

A couple of things to announce from the meeting:

The new Board positions are:

Amie Rukenstein, President

Jim Schragger, 1^st Vice President

Bob Lawless, 2d Vice President

Dan Pace, Secretary

Sherry Cronin, Treasurer

Past President, Bob Warznak

Trustees ending 2028

·       Douglas Dixon

·       Bonita Craft Grant

·       Cynthia O'Connor

·       Catherine Granzow

Trustees ending 2027

·       Debbie Gwazda

·       Cheryl Jackson

·       Benji Orr

·       Kim Robinson

Trustees ending 2026

·       Jack Davis

·       Larry Kidder

·       James McGuire

·       Holly Weise

A number of History Awards were given – big congratulations to all of the very deserving awardees!

Bonita Craft Grant - David Blackwell Distinguished Service Award

Ellen “Liza” Smith Morehouse - Outstanding Support for Hopewell Valley History Award

Charles Schuyler “Sky” Morehouse - Outstanding Support for Hopewell Valley History Award

Cynthia M. O’Connor - Award for Service

Richard L. Porter - William L. Kidder Public History Award

Dr. Ian C. Burrow - William L. Kidder Public History Award

Noel Goeke - Award for Service

And of course, we were thrilled to host Dr. Maxine Lurie, the expert on New Jersey history who spoke about her latest book “Taking Sides in Revolutionary New Jersey” about the heart-wrenching decisions people made during the American Revolution. It was such an honor to meet Dr. Lurie – you can see her talk here.

The week before that, many of us had fun manning the HVHS table at the Hopewell Harvest Fair. It is always so nice to meet people interested in our community and its history.

Upcoming:

If you haven’t signed up yet – do not miss Larry Kidder and Roger Williams talk entitled Just After the Crossing about the march to Trenton on December 26, 1776.  The talk will be held at the 1867 Sanctuary in Ewing on October 19. More info is here.

Another interesting presentation will be held at the Hopewell Theatre on October 22 - Michael Gabriele will talk about his book, Colonial Taverns of NJ, and The Hopewell Museum's Asher Lurie will present an interactive reenactment – showcasing what was in the pockets of a colonial civilian. More info is here.

Save the Date - Doug Dixon will present a program on The Ferrante Dress Factory (that Italian Villa in the Sourlands) on November 5th at the Hopewell Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall.

Come by on Thursday and Friday afternoons at the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library to visit our archive team and view the Girls Sports in the Hopewell Valley exhibit.

Drop Us a Line - Let us know what you're connection to Hopewell history is at info@hopewellvalleyhistory.org!