First Annual Orange County Silent Film Festival Details

The Warwick Historical Society and the Neversink Valley Museum of History and Innovation Present

1st Annual Orange County Silent Film Festival

This program was curated by Seth Goldman, Executive Director of the Neversink Valley Museum of History and Innovation and Director of the Neversink Valley Institute of Early Film Studies (located at 26 Hoag Road, Cuddebackville, NY 12729) and Gretchen Weerheim, Education Director of the Neversink Valley Museum of History and Innovation and Associate Director of the Neversink Valley Institute of Early Film Studies.

An introduction by Seth Goldman includes film shorts done in Cuddebackville by D.W. Griffith.


The festival also calls attention to Warwick’s own cinema palace, the Oakland Theatre, which served the community as a location for vaudeville, opera, music, and film from the silent era until the 1970s when the structure was demolished.

“For many, the Oakland Theatre was the site of both their first movie and their first date; I, for one, savior memories of B horror movies starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee I saw during the last years of the Theatre’s existence. Recently, I acquired a World War I era poster advertizing a concert for the “Permanent Blind Relief War Fund For Soldiers and Sailors at the Oakland Theatre”, which exemplifies the integral civic role these early opera houses and cinema palaces played in communities like Warwick and others in addition to providing a public space for “movie going”, a seemingly rarer occasion these days.

We want to contribute to bringing a little bit more of that back from the past at the A.W. Buckbee Center,” said Dr. Robert Schmick, Executive Director of the Historical Society.

All films subject to change

Admission, Per Session: Adults:$10, Under 12:$5

Sunday, July 29, Session 1: 1-3PM

Seth Goldman presents selections of local films by D.W.Griffith shot in Cuddebackville, NY.

Including:

Comata the Sioux
In Old Kentucky
Modern Prodigal
The Gold Necklace

Session 2:Sunday, July 29,  4-6PM

Horror Selections:

The Haunted Castle (1896)
Frankenstein (1910)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (1912)
The  Midnight Child (1925)

 

Session 3: July 30, Sunday, 12-2PM 
 
The Enchanted Drawing (1900)

Delivering Newspapers (1903)

Fantasmagorie (1908)

Little Nemo (1911)

Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

A Boy and His Elephant (1913)

Our Gang Short (1920s)
Felix the Cat (1920s)

Session 4, July 30, Monday, 7-9PM

A Trip to the Moon (1902)
The Bat (1926) 

Piano music accompaniment by Kathy Zintel

Admission, Per Session: $10 Adults, under 12, $5

Where: A.W. Buckbee Center, 2 Colonial Ave., Warwick, NY

Films:

Le Manior du Diable ( The Haunted Castle)
Released: December 24, 1896, Paris, France
Directed and Written: Georges Melies
Studio: Star-Film Run
Time: 3:00
Featuring: Georges Melies, Jeanne d’Alcy

Plot Summary: A large bat flies into a medieval castle, circling and flapping its wings before suddenly changing into Mephistopheles(Georges Melies). He prepares a bubbling cauldron that produces symbols of evil: skeletons, witches, ghosts before one of the summoned underworld cavaliers holds up a crucifix, sending Mephistopheles back to Hell in a puff of smoke. This early film uses traditional pantomime elements seen in stage productions, common for the time. The action takes place on a basic set with camera tricks to give the illusions of appearance and disappearance. This film initially was meant to amuse, not frighten, but is considered by Many scholars to be the first horror film.


Frankenstein
Released : March 18, 1910
Directed and Written: J. Searle Dawley
Studio: Edison Manufacturing Company, Bronx, NY
Run Time: 16 minutes
Featuring: Charles Stanton Ogle (The monster), Augustus Phillips (Frankenstein), Mary Fuller (Dr. Frankenstein’s Bride).

Plot Summary: Frankenstein, a young student, bids farewell to his father and fiancée as he leaves to enter college to study the sciences. He becomes Absorbed in the mysteries of life and death and resolves to create a human being. His grand experiment results in the creation of a hideous monster. which frightens Frankenstein. The experiment takes a great toll on Frankenstein’s health and he returns home. The monster follows him home and reveals his presence, insanely jealous of anyone else who may be in Frankenstein’s life. Terrorized, a scuffle ensues wherein Frankenstein casts the monster to the floor, who sees his reflection for the first time in a mirror. The monster is appalled by his reflected image and leaves, only to eventually return on Frankenstein’s wedding day. Still, the monster believes his only place is beside his creator and goes into the bride’s room to find the cause of his jealousy. She rushes out and faints at Frankenstein’s feet. Eventually, Frankenstein’s own power of good over evil rids the home of his horrific creation and Frankenstein and his bride embrace.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Released: January 16, 1912
Director: Lucius Henderson
Writer: Robert Lewis Stevenson (book); Thomas Russell Sullivan (screenplay)
Studio: Thanhauser Company, New Rochelle, NY
Run Time: 11:31
Featuring: James Cruze ( Jekyll and Hyde), Harry Benham (Hyde, some scenes), Florence La Badie (Jekyll’s sweetheart), Marie Eline (Little Girl knocked down by Hyde), Jane Gall (extra), Marguerite Snow (extra).

Plot Summary: Dr. Jekyll has secretly locked himself in his laboratory, taking a drug of his own creation. One it takes effect, he slumps in his chair, only to awaken as his evil alter ego. Mr. Hyde. A hideous beast, after using the drug repeatedly, Dr. Jekyll can no longer control Mr. Hyde’s emergence, who goes on to commit evil. Mr. Hyde discovers that the antidote is finished, and he will remain his evil personality forever. A policeman breaks down Dr. Jekyll’s door to find the doctor dead after taking poison.

