From the editor: On a personal note, I’ve known and respected all three of these fine panelists for many years, and I encourage everyone to attend what’s sure to be an enlightening event.
LINCOLN – What does it take to see a problem in one’s community and decide to do something about it? What happens when that idea becomes a vision, and you are the one challenged to pioneer it? What do a leading local newspaper, a world-class performing arts theater, and a historic house museum all have in common?
Those questions and others will take center stage this Saturday Sept. 12, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. when the Great Road Heritage Campus presents “Modern-Day Pioneers of the Blackstone Valley,” a special panel discussion under the tent at historic Hearthside House, 677 Great Road.
The program features three Blackstone Valley leaders, each of whom have pioneered a vision into an enduring legacy for their community. The panel will feature Russell Gusetti, founder and executive director of the Blackstone River Theater in Cumberland, RI, Tom Ward, founder and former publisher of The Valley Breeze Newspapers, and Kathy Hartley, founder and president of the Friends of Hearthside in Lincoln, which is currently celebrating 25 years of preserving history on Great Road. The discussion will be facilitated by Jennifer Hayden Stokes, author of “The Pioneer’s Way: Leading a Trailblazing Life That Builds Meaning for Your Family, Your Community, and You.”
The panel is designed to go beyond a traditional “founder’s story.” Instead, panelists will share the personal journey behind their pioneering efforts, and what their experiences can teach others who recognize a need and have the courage and persistence to create a solution.
“The public is invited to attend this inspiring conversation and to bring friends, colleagues, family members and anyone who might be curious about these successful local stories of trailblazing, vision and community contribution,” states a release.
Modern-Day Pioneers of the Blackstone Valley will serve as the culminating special presentation of the Great Road Heritage Campus season-long celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, “WE THE PEOPLE: A Journey Through Great Road’s History & Legacy.”
The extensive commemorative exhibit features unique perspectives on the community, events, and objects that shaped the nation’s history as well as the local stories of those who helped to shape the Blackstone Valley and the Great Road, a colonial highway which dates back to almost a hundred years prior to the Revolution.
Visitors will have the opportunity to view the exhibit displayed throughout Hearthside House before the presentation through an early opening of the museum at noon and again following the program, with final admission at 3 p.m.. Docents in period attire provide visitors with information throughout both floors of the museum. The other sites at the Great Road Heritage Campus will be open for touring as well between 1 and 4 p.m.
A shuttle van will transport visitors to one of the rarest survivors of the early Industrial Revolution, the Moffett Mill, built during the time of the War of 1812. Among the first wooden machine shops in the state, the Moffett Mill, was first owned by the Olney family and later by the Moffett family. Original tools and equipment remain in place at this former versatile job shop, which provides a real sense of a journey back in time to when the water-powered mill was still in operation. Access to the Mill is only by a shuttle van that leaves from Hearthside at 1, 2, and 3 p.m.
Learn about what it was like to be a student during the 1800s as the teacher taught about the Revolution at the Pullen’s Corner Schoolhouse, also known as the “Hot Potato School.” This charming one-room schoolhouse was Lincoln’s last one, where students from kindergarten through age 14 were taught by one teacher and with all ages together.
Bill Hannaway’s Blacksmith Shop, which originally started as part of the Moffett Mill, continues to produce hand-forged items in the historic shop that once sat across from Hearthside. Blacksmiths were crucial to the building of our community, with every tool, hinge, latch and nail being made by them. Today, it is at the entrance to Chase Farm Park, where every weekend students may learn the craft of hand forging in the same shop that served residents, farms, and businesses in this community during its early years.
According to Hartley, Hayden Stokes has been doing a lot of research into Arnold Moffett’s background and why he took on the mill, what kinds of things they made there, who worked there, and why they closed and left everything behind, which are still in place today, sitting on the benches since 1900.
Guests may choose options for their visit. Admission to the museum is $15 and includes tours of all the campus sites and the panel presentation. Admission for attending only the presentation is $8; and for just visiting the Mill is $5, which includes the shuttle van transport. Advance registration/payment is available through the website greatroadheritagecampus.org. There is no fee to visit the blacksmith shop. A suggested donation of $5 is appreciated at the schoolhouse.
Hearthside is located at 677 Great Road, with parking available across the street. The campus is located at Chase Farm Park, 671 Great Road, with parking available in the lot behind the blacksmith shop. For advance registration or more information, visit the Great Road Heritage Campus website at greatroadheritagecampus.org or , or 401-726-0597. “We the People” is supported in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Semiquincentennial Commission (RI250).
