On Wednesday while looking through a collection that has not received much use, I found correspondence between the donor and Miss Wiggin.  She added the following post script to her letter:

“Since I have been at the museum my continuous slogan has become: – ‘throw nothing away.  Give what you do not want to the Litchfield Historical Society.’  I say something like this to every man, woman and child who visits the museum.  It sometimes happens that people have given us what they consider junk but which has often supplemented in a remarkable way  items that were already in our possession.”

Miss Wiggin’s words still ring true.  Our collections are so rich because the people of the community are willing to donate items that document Litchfield’s history.  Julie, our curator, and I are always happy to talk to potential donors about things they wish to donate.  If it isn’t something that fits our mission, we will give you other suggestions for where it might belong.  We are interested in items that document all time periods including the 20th and 21st Centuries- so whether you have records of a civic organization under your bed, or a Civil War uniform in your attic, please don’t hesitate to talk to us about them.

Yesterday Litchfield had its first snow fall.  It was pretty surprising but not really that unusual for this part of the state.  It is pretty common to have at least a dusting of snow prior to Halloween.   It snowed most of the afternoon and when the staff arrived back at the museum this morning it was still precipitating.   It looks like this snow fall may stick around for a few days.

Today has been a true fall day in Litchfield.  The leaves are changing colors and beginning to cover the ground.

And it is windy.    Litchfield is known for having some pretty windy days in the fall.  At one of the highest elevations in Litchfield County, the town is subject to many of the weathers whims and fancies.   Today, the wind has been strong and fairly constant.

At lunch as the staff was sitting around the lunch table a huge gust surrounded the building and the power was briefly knocked out.  We are used to these occurrences and like today, they are usually brief.  The power was back on in no time but as lunch wrapped up there appeared to be some activity on the north side of the green.  Upon walking outside for further inspection, we saw this:

A tree next to the Congregational Church has been knocked over by the force of the wind, landed on the adjacent electrical lines putting too much stress on a nearby utility pole causing it to snap in half!  The state troopers were already on hand to reroute traffic to the other side of the green and the utility crew was busy working on the problem.

Just another lovely fall day in Litchfield.