The Midnight Girl

Released: February 15, 1925

Directed: Wilfred Noy
Written: Jean Conover, Wilfred Noy, with the story by Garrett Fort Studio: Chadwick Pictures Corporation
Run Time: 61 minutes

Featuring: Bela Lugosi (Nicholas Harmon), Lila Lee (Anna Meridoff), Gareth Hughes (Don Harmon), Ruby Blaine (Natalie Schuyler), Dolores Cassanelli (Mimi Divito), John D. Walsh (Victor Delski), William Harvey (Nifty Louis), Sidney Paxton (Joe the Cafe Owner), Signor N. Salerno (Opera Manager), Flora Finch (Landlady)

Plot Summary: A melodrama thriller wherein a wealthy patron of music, Nicholas Harmon possesses a weakness for his mistress Nina, whose operatic voice is in decline. He searches for a new talent to perhaps take her place. Meanwhile, Nicholas' son Don, an orchestra conductor and unhappily engaged to a society girl, has a falling out with his wealthy father and leaves to prove himself. Stumbling upon an elderly music teacher and student who find themselves in a distressing situation, Don rescues the pair and invites them to meet his father, Nicholas, who instantly becomes attracted to the younger girl. Don also hires Anna in his night club, and she becomes the Midnight Girl. Much melodrama ensues.

This melodrama thriller might be pretty predictable, but it shows Bela Lugosi in a real role before he became forever stereotyped as Dracula. Lili Lee actually had top billing for this film, as she was one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the 1920s.

Children’s Films:


The Enchanted Drawing
Released; November 16, 1900
Studio: Vitagraph Studios/ Edison Studios
Run Time: 2 minutes
Featuring: J. Stuart Blackton


Plot Summary: This short features a combination of animation and live action showing a man drawing a cartoon face on an easel. First he draws a hat on the head, then a bottle, then more. The cartoon man seems to have a life of his own and reacts to whatever the artist draws and does.


Our Gang Short
Released: 1920s
Run Time: Various, 10-15 minutes


Short to be named. These are the classic shorts that eventually became known as the Little Rascals when sound took over in the 1930s. They are timeless and need little explanation!


Felix the Cat
Released: 1920s
Run Time: Various, 5-7 minutes


Delivering Newspapers
Released: 1903
Created: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
Run Time: 56 seconds (will show twice)


Very short film showing newspaper boys gathering up their copies of New York World to sell and fight breaks out at the end. Take place in New York City , most likely Union Square. An early glimpse of what children used to do.


Fantasmagorie
Released: August 17, 1908
Created: Emile Cohl
Studio: Societe des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Run time: 1 minute, 20 seconds


Meant to recreate a chalk figure on a blackboard, this animation shows a variety of objects morphing from one object to another. The main characters are a clown and a man and are drawn by a man’s hand on camera. The title is a reference to the fantasmograph, a mid 19th-century variant of the magic lantern that projected images on walls for audiences to enjoy.


Little Nemo
Released: April 8, 1911
Created: Windsor McCay and James S. Blackton
Run Time: 10:34
Featuring: Windsor McCay


Windsor McKay tells his friends that he will create an animated film using 4000 pages of drawings. The film shows how he goes about the process, albeit comically. The last two minutes of the film are the Little Nemo animation. It is remarkable for its beauty as well as each of the 4000 cells are hand-painted.


Gertie the Dinosaur
Released: September 14, 1914
Created: Windsor McKay
Run Time: 12:00
Featuring: Windsor McKay, George McManus, Roy McCardell, Max Fleischer Windsor McKay interacts with Gertie, a brontosaurus, who does tricks on command. When she misbehaves, McKay scolds her and she cries. McKay and Gertie ride off together at the end of the cartoon. This is the first cartoon to feature a character with a personality and was the first to use key frame animation, or drawing that defines the starting and ending points of transition. McKay also drew each frame himself, on individual 6.5” x 8.5” sheets of rice paper, and hired John A. Fitzsimmons to draw the backgrounds.


A Boy and His Elephant
Released: 1913
Directed: Louise Feuillade
Run Time: 9:17


A little boy steals a little elephant from a band of gypsies and together they have a series of misadventures. Charming French film that anyone could enjoy and is reminiscent of Our Gang features.


Sci-Fi/Mystery


A Trip to the Moon (La Voyage dans la lune)
Released: September 1, 1902, France
Directed and Written: Georges Melies
Studio: Gaston Melies Films
Run Time: 11:18
Featuring: Georges Melies, Jeanne d’Alcy


Color Version: Six astronomers agree to build a space capsule in the shape of a bullet, put it in a cannon and shoot it to the moon. Landing safely, the astronomers have all sorts of adventures but make it home to tell the tale at a great celebration. The color version was thought to be lost but one was discovered in 1993 in a near decomposed state. A hand frame-by-frame restoration was launched in 1999 and completed in 2010.


The Bat
Released: March 14, 1926
Produced, Directed and Written by: Roland West
Run Time: 85:36
Studio: United Artists
Featuring: George Beranger (Gideon Bell), Charles Hartzinger (Cortleigh Fleming), Emilyu Fitzroy (Cornelia Van Gorder), Louise Fazenda (Lizzie Allen), Arthur Housman (Richard Flemming), Robert McKim (Dr. Wells), Jack Pickford (Brooks Bailey), Jewel Carmen (Dale Ogden), Kamiyama Sôjin (Billy the Butler), Tullio Carminati (Detective Moletti), Eddie Gribbon (Detective Anderson), Lee Shumway (The Unknown)


A silent film based upon the Broadway Play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood. The Bat, a masked criminal, terrorizes a mansion filled with the guests of a mystery writer. This mansion has hidden within it $20,000 of stolen money. The guests, along with a detective, search for the clues to the identity of The Bat. Interestingly, this film was remade twice: Roland West remade the film with sound in 1930 and released it as The Bat Whispers with Chester Morris and Una Merkilin 1958 with Vincent Price and this is also the film where Bob Kane got the inspiration for the comic superhero “Batman”; there is a bat-signal used in the film to frighten the guests before the attacks. Jack Pickford is also a star in this film and if his last name sounds familiar, you might think of his older sister Mary, perhaps one of the most famous film stars of all time

Summer History Camp for Kids, 8-11, Poster

Scroll down to find more complete information about the 2012 Summer History Camp, including sidebar information.

