Paul Szmal: And FLX Morning continues here on Finger Lakes News Radio. It is 816, we're at 28, clouds, a little bit of sun poking through in some spots. I do want to remind you again that we do have winter weather advisory in effect from 1 a.m. tomorrow morning until 7 p.m. for pretty much the entire Finger Lakes region. Let's check in with Historic Geneva's Carrie Lippincott joining us this morning. Good morning Carrie, how are you?
Kerry Lippincott: Good morning, I'm fine, how are you?
Paul Szmal: I am good as always, glad to have you on board here as we are ready for the holiday season in earnest now that we've gotten past Thanksgiving weekend. I do want to talk about the holiday market, we'll get to that in a little bit, but first there are some cool exhibits that are at the Geneva History Museum that you can check out including one that's named after a favorite song of mine, I've Been Everywhere.
Kerry Lippincott: Yeah with our exhibit titles we like to borrow from popular songs, so we've got I've Been Everywhere Traveling Genevans. So since I guess 1800s, Genevans have traveled for a variety of reasons, it might have been maybe pleasure, health, adventure, military service, or business. So in this exhibit we're sharing various travel experiences from a variety of community members and one of my favorites is a pair of sisters, Lillian and Florence Wells, they grew up in Geneva but they spent most of their lives living in Japan as missionaries and teachers. And they experienced two, I guess they got caught in the middle of two world events while living there, they experienced the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, but they were also in Japan on December 7th, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and the sisters decided to stay in Japan and as a result they were actually interned from the fall of 1942 until August of 1945. And despite this experience, they actually spent the rest of their lives in Japan. So we've got their stories and a lot of other stories again, primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries of Genevans traveling across the United States but also through Asia, Europe, and South America.
Paul Szmal: Now that is a pretty amazing story that they were caught up in those two major events. It is, and the fact that we've got letters and photographs. I was amazed when our archivist Becky Chapin kind of unearthed their story, it really is amazing.
Kerry Lippincott: Yeah.
Paul Szmal: And by the way, this Traveling Genevans exhibit will be open through mid-January, so you have plenty of time to go and check it out. And there's also Art by Genevans that is on display now at the History Museum.
Kerry Lippincott: Yeah, so we picked art as a main theme for our exhibits this year because artists have captured local scenes and people since about the 1790s. Many have been self-taught or maybe they've been academically trained. They've painted for enjoyment or for payment. So throughout this year, we've done three exhibits. So we highlighted, to highlight our artwork from our collection. So we did the works of Agnes Swan Hutchins and her daughter Margaret at Rose Hill. They primarily did watercolors, china painting, and oils. Earlier this year at the Geneva History Museum, we did scenes of Geneva by Genevans. And now we have portraits of Genevans by Genevans. So we've got a variety of sketches and paintings. We've got pencil sketches of second graders from St. Stephen's by Yolanda Schofield, who's better known for her pen and ink drawings of historic landmarks around the Finger Lake. She's done Seneca Lake, the Row Houses, Smith Opera House, the City Hall. So these are different sketches that you probably don't typically associate with her. We also have a portrait by Francis Marion Tuttle, who was a deaf artist. He was born and raised in Geneva. And he was a professional artist from about the 1860s to about 1910. And he primarily did portraits and landscapes. So again, you can see a variety of sketches and paintings going from 1800s to present day.
Paul Szmal: You got more time to see this exhibit. This just opened up. So this will be open through the middle of April of next year. I'm fascinated by the story of the one artist doing portraits of second graders who's not known for doing portraits of people.
Kerry Lippincott: Yeah. She primarily, highly collectible, primarily did, as I said, pen and ink drawings of historic landmarks throughout the Finger Lakes. But off the top of my head, I know that she's done. I love the one that she did of the Row Houses. She's done Rose Hill, the Smith Opera House. So these are all students from the 1970s when she was actually teaching art at Stephen. So we've got, I think, maybe five or six of those sketches on display. So if you're a fan of Yolanda Schofield, you have to come by the museum and take a look at those pencil sketches.
Paul Szmal: And also a part of the museum's decor are the period rooms. This is one of my favorite things to check out.
