Johnston Historical Society takes stock of the year

By Pete Fontaine
Posted 1/12/17

By PETE FONTAINE On May 7 of last year, Anthony Ursillo made a statement that Bel [McGowan] should win an award for this unique production." Ursillo was speaking about the Queen Mary Dinner Cruise the Johnston Historical Society (JHS) held inside its"

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Johnston Historical Society takes stock of the year

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On May 7 of last year, Anthony Ursillo made a statement that “Bel [McGowan] should win an award for this unique production.”

Ursillo was speaking about the Queen Mary Dinner Cruise the Johnston Historical Society (JHS) held inside its Museum Barn that’s located next to the Elijah Angell House at 101 Putnam Pike.

“In my opinion I’d have to say that was our best story of 2016,” Ursillo, an active JHS member who serves on the non-profit’s Board of Directors, said. “The entire event was lots of fun. We had people dressed in iconic roles such as Sir Winston Churchill and the Queen of England.”

Ursillo, who came dressed in a black tuxedo and portrayed dancing dynamo Fred Astaire, said, “I don’t think we’ve ever had such a super special successful event. Bel even arranged for a photographer as we boarded the ship and a violinist for dancing. What a fabulous event: the appetizers, dinner…absolutely awesome!”

So, what will the JHS do for an encore in 2017?

“We’re planning more special events,” Ursillo said while hinting at what might be ahead. “The [Eastern Railroad] Museum is an interesting place,” he said. “It’s located in Willimantic and there’s always something interesting going on there, including train rides. It’s actually an amazing place, very historical.”

Ursillo said the JHS would continue its tradition of having special speakers at each of the group’s monthly meetings that are also held inside the award-winning Museum Barn. And invited “people to our first [general] meeting that’s set for Wednesday evening, Jan. 25.” The meeting is at 7 p.m.

The Johnston Historical Society’s monthly meetings are open to the public and free. President Louis McGowan will give a presentation on recent acquisitions.

The Feb. 22 general meeting will feature Roberta Mudge Humble, a Westerly native who lives in Warwick and is a professor at the Community College of Rhode Island. She’ll speak about the 18 historic armories based in Rhode Island. She serves as the director of the Westerly Armory that dates back to 1901 but has routes to the 1890s when a wooden structure was built where the current red-brick building is now located.

The March 29 general meeting will feature speaker Helen Hersh Tjader of the Neutaconkanut Conservancy who’ll give a talk entitled “Neutaconkanut Hill: Gateway to Sowams.

“It can be argued that, as a pivotal place of cultural exchange between indigenous people and colonizing settlers in North America, Neutaconkanut Hill is the gateway to the Sowams,” said Christopher Martin, the JHS’s corresponding secretary.

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