First Annual Orange County Silent Film Festival Poster

In Preparation for George Washington Day Picnic, July 28, 6-8, Copy of George Washington Expense Account, July, 1782

The following two copies of account entries date from July, 1782 and correspond with George Washington's own visit on July 27, 1782 to Francis Baird's Tavern which is preserved to this day by the Warwick Historical Society. Although there is a presentation of an 18th century period tavern room in the current building the original tavern which George Washington visited was housed in a wooden section of the quarried and dressed stone Dutch Colonial style building that dates from 1766. recently a circa 1760-1790 Mallet wine bottle fragment was found on the footprint of the former tavern section site, and it could date from that very summer of 1782. From George Washington's Expense Account, By General George Washington & Marvin Kitman, Pfc. (Ret.), Simon and Schuster, New York: "[page] 46...July...Col. Trumbull acc. of exp. 7.14.9...Maj. Walkers Dor 29.6.9...Dole [Total] 160,056...Lawful [Total] 608,514.10..."

In Preparation for George Washington Picnic Day, A Copy of Accts. 1782

"Col. Trumbull's acct. of expenses July 1782...[Breakfast] at Warwick 0.9--- Endorsed by George Washington... Major--Walkers---acct. of exps---July 1782 * Bairds 2.19.6...Endorsed by George Washington"

Blacksmithing Classes at the Hasbrouck Carriage House Behind Baird's Tavern on August 11 &12, 2012, additional classes available on August 13 & 14 for an additional $50 each day.

$325, includes use of tools and metal materials 

This class will be taught by our returning Maine Blacksmith Adriaan Gerber who will be sharing his trade with Summer History Campers during the preceeding week. As a follow-up to our recent beginning blacksmithing class we are offering this weekend, 16 hour class, 8-hours each day, in the making of edge tools.

Adriaan makes high quality knives, swords, halberds and other edge tools in his Maine smithy and sells them around the world. Now he will be sharing his know-how with you in this class that will result in the completion of a tomahawk ( you can even make a handle for it if you would like to devote the time to it at a shaving horse), a knife, and another project depending on time. A draw knife or slick are two possibilities. 

The course can continue on into the next week for those who are free to do so, and there will be an additional fee of $50 for each day beyond the 2-day course.

The class will involve safety, fire building (we use vintage coal burning forges), heating metal, shaping, cutting, and forge welding. We prefer that students have some blacksmithing experience although it is not mandatory. The class is limited to six so there will be personal attention given by Adriaan and his assistant Robert Schmick to each of the students. 

 Call: 845-781-3729 or 845-986-3236 or email: rpschmick1@aol.com for information and registration. Please act now if you are serious as the class is limited to six.

George Washington Day Picnic, July 28, 4-8PM Living History, Potluck 6-8PM, free to the Public, Bring your Favorite Food Dish to Share!

Amity Giant Crystals (1874)

A recently shared letter from 1874 regarding local crystal deposits and evidencing the long tradition of collecting these mineral anomalies right here from our backyards in Warwick and other local destinations. Recently, Glenn Rhein shared his collection and his knowledge of these local treasures at the A.W. Buckbee Center, and through a generous donation kids particpating in this year's Historical Society Summer History Camp will participate in a faux "dig" uncovering some samples of these crystals that floresce under a special black light for their very own.

Transcribed by Robert Schmick

Penn Yann, New York, July 13, 1874

Mr. Victor U. Drake, Esq.

Dear Sir:

      Since reaching home I have learned a great deal about the geology of Orange Co. and its neighbors. I find that I have but just merely touched upon a few localities of geological and mineralogical interest. If I had thought of making the trip we did or if I had anticipated geologizing at all, I would have read up most thoroughly.
       I am now convinced that I could spend a month or more in Orange Co. alone with profit, and two months in northern New Jersey. But as it is I must content myself for the present to remain at home. As I have been elected to the professorship of the Natural Sciences in the Penn Yann Academy and will have to attend to business.
      I have been corresponding lately with Mr. E. Vansycle [sic] Jr. of Bound Brook, NJ and a few days received a nice box of minerals from him.  I shall make of one in return. He sent some which I already possessed, as he had passed over the same part of Sussex we did. He was an assistant in the State Geological Survey of N.J.
      I would give considerable just now if I had went to Newton [NJ] with you, and seen your collection then. As it must be very fine for I find Newton laid down as the habitat of great many rare minerals. Among which limestone at Newton both crystallized and massive colour red, brown, yellow, and sometimes nearly black.
     This also occurs in Orange Co. a mile south of Edenville, 2 miles east of Warwick and 1 mile east of Amity. Manganise Skar [sic?] is found there. Also at Franklin colour pale rose-red, white streak, occurs in prisms. Corundum [sic]and its varieties and Chrondite. For specimens of these I will give value received.

      If I can possibly procure them. Below I have made out a small list of minerals, with some of their characteristics, and localities given, (all of which are found in Orange Co. as you will observe) which I would like to procure specimens of. And several of a kind when possible. And will you give “Value received” for them in whatever you choose if you can furnish all or a part.
     Before naming the species I will make a proposition  viz. I will get you up a splendid collection of insects nicely preserved, correctly named with both the scientific and common name and neatly mounted in glass cases resembling books. Similar to those in the cabinet at Albany putting up 5 species of insects for every one of every district of species of mineral sent to duplicates to be among the insects.
     Or I will send you a perfect collection of plants on the same basis. The plants to be neatly mounted upon 11 ½ x 14” heavy toned paper with ornamental label attached giving both the common and propor name and place of growth take your choice between having American or foreign species. We have them from all parts of the known world.
     Or if you like---choose a mixture of insects and plants. Or I will pay money down. If you know anything about me you know that I will do the “square thing” by you. I append the list sphere. Best locality ---Duck Cedar pond in the Town of Monroe where it occurs in great abundance and in crystals of large size in the primitive limestone. This mineral also occurs near the outlet of the two ponds, in the same town where it is associated with pyroxene, scapolite and zircon in the white limestone.
     The crystals have a dark chocolate  brown colour, and are often of considerable size sometimes 2 inches in diameter, occasionally their surface is pitted or striated. It is also found 5 miles south of the Village of Warwick. Ilmite [?], color brownish or iron black. It occurs both massive and crystallized. It slightly affects the magnet. Localities---1 mile South of Amity where it occurs in crystals sometimes 1 inch in diameter imbedded in a dark brown serpentine. A crystal was found near Edenville two inches in length Rutile[?] ( Describes where it occurs in Sussex Co.) locality 1 mile North of Edenville. Two miles East of Warwick and 1 mile East of Amity.