Kerry Lippincott: Yeah, I have to say this time of year, it is one of my favorites, too. We do have some period rooms on the first floor of the museum, and we have it decorated for how the Prouty family would have celebrated Christmas in the 1800s. Three generations of Prouty's lived at 543 South Main from about 1842 to 1901, and it's the second generation that we have the rooms decorated. So it's Phineas Jr. and his wife Adelaide and their children. We have the main hall and the front and back parlors. And I think it's a lot simpler than I think what people are expecting. We've got garland and mistletoe. There's holly. We have a tabletop Christmas tree in the parlor. And we primarily have this decorated because we do have first, second, and third graders coming for the next three weeks at the museum. And I think we all enjoy when we have them come and they walk up the steps and they see the period rooms decorated.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, it is a lot different. We're talking about an era before Christmas lights, artificial Christmas trees, plastic stuff. You know, yeah.
Kerry Lippincott: Yeah. But it's just as pretty. Just as pretty as all that. Just as pretty as we do it today. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's just a different time, different mentality. But it's definitely worth checking out to kind of get the perspective to see where we came from to where we are.
Paul Szmal: I agree completely. I agree. And you might get, especially with some of the handmade ornaments and things, you might get inspired maybe to go home and make some of your own ornaments.
Kerry Lippincott: Yeah. Or you could buy a handmade ornament at the Geneva Holiday Market.
Paul Szmal: Yes, you could. Yes. Perfect segue. Yes. We're finally, the Holiday Market opens up this Thursday at the Geneva History Museum. Will be open on December 4th through the 6th, the 11th through the 13th, and then the 18th through the 19th. So it's Thursdays and Fridays from 10 to 6, and then Saturdays 10 to 4. Everything is in the Hucker Gallery, so you can shop while supporting historic Geneva. As usual, we have a variety of booths. We have Attic Treasures, which are basically antiques, collectibles, and some quality gift items. We have the Christmas Shop, which has generally used Christmas ornaments and decorations. Of course, our food with jams, jellies, and pickles. Handcrafted gifts included crocheted, knitted, and embroidered items. We are doing baked goods and wreaths this Saturday, December 6th. And of course, we also have our raffle is still going on. So prizes are a gift basket of various Finger Lakes items, a two-night stay at the Rose Hill Cottage at Rose Hill Mansion, and of course, a Finger Lakes wine basket. So tickets are $1 each, or you can get 12 for $10. And tickets are at Historic Geneva. You can call us, or you can purchase them right at the market. And we'll be doing the drawing on Friday, December 19th.
Kerry Lippincott: Admission to the museum and the holiday market is free. And you're going to want to come often, because we often replenish a lot of the booths. How are you doing on volunteers, by the way, for the holiday market? Are you good, or do you still need a little help?
Paul Szmal: We're doing pretty good. We can always use more help, especially the second and third week. So if anybody is interested in doing a shift at the market, you can call us at 315-789-5151, or email me at director at historicgeneva.org. As I said, we're doing OK, but we can always use an extra set of hands. So if anybody is interested, please reach out to me.
Kerry Lippincott: Yeah, you hear a lot about one-of-a-kind gift items. This is a place where you're really going to find the one-of-a-kind, because a lot of these items are handcrafted by local folks.
Paul Szmal: Oh, my goodness, yes, definitely with the handcrafted gifts, and then, of course, with our food booth. We consider our attic treasures in our Christmas shop. They're sort of, we're recycling some various things, where you're going to find some unique items. The Carriage House gift shop will also have a booth there. So there's various books about the region, ornaments. So you're definitely going to find some unique items at our holiday market. And again, for people that may not be familiar or from out of town, want to take a road trip to come in, where can they find the Geneva History Museum?
Kerry Lippincott: They can find the History Museum at 543 South Main Street. They can park right on South Main. The museum itself, we do have new hours for the winter. So we're open Tuesday through Friday, 10 to 4, and then on Saturdays, 12 to 4. And then, of course, we've got the holiday market through the 19th on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
Paul Szmal: All right, thanks so much, Carrie. And have a happy Christmas and holiday season. And we'll talk to you in January.
Kerry Lippincott: Great, happy holidays to you, too. Thank you.
Paul Szmal: It is coming up on 826 here on FLX Morning.
