Subj: Berne Heritage Days Date: 8/14/2002 8:14:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: halned@prodigy.net.mx To: erniemiles@aol.com Sent from the Internet (Details) Many Tioga County researchers are perhaps unaware of the large number of early settlers who were from Berne, Albany County, NY and adjoining Schoharie County. Tioga County families who had their origins in Berne and Schoharie include: Hollenbeck, Pitcher, Schoolcraft, Zimmer, and Shoultes. The ancestors of these Tioga County families can be found on the Berne Historical Project site at www.Bernehistory.org The Berne Historical Project, in cooperation with the Historian, Town of Berne, and the Berne Historical Society, as well as many other local organizations, is planning Berne Heritage Days, a three-day event to bring together both local residents and descendants of Berne families from all over the United States who are interested in Berne history and genealogy of their Berne ancestors. Out-of-town visitors will be able to visit the actual site of their ancestors' farms, homes, churches and cemeteries. They will also be able to meet distant cousins and fellow researchers. Heritage Days will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day 2002 weekend. Our headquarters will be the Senior Citizen's Hall, 1360 Helderberg Trail, State Rt. 443, half way between Berne and East Berne. FRIDAY, AUGUST 30 Friday is Education Day. Registration will begin at 8:30 am at the Heritage Days Center (Senior Citizens Center), which is 1360 Helderberg Trail, State Rt. 443, half way between Berne and East Berne. There will be volunteers at the Center to print out ancestor charts and descendant charts for Berne area families for anyone who asks. Also at the Center will be exhibits of family Bibles, scrapbooks, photograph albums, portraits, photos of early Berne buildings, and old maps of Berne and Schoharie. Bring yours to show and tell. Charles Bassler will display his collection of arrowheads, which he has spent a lifetime collecting locally. Books will be available for purchase on Berne and Schoharie history, and transcriptions of Albany and Schoharie County church baptism and marriage records. Orders will be taken for matted reproductions of Beer's 1866 map of Berne, Westerlo, Knox, and elsewhere in Albany and surrounding Counties. Souvenirs will be sold, including quality reproductions of the tin horns used by the "Calico Indians" during the Anti-Rent War. Food, prepared by Bernadette's Catholic Church, will be available throughout the day. The Berne Historical Project is having a raffle to raise funds to help defray the costs of Berne Heritage Days. The donated items to be raffled off will be on display, and raffle tickets will be available. At 3 pm William V. H. Barker, author of "Early Families of Schoharie," will speak on genealogical research. At 4 pm Terry Shoultes, author of "Descendants of (unknown) Shultes," who has been researching his early Berne ancestors for 23 years, will speak on early Berne settlers. Research sessions are scheduled for the Old Stone Fort in Schoharie, the New York State Archives in Albany, and the Latter Day Saints' Family History Center in Central Bridge. Old Stone Fort, Schoharie 10 am - Noon 1:30 pm - 4:30 NYS Archives, Albany 9:30 - Noon 1:30 - 5 pm The Latter Day Saints' Family History, Central Bridge, Schoharie County, 1:30 - 4 pm The Berne Town Office 10 am - Noon and 1 - 3 pm, in addition to the usual hours from 9 am - Noon on Saturday. Most vital records by law are not available for inspection; however she has one book of birth deaths and marriages from 1872 - 1913, which will be available for public inspection. Other records, which are available anytime the office is open, are Indexes of Grantors and Grantees of Albany County dated 1630 - 1894. These records are located in the Town Court Room. Friday evening will be the Heritage Days Banquet at the Senior Center, preceded by a get-acquainted social hour beginning at 6 pm. At 7 pm the Berne Reformed Church will serve a ham supper. After the banquet there will be introductions of honored guests and visitors, followed by the speaker for the evening, William Barker, author of Early Families of Schoharie. The cost will be $10. Reservations are required and can be made on line at www.Bernehistory.org, via e-mail to halned@spersaoaxaca.com.mx, or by phone 518-872-0212. SATURDAY, AUGUST 30 The Berne Library and Town Office will be open for research Saturday 9 am - Noon, and the Museum from 10 am - 3 pm. At 10 am the library will have crafts for children, and a re-telling of the Henry Christman's tale of the Anti-Rent Wars, "Tin Horns and Calico." From 1 - 3 pm there will be an Ice Cream Social at the Library. At the Heritage Days Center there will be a repeat of Saturdays offerings, without the speakers and banquet. The Berne Historical Society is organizing Driving Tours of historic sites in the Town, and the Ladies Auxiliary is organizing Town-wide Garage Sales. Maps for both will be available at the Berne Town Park, Thompsons Lake Reformed Church, and the Heritage Days Center. A number of organizations will be selling food at various locations along the routes. The Berne Town Park will be the focus of many Heritage Days events on Saturday afternoon. The Ladies Auxiliary will be selling food. There will be demonstrations of spinning and weaving. A blacksmith, tinsmith, and Shaker cabinetmaker will demonstrate their crafts and sell their wares. At 4 pm there will be old-fashioned games for kids such as tug-of-war, sack races, and three legged races. At the same time the Hilltown Players will be presenting a program on the Anti-Rent War. Starting at 5 pm will be a chicken barbeque. Following the 6 pm raffle will be the music of the Hilltown Players, and performances by the local Christian Dance Group. The charge will be $10 for the evening. Reservations are strongly encouraged, and can be made as noted above for the Friday banquet. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 Following local church services there will be a community effort to restore the Pine Grove Cemetery. Brush will be cleared, fallen stones reset, and sunken graves filled. At the conclusion a New York State Historical Marker will be erected to recognize the 1790 organization of the first Lutheran church in Berne. The cemetery is located half way between Berne and East Berne. Parking is next door at 1173 Helderberg Trail. This will be followed at 2 pm by a community coved-dish picnic at the nearby farm pond of Ralph Miller, Town of Berne, Historian, at 1136 Helderberg Trail. Harold Miller Berne Historical Project www.Bernehistory.org