Scorodite. Color generally green crystallized, locally. The farm of Mr. B. Hopkins near Edenville is the only place in the united States where the mineral is found. The farm is one of the most interesting mineral localities in Orange Co.

White Iron Pyrites. The crystallized variety occurs 2 ½ miles South East of Warwick. Crystals sometimes 1 inch length in Zirconite. Colors grey, red, white, green, and brown. Crystallized. It is of frequent occurrence in the Towns of Cornwall, Monroe, and Warwick. Near the outlet of the two ponds crystals sometimes more than 1 inch in length are found. On Deer-hill in the Town of Cornwall quite plentifully. 1 mile South East of Cantebury there is abundance, which is associated with magnetic iron ore, or white quartz, here the crystals are of a deep greenish red. It is found also at the southern base of Mt. Eve.

Mica of various colors, green on the banks of a stream running from Mt. Bashar [?] near Forshees iron mine in the twon of Monroe, Greenish black near Greenwood furnace. Silvery variety near Amity.

Bucholzite [?].Color grayish white, with a slight tinge of yellow structure, fibrous, very hard. It occurs with quartz, and Mica near Queensburg forge in Monroe. Also several other localities in the same town.

Tourmaline[sic]. Various colors of this mineral occur in many parts of the Town of Warwick. See page 5.

Crystallized. Crystals various in shape. Localities 1 ½ miles North of Edenville. It is grey, also green. 1 mile North of Edenville it is black. At Rocky hill, black and in quartz. Crystals 1 inch or more in length have here been found. It is found also near the Village of Amity in a vein of white limestone.

Epilote. Color---green. Sometimes black rarely brown or reddish. Also grey. At Bay Meadows in the Town of Cornwall. There is a locality of massive and somewhat fibrous Epidote if a some greenish yellow 2 miles south east of Amity. 6 miles West of warwick crystals and found in quartz. Of a pale yellowish green color.

Feldspar. Beautiful white at Bay Meadow Pond. At McGee’s hill it is red (Warwick).

Scapolite. Color. White. In reddish white—At the two ponds (Monroe) there is a remarkable locality often crystallized form of the very large, one has been found 10 inches in lengths and 5 in diameter. It is found also at Greenwood furnace.

Garnet. O’Niell's mine town of Monroe. Near Amity. Also 1 ½ miles south west of Amity. It is found of a carmine colorand occasionally crystallize spinelle. This is found more abundantly in Orange Co. than in any other part of the world. In the Town of Monroe, in the Forest of Dean, at the Natural Bridge. Greenwood furnace at the so called “Silver mine” the black and green varieties are found. 1 mile south west of Amity it occurs frequently and is remarkable for the size and variety of its crystals.

They are associated with serpentine Chrondite + Chrichton [sic?] it’s 1 mile North of Amity on the farm of W. Raynor, black spinelle is found in twin Corundum and all its varieties (Crystals have been found at Amity).

Hornblende crystallized. Green of Florida of black and green colors near the two finds in white limestone. At the Stirling mines crystallized H of a black green color is found associated with Almenite and Feldspar. About 1 mile south west of Queensbury forge there is a massive and cleavable variety of black color. And high luster. The variety asbestos is found at greenwood furnace also at the Stirling Forshee and O’Niell iron mines, and many other places in the county.

Pytoxine. In the town of Monroe there is several localities of this mineral and its varieties. One of the most noted is the two ponds where it is associated with scapolite in large crystals, zircon, and sphine in the white limestone. The color is green yop grayish grteen and brown. Both massive and crystals. It is found also ½ mile East of Greenwood furnace and 1 mile North west of Edenville , and may with place Talc. Near Amity with Clintonite.

Boltonite. In white limestone 2 ½ miles South east of the Monroe works. At the two ponds. In the Forrest of dean. Always associated with spinelle and hornblende.

Chrondite. In the white limestone of Warwick serpentine. In the Forrest of Dean , in Cornwall is yel;low and dark yellowish green found also 2 miles South of Amity near Antique. Amity. Also east side of Long pond.

Calcedony and Jasper.  4 miles south of Warwick. Quartz 2 ½ mile south east of Greenwood Furnace. Here a bed of quartz rises 15 feet over the gneiss in each side. It contains Coccalite. Apatite. ¾ mile from Edenville in limestone.

Graphite. In white limestone at Duck Cedar Pond, Monroe.

      I would like also to make arrangements with you to get the fossils about Goshen and Eastward . I would much like to get a pretty full set. I start for a trip in Ontario Co. next week with hammer & knapsack for fossils, I understand there are several such localities in the Co.
      In your account of our trip you made quite a mistake in calling our institution at Penn Yann an “University”. It is an Academy. You did well. But I think Mr. Simpson at the Sussex house in the Valley ought to have been mentioned. Please drop me a line soon.

I remain Yours Very Respectfully.

 Berlin H. Wright

V.M. Drake Esq.

  

What's Happening at the Warwick Historical Society?

Warwick Farmers Market on Sunday, July 22, 2012, 9-2


Our blog: historicwarwickny.blogspot.com


The Warwick Historical Society will be at the Warwick Farmers' Market this Sunday presenting living history as well as sharing information about our July and August programs.


