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12-30-04           "T-AHS Raffle Winners"

The annual drawing of T-AHS raffle tickets occured on Saturday afternoon, December 4th as planned. Santa held each container in turn and Sarah Anderson was willing to draw the winning tickets.

The winners were contacted by telephone and agreed to come to the Grange Museum Building to claim their items. Photos were taken of the happy winners but it was agreed that announcement of the winners' names would be delayed until after Christmas.

Now that Christmas Day has passed, the names of the winners can be announced and photos of the happy events can be posted.

Elaine Gagnon, the winner of the quilted wall hanging "On the Farm", stated that she plans to display the quilt as a wall hanging in her family living room.

The historic "High Maples Farm" of Morrill Street served as the inspiration for Stan Piper's art work which, when coupled with Ellen Peters' quilting expertise, produced a quilt that was well received by the public, many of whom saw the quilt when it was displayed at Gilford's Village Bank and Trust during November.

Congratulations to Elaine! And many thanks to Stan Piper, Ellen Peters, Gilford's village Bank and Trust, and the many people who purchased raffle tickets to make this a successful fund raiser for Thompson-Ames Historical Society.

Mim Smith won "Molly", the 1944 American Girl Doll, with piano, wardrobe, and books. One of the books, "Molly's Recital", written by Dot Pangburn to reveal what a young girl could have experienced on a visit to Gilford in 1944, was the deciding factor in Mim's decision to keep her winning a secret until Christmas Eve when her Gilford granddaughter would receive the "Molly" raffle prize as a gift befitting a Gilford youngster. Of course, Thompson-Ames Historical Society agreed to go along with Mim's planned surprise.

Dot Pangburn's story "Molly's Recital" successfully ties the popular American Girl Doll of 1944 vintage to Gilford's history. This little book features train travel to Laconia's historic Railroad Station, the still-popular tourist attraction Ames Farm Inn on Lake Winnipesaukee, Noah Goss's store in Glendale, the tradition of rolling bandages during World War II, and Maurice Doust, local piano tuner and teacher, who in Dot's story, makes a piano recital a possibility for Molly during the summer of 1944. As part of her research endeavors, the author visited the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro where the museum's "The Home Front" display gives a wonderful depiction of life in 1944.

Congratulations to Mim! And many thanks to Dot Pangburn for writing the little book, Carole Johnson for creating Molly's recital dress and Jan Dean for creating other wardrobe items, Kinny O'Rourke for providing the picture of the Laconia Railroad Station, Don Ames for consenting to the use of Ames Farm Inn as the setting for this story, Betty Turner for supplying the name of piano turner/ teacher maurice Doust, Wright Museum for its "The Home Front" feature, Gilford's Village Bank and Trust for displaying T-AHS's raffle items during the month of November, and the many people who purchased raffle tickets to make this a successful fund raiser for Thompson-Ames Historical Society.

The specific items chosen for Thompson-Ames Historical Society raffles each year help to celebrate Gilford's cultural history while the monies raised through the sale of raffle tickets help to fund the preservation and restoration efforts of Gilford's historical society.


To learn more about Thompson-Ames Historical Society endeavors, please telephone 527-9009 or just drop in to visit whenever the OPEN flag is on display at the Grange Museum Building at the doorway that leads to the "Hallway of Historic Signs". Also, do visit T-AHS's website at www.gilfordhistoricalsociety.org.

As always, we welcome hearing from you!