Museums help put focus on ‘communities and culture’ for Leadership Orleans

Photos by Marsha Rivers: Terry C. Abrams, curator and collections manager for the Niagara County History Museum, spoke last Thursday in the one-room schoolhouse that is part of the Cobblestone Museum.

By Tom Rivers and Ginny Kropf

GAINES – Leadership Orleans spent Thursday touring local museums and cultural sites as part of a day-long focus on “Communities & Culture.”

The class with 28 students opened the day with breakfast at the Tavern on the Ridge, the former Tillman’s Village Inn before heading to the Cobblestone Museum.

Terry C. Abrams, a resident of the Tonawanda Indian Reservation, is also the co-chair of the Conference on Iroquois Research. His primary areas of interest include Native American history and historic photography.

He is speaking inside the District No. 5 school which was built in 1849. The school served District No. 5 for 103 years before it was closed in 1952 after the centralization of Albion’s school district.

In 1961, it was sold to the Cobblestone Society Museum for $129. Volunteers re-shingled the roof, repainted the exterior woodwork, built additional desks to duplicate original pieces within the building, and worked to furnish the schoolhouse with period items. In 2004, the belfry was restored to its pre-1930s design.

Bill Lattin, retired county historian and museum director, speaks inside the cobblestone church that was built in 1834, the oldest cobblestone church in North America.

The Cobblestone Society formed in 1960 to preserve the Cobblestone Universalist Church and District No. 5 Schoolhouse in Childs.

The Cobblestone Society and Museum has acquired other historic buildings near the intersection of routes 98 and 104 and is working to develop a visitors’ center.  The museum in 1993 was declared a National Historic Landmark, the first site in Orleans County with that distinction.

After the tour and discussion at the Cobblestone Museum, Leadership Orleans traveled to Medina for lunch at Harvest Restaurant in the restored Bent’s Opera House. The class heard presentation from Cindy Robinson, president of the Medina Area Partnership; and Gregory Hallock, executive director of GO Art!

The class then toured the Medina Historical Society and Medina Railroad Museum, both on West Avenue. The Medina Historical Society tour was led by Georgia Thomas, a board member, and Catherine Cooper, the county historian. Jeff Lewis, director of the Railroad Museum, welcomed the class to that site.

Leadership Orleans has graduated 149 people since the first class in 2018. The program aims to build the “citizen capital” of the community, helping develop leaders who are educated on the many facets of the community, from agriculture, non-profit organizations, government services, small and larger businesses, tourism, arts and culture, community health and economic development.

The class meets monthly, building leadership skills and gaining knowledge, experiences and meeting people from many different sectors in the community.

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Leadership Orleans visited the Medina Railroad Museum and listened to the museum’s plans from director Jeff Lewis.

Leadership Orleans visited the Medina Railroad Museum and toured the facility and learned about plans for the future.

“It was great to meet the new director and have a tour,” said Skip Helfrich, Leadership Orleans director. “In the seven years we done the Leadership program we’ve been there four times. I was impressed with the new covered area on the deck and their plans for the future. It was also clear from our visit that things in the museum had been improved upon and were more orderly than in the past.”

Museum director Jeff Lewis was also thrilled to participate with Leadership Orleans.

“I’m glad they accepted our invitation,” Lewis said. “Being able to explain the museum and having them see what we are all about is wonderful. The museum is a part of the non-profit community services here in Medina and all of Orleans County. It is a grand idea to have that leadership sharing plans, ideas and practices. We are community members, not islands unto our own. It is easy to get caught up in the businesses we are involved in and forget our duties to community. I personally hope this group will honor us as hosts every year in the future.

“As the museum spokesperson, I really appreciate being asked and like to see our space used, if possible, to host these functions,” Lewis added. “I hope we can build on this and further market our pavilion for groups as a meeting room.”