We have our 95th Annual George Washington Day Picnic in Lewis Park ( across from the Village Hall) on Saturday, July 28, 6-8PM. This is free, a "potluck" , and open to everyone; please come with your favorite food dish to share. We will have a Civil War living history scenario unfold at the park starting at 4PM until we pack up our picnic baskets at 8PM. Uniformed soldiers from the 15th New York Volunteer Calavry will set up camp replete with camp fires, tents, and saddles to share a bit of life from the War of the Great Rebellion.

On Sunday, July 29, 1-3PM and 4-6PM, and Monday, July 30, 12-2PM and 7-9PM, we will have the First Annual Orange County Silent Film Festival. The film selections can be found on the blog. Adults: $10, Under 12, $5 Per Session, 4 Sessions in All.


We are still taking camper registrations, 8-11 years old, for our Summer History Camp, August 6-10, 9AM-2PM. 5 Days of programming. The camp has a full schedule of history programming. Check out the blog for details. How do I register my child? Email us at: rpschmick1@aol.com, and we will send a registration form via email. You can fill out the registration and return it via email. Tuition: $175 per camper, siblings $150 each. Give us a call at: 845-781-3729 or 845-986-3236.


 Specific Summer History Camp Programs:

• Dress-up: Wear a tricorner hat or a bonnet as well as other 18th century appropriate clothing; costumes provided for the history camp experience.

           

• Minerology: Uncover through digging all kinds of giant crystals that also fluoresce under a black light. See them light up in shades of hot pink, green, blue and yellow! Record your findings as you learn the names of the many unique minerals first discovered between 1828-1832 in Amity, New York. These crystals were collected by people from all over the world, as they sought specimens worthy of their esteemed cabinets of curiosity. The Ecoles des Mines has one of the largest collections in the world of these crystals. Take the treasures you find home with you.

      

• Sheep Shearing: Experience a real sheep and learn how its fleece is removed by hand! We will also card wool and maybe incorporate it in our felting project.
• Pottery: Coil and slab construction. Decoration with colored slips. Watch a pot being thrown on a potter's wheel.Student projects will be fired off site and made available for pick-up.
• Blacksmithing: Watch a demonstration of a tomahawk being made by a real blacksmith. Handle the tools of blacksmithing. Create a cold metal project using hammer, leg vise, wrench, and an anvil. Choices will include a horseshoe nail ring or a metal bracelet/armband.

      

• Woodworking: Campers will complete a hands-on project. They will create either a coat rack that will involve using a bit and brace, a hand coping saw, a wooden mallet, and a hand saw or saw slices of a tree log with a two-man saw. The slice of log will then be drilled with a bit and brace and a wooden dowel fitted into the hole to create a free standing paper towel holder.
• Journal Writing: Campers will have many experiences, and they will record them in their sewn journals using a cartridge fountain pen. They will also be instructed on using a nib pen with ink.
• Palaeontogy and Ethnobotany: Kids will do field observations from natural history presentations. Naturalist Gary Keeton will share the recent discovery of the Tuckamoose Creek Mastodon and other long-extinct mammals from the area. Gary helped exhume the second largest tusk ever recovered in New York State, and will share his experience. Kids will become vertebrate palaeontologists and palaeo/ethnobotanists for the day creating field drawings and notes about real sedge grasses, yellow pine needles and the like that remain and were part of life in Warwick 14,000 years ago or more.   
• Wild Animals in the Wilds of Warwick: Kids will experience some of the fauna of the region. Pelts and stuffed animals from the region will be a starting point for a talk about how animals were used as a livelihood in the past and how we should treat them now. There will be a hands on element that will include creating a fur pelt from faux fur to take home.
• Mistucky Village, circa 1703: When Benjamin Aske realized the Wawayanda Patent and had local chieftain Choukhass sign on the dotted line there was a thriving, sedentary Lenni-Lenape village in what became "Warwick" in the stroke of a pen. Warwick in England was Aske's own homeplace and became the name of an original farm in our present township. Ken Hamilton, the "Woodlands Interpreter" will recreate a little of that with an authentic camp set up. In costume and character Hamilton, a professional interpreter and historic artifact artist, will share life as it was. He will lead kids in the hands-on creation of wampum and other trade objects for the purpose of an Iroquois dance that everyone will participate in. This is way cool! Parents can experience this too in an evening performance, Tuesday, August 7, 7-8:30 at the A.W. Buckbee Center.

      

• Shadow Puppet Theatre: Looking to the 18th and 19th century historic homes under the stewardship of the Historical Society and listening to the stories of the people that once inhabited them, kids will create shadow puppets of people, buildings and tools that were integral to Early Life on the Wawayanda Creek. Kids will share their performance at the end of our Friday program for parents.
• Felting: Make a wool felt project. Kids will make felt geodes out of multi-colored felt.

      

• Sewing: With a piece of natural color wool felt kids will sew a pouch using an overlapping stitch. They will create a button hole and sew a button to clodse this pouch. Suitable as a pencil case or a gift for mom.
• Games and Science Fun! Learn how to play some games from the 18th and 19th centuries. Also learn to use a block and tackle and chain fall to pick up things that weigh 5 times or more of your own weight!

      

• Candlemaking: Make your own candles the old fashioned way.

•                      

George Washington Picnic Day on July 28 at Lewis Park

Where: Lewis Park off Main Street, Warwick (Across from the Village Hall)
When: Saturday, July 28, 4-8 Living History Scenario,
Civil War; 6-8PM "Potluck" Picnic
Who: Everybody

This Warwick Historical Society annual event is 95 years old! It was founded to commemorate George Washington's visit to Warwick on July 27, 1782. The picnic is open to the public and free. The tradition is that everyone contribute through a "potluck" food contribution. In addition to food and drink that starts at 6PM until 8PM, there will be a living history scenario in the park from 4-8PM. The New York Volunteer Cavalry straight from the Civil War will set up camp; they will talk about their trials and tribulations in the war of the Rebellions replete with saddles, uniforms, and the trappings of a bivouac! See you there!

95th Annual George Washington Day Picnic in Lewis Park, July 28, 6-8PM, Civil War Living History Program, 4-8PM, Open to the Public

PRESS RELEASE

For Details Contact:
Robert Schmick
Executive Director
845-781-3729

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Come one, Come all


On Saturday, July 28th the Warwick Historical Society will commemorate the 95th annual George Washington Day Picnic with a Civil War re-enactment. This is free and open to the community.It's a potluck picnic, so do bring grandma's potato salad and anything else you think people might enjoy!
In 1917 the Warwick Historical Society held its first George Washington Day Picnic to celebrate and commemorate the visit of George Washington and his entourage to Warwick’s Baird’s Tavern in 1782.


A meticulous record keeper, George Washington recorded his visit in his journal along with the purchase of some grog at the Baird’s Tavern.  A day of activities for the whole family is planned right in the center of the Village of Warwick in Lewis Park on Main Street across from the Village Hall.


The highlight will be a Civil War re-enactment by the 15th New York Cavalry. As a part of George Custer’s division the 15th fought throughout the Shenandoah Valley under the command of Phil Sheridan. They were present at Five Forks, and Appomattox, and participated in the last Cavalry charge of the Civil War. They currently make their home at Hill-Hold Museum in Campbell Hall, New York.


The re-enactment and games will run from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. followed by the traditional “Pot-luck” picnic until 8 p.m. under the trees in Lewis Park. Bring a covered dish to share! The Historical Society requests that each family bring a covered dish to share, but bring your own drink. There will be tables and chairs available, and bring your own picnic blankets if you prefer and use the park for this wonderful community event.


The Historical Society will provide the paper products and plastic utensils. Join in the fun and games to help us celebrate this historic event.


DETAILS:


WHO: WARWICK HISTORICAL SOCIETY


WHAT: GEORGE WASHINGTON DAY PICNIC


WHEN: SATURDAY, JULY 28, 2012, 4 – 8 p.m.


WHERE: LEWIS PARK, MAIN STREET, WARWICK.


Warwick Historical Society, A.W. Buckbee Center, 2 Colonial Ave. Warwick, NY, 845-986-3236, whs@warwick.net. Check out: historicwarwickny.blogspot.co or our Facebook: "Warwick Historical Society."

Warwick Historical Society
PRESS RELEASE
For release: 9a.m., July 16, 2012
For Details Contact:
Robert Schmick
Executive Director
845-781-3729
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Come one, Come all
On Saturday, July 28th the Warwick Historical Society will commemorate the 95th annual George Washington

Living History: Two Man Saw Activity at the Farmers Market, July 15, 9AM -2PM

 Two Man Saws

The two-man saw is not that remote from our lives; there were still many in use as late as the early 1960s when the gasoline powered chainsaw all but supplanted it for the purpose of sawing down and cutting up trees. Even as the chainsaw became an option, the two man saw continued to serve as either a cheaper or lighter piece of equipment to carry into the woods for felling trees and processing them. Chainsaws were often large and heavy in the beginning, so they were often relegated to commercial use in while the humble farmer continued to use the two man saw and bow saw.

 saw vise

The two-man saw usually had composite handles that would tighten with a clockwise turn. The examples will will be using at the Farmers' Market have handles made of metal and wood. There is an eyelet that the blade fits through; the handle tightens snugly against the blade when tightened. 

Two man saw blades had a number of configurations. Particular blade sets were intended for either soft woods or hardwoods. We have a selection of seasoned walnut, a cherry that was felled a month ago, and some freshly cut ash logs 5-inches in diameter for our demonstration ( Complements of New York Heartwoods of Warwick, NY). These different varieties of wood will require different levels of effort to saw.

 Set tool

One of the saws we will use, depicted above, has oblong narrow teeth that have never been offset. To maintain the other saw a special tool, a set tool, was used to bend teeth so that the bite of the saw could be widened. One tooth would be bent  while the next was bent out and so on. The saw was held, or clamped in place, for the purpose of maintenance by a saw vise that was mounted to a bench.   

These saws have been cleaned of surface rust and oiled; this was always a part of the maintenance routine. A flat file was employed to maintain the saw teeth edges; the file was run down each tooth in one direction. The whole set of teeth would have to be periodically “tuned up’, or sharpened, with the file.

The Warwick Historical Society and the Neversink Valley Museum of History and Innovation Present

 

A Joint Fundraiser: 1st Annual Orange County Silent Film Festival

 

$10, Adult, $5 under 12, per session, 4 sessions (Proceeds to benefit the two organizations)

 

Selections curated and introduced by Neversink Valley Museum of History and Innovation and Neversink Valley Institute of Early Film Studies Directors Seth Goldman and Gretchen Weerheim

Sunday, July 29, Session I, 1-3PM  

Seth Goldman introduces films by D.W.Griffith shot in Cuddebackville.

The Haunted Castle (1896)

Frankenstein (1910)

Sunday, July 29, Session II, 4-6PM

Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (1912)

The Midnight Girl (1925)

Mon., July 30, Session III, Matinee, 12-2 PM, Session IV, Evening, 7-9PM

Introductions by Gretchen Weerheim

Mon., July 30, Session III, 12-2PM:

The Enchanted Drawing (1900)

Delivering Newspapers (1903)

Fantasmagorie (1908)

Little Nemo (1911)

Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)

A Boy and His Elephant (1913)

Our Gang Short (1920s)

Felix the Cat (1920s)

Mon., Session IV, 7-9PM

A Trip to the Moon (1902)

The Bat (1926)

Piano music accompaniment 

Where: A.W. Buckbee Center, 2 Colonial Ave., Warwick, NY

For more information, call: (845)781-3729 Email: whs@warwick.net

Visit: historicwarwickny.blogspot.com

Visit: www.neversinkmuseum.org, (845)754-8870

All donations are fully tax-deductible under IRS rule 501 (c )(3)

The Neversink Valley Museum of History and Innovation and its Institute for Early Film Studies  (26 Hoag Road, Cuddebackville, NY 12729) celebrates the contributions of such Hollywood legends as D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Mack Sennett, Florence Lawrence amongst others, who came to Orange County in the early years of the 20th Century to create films. Seth Goldman is the Executive Director of both the museum and institute, and Gretchen Weerheim is the museum educator and assistant director of the institute.

D.W. Griffith shot seventeen films in Cuddebackville: “I discovered Cuddebackville, the most beautiful, altogether the loveliest spot in America…there is a quality about the light there, particularly a twilight that I have never found elsewhere; it is transcendently illuminative for moving pictures.” A number of early motion picture companies and pioneers came to Cuddebackville to take advantage of the scenery and light, including the aforementioned and Cecil B. deMille, the Thanhouser Company and Pathe Freres and notable stars of the era Mabel Normand, James Kirkwood, James Young Deer and others. 


The festival is also in homage to Warwick’s own cinema palace, the Oakland Theatre, which served the community as a location for vaudeville, opera, music, and movies from the silent era until the 1970s. “For many the Oakland Theatre was the site of both their first movie and their first date; I, for one, savor memories of B horror movies starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee I saw during the last years of the theatre's existence. Recently, I acquired a World War I era poster advertizing a concert for the "Permanent Blind Relief War Fund For Soldiers and Sailors at the Oakland Theatre", which exemplifies the integral civic role these early opera houses and cinema palaces played in communities like Warwick and others in addition to providing a public space for "movie going", a seemingly rarer occasion these days.

We want to contribute to bringing a little bit more of that back from the past at the A.W. Buckbee Center," said Dr. Robert Schmick, executive director of the Historical Society.

Movie Summaries

Horror Movies

Le Manior du Diable (The Haunted Castle)
Released: December 24, 1896, Paris, France
Directed and Written: Georges Melies
Studio: Star-Film
Run Time: 3:00
Featuring: Georges Melies, Jeanne d’Alcy


A large bat flies into a medieval castle, circling and flapping its wings before suddenly changing into Mephistopheles (Georges Melies).  He prepares a bubbling cauldron that produces symbols of evil: skeletons, witches, ghosts before one of the summoned underworld cavaliers holds up a crucifix, sending Mephistopheles back to Hell in a puff of smoke.


This early film uses traditional pantomime elements seen in stage productions, common for the time. The action takes place on a basic set with camera tricks to give the illusions of appearance and disappearance.


This film initially was meant to amuse, not frighten, but is considered by many scholars to be the first horror film.

Frankenstein ( Released: March 18, 1910)

Directed and Written: J. Searle Dawley
Studio: Edison Manufacturing Company, Bronx, NY
Run Time: 16 minutes
Featuring: Charles Stanton Ogle (The monster), Augustus Phillips (Frankenstein), Mary Fuller (Dr. Frankenstein’s Bride).


Frankenstein, a young student, bids farewell to his father and fiancée as he leaves to enter college to study the sciences. He becomes absorbed in the mysteries of life and death and resolves to create a human being. His grand experiment results in the creation of a hideous monster. which frightens Frankenstein.


The experiment takes a great toll on Frankenstein’s health and he returns home. The monster follows him home and reveals his presence, insanely jealous of anyone else who may be in Frankenstein’s life. Terrorized, a scuffle ensues wherein Frankenstein casts the monster to the floor, who sees his reflection for the first time in a mirror. The monster is appalled by his reflected image and leaves, only to eventually return on Frankenstein’s wedding day.


Still, the monster believes his only place is beside his creator and goes into the bride’s room to find the cause of his jealousy. She rushes out and faints at Frankenstein’s feet. Eventually, Frankenstein’s own power of good over evil rids the home of his horrific creation and Frankenstein and his bride embrace.


Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Released: January 16, 1912)
Director: Lucius Henderson
Writer: R.L.Stevenson (book); Thomas Russell Sullivan (screenplay)
Studio: Thanhauser Company, New Rochelle, NY
Run Time: 11:31
Featuring: James Cruze (Jekyll & Hyde), Harry Benham (Hyde, some scenes), Florence La Badie (Jekyll’s sweetheart), Marie Eline (Little Girl knocked down by Hyde), Jane Gall (extra), Marguerite Snow (extra).


Dr. Jekyll has secretly locked himself in his laboratory, taking a drug of his own creation. One it takes effect, he slumps in his chair, only to awaken as his evil alter ego. Mr. Hyde. A hideous beast, after using the drug repeatedly, Dr. Jekyll can no longer control Mr. Hyde’s emergence, who goes on to commit evil. Mr. Hyde discovers that the antidote is finished, and he will remain his evil personality forever. A policeman breaks down Dr. Jekyll’s door to find the doctor dead after taking poison.

The Midnight Girl

Released: February 15, 1925
Director: Wilfred Noy Writer: Jean Conover, Wilfred Noy, with the story by Garrett Fort
Studio: Chadwick Pictures Corporation
Run Time: 61 minutes
Featuring: Bela Lugosi (Nicholas Harmon), Lila Lee (Anna Meridoff), Gareth Hughes (Don Harmon), Ruby Blaine (Natalie Schuyler), Dolores Cassanelli (Mimi Divito), John D. Walsh (Victor Delski), William Harvey (Nifty Louis). Sidney Paxton (Joe the Café Owner), Signor N. Salerno (Opera Manager), Flora Finch (Landlady)

A melodrama thriller wherein a wealthy patron of music, Nicholas Harmon possesses a weakness for his mistress Nina whose operatic voice is in decline. He searches for a new talent to perhaps take her place. Meanwhile, Nicholas’ son Don, an orchestra conductor and unhappily engaged to a society girl, has a falling out with his wealthy father and leaves to prove himself. Stumbling upon an elderly music teacher and student who find themselves in a distressing situation, Don rescues the pair and invites them to meet his father, Nicholas, who instantly becomes attracted to the younger girl. Don also hires Anna in his night club, and she becomes the Midnight Girl, and much melodrama ensues.

This melodrama thriller might be pretty predictable, but it shows Bela Lugosi in alternative to the role as Dracula he would be typecast in most of his career. Lili Lee actually had top billing for the film, as she was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the 1920s. 

Children’s Movies:

The Enchanted Drawing

Released; November 16, 1900
Studio: Vitagraph Studios/ Edison Studios
Run Time: 2 minutes
Featuring: J. Stuart Blackton


This short features a combination of animation and live action showing a man drawing a cartoon face on an easel. First he draws a hat on the head, then a bottle, then more. The cartoon man seems to have a life of his own and reacts to whatever the artist draws and does.


Our Gang Short
Released: 1920s
Run Time: Various, 10-15 minutes


Short to be named. These are the classic shorts that eventually became known as the Little Rascals when sound took over in the 1930s. They are timeless and need little explanation!


Felix the Cat
Released: 1920s
Run Time: Various, 5-7 minutes

Delivering Newspapers

Released: 1903
Created: American Mutoscope and Biograph Company
Run Time: 56 seconds (will show twice)


Very short film that shows newspaper boys gathering up their copies of  the New York World to sell and a fight breaks out at the end. Takes place in New York City, most likely Union Square. It presents a glimpse at early twentieth urban life and childhood for some. 


Fantasmagorie
Released: August 17, 1908
Created: Emile Cohl
Studio: Societe des Etablissements L. Gaumont
Run time: 1 minute, 20 seconds


Meant to recreate a chalk figure on a blackboard, this animation shows a variety of objects morphing from one object to another. The main characters are a clown and a man and are drawn by a man’s hand on camera.
The title is a reference to the fantasmograph, a mid 19^th-century variant of the magic lantern that projected images on walls for audiences to enjoy.


Little Nemo
Released: April 8, 1911
Created: Windsor McCay and James S. Blackton
Run Time: 10:34
Featuring: Windsor McCay


Windsor McKay tells his friends that he will create an animated film using 4000 pages of drawings. The film shows how he goes about the process, albeit comically. The last two minutes of the film are the Little Nemo animation. It is remarkable for its beauty as well as each of the hand painted 4000 cells.


Gertie the Dinosaur
Released: September 14, 1914
Created: Windsor McKay
Run Time: 12:00
Featuring: Windsor McKay, George McManus, Roy McCardell, Max Fleischer


Windsor McKay interacts with Gertie, a brontosaurus, who does tricks on command. When she misbehaves, McKay scolds her and she cries. McKay and Gertie ride off together at the end of the cartoon.


This is the first cartoon to feature a character with a personality and was the first to use key frame animation, or drawing that defines the starting and ending points of transition. McKay also drew each frame himself, on individual 6.5” x 8.5” sheets of rice paper, and hired John A. Fitzsimmons to draw the backgrounds.


A Boy and His Elephant
Released: 1913
Directed: Louise Feuillade
Run Time: 9:17


A little boy steals a little elephant from a band of gypsies and together they have a series of misadventures. Charming French film that anyone could enjoy and is reminiscent of Our Gang features.  


Sci-Fi/Mystery Movies:


A Trip to the Moon (La Voyage dans la lune)
Released: September 1, 1902, France
Directed and Written: Georges Melies
Studio: Gaston Melies Films
Run time: 11:18
Featuring: Georges Melies, Jeanne d’Alcy


Color Version: Six astronomers agree to build a space capsule in the shape of a bullet, put it in a cannon and shoot it to the moon. Landing safely, the astronomers have all sorts of adventures but make it home to tell the tale at a great celebration. The color version was thought to be lost but one was discovered in 1993 in a near decomposed state. A hand frame-by-frame restoration was launched in 1999 and completed in 2010.


The Bat
Released:  March 14, 1926
Produced, Directed and Written: Roland West
Run Time:  85:36
Studio:  United Artists


Featuring: George Beranger (Gideon Bell), Charles Hartzinger (Cortleigh Fleming), Emilyu Fitzroy (Cornelia Van Gorder), Louise Fazenda (Lizzie Allen), Arthur Housman (Richard Flemming), Robert McKim (Dr. Wells), Jack Pickford (Brooks Bailey), Jewel Carmen (Dale Ogden), Kamiyama Sôjin (Billy the Butler), Tullio Carminati (Detective Moletti), Eddie Gribbon (Detective Anderson), Lee Shumway (The Unknown)


A silent film based upon the Broadway Play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood.  The Bat, a masked criminal, terrorizes a mansion filled with the guests of a mystery writer.  This mansion has hidden within it $20,000 of stolen money.  The guests, along with a detective, search for the clues to the identity of The Bat. 


Interestingly, this film was remade twice:  Roland West remade the film with sound in 1930 and released it as The Bat Whispers  with Chester Morris and Una Merkilin 1958 with Vincent Price and this is also the film where Bob Kane got the inspiration for the comic superhero “Batman”;  there is a bat-signal used in the film to frighten the guests before the attacks.  Jack Pickford is also a star in this film and if his last name sounds familiar, you might think of his older sister Mary, perhaps one of the most famous film stars of all time.many, the Oakland Theatre was the site of both their first movie and their first date; I, for one, savior memories of B horror movies starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee that I saw during the last years of the Theatre’s existence.


Recently, a World War I era poster came to light advertizing a concert for the “Permanent Blind Relief War Fund For Soldiers and Sailors at the Oakland Theatre”, which exemplifies the integral civic role these early opera houses and cinema palaces played in communities like Warwick and others in addition to providing a public space for a shared movie experience, a seemingly rarer occasion these days.


We want to contribute to bringing a little bit more of that community experience back from the past at the A.W. Buckbee Center,” said Dr. Robert Schmick, Executive Director of the Historical Society.