August 2002 meeting.........

Epsom Old Home Day

The Epsom Historical Associations special presentation for the towns 275th anniversary Old Home Day was a smashing success. The 3 tours of East Street generated 96 people taking advantage of Dail Transportation's donation of a bus and driver to visit the landmarks and learn about the settling of the first street in Epsom. Each tour started with a half-hour lecture in the old Short Falls schoolhouse (currently part of the Legion Hall), given by Carleton Rand, Philip Yeaton and Elsie Fife. The tour ended with a look at the on-going Town Hall renovations and some special town historic items. A special exhibit was open in the function room of the Legion Hall consisting of a map of East Street with framed photos of exisiting and former homes, framed by Artistic Expressions of Epsom. A large collection of books and school memorabilia was on display courtesty of Phil Yeaton; and a wealth of antiques and artifacts was also on display through the generosity of Charlie Yeaton.

The Historical Association also had two computers on hand, the first with a continuous slide show of old Epsom postcards, and one for genealogy research. A display about the Epsom Early Settlers website (www.2eha.net) and additional framed old photos of Epsom rounded out the exhibit. Two new Historical Association publications were presented. One is the fifth publication by Phil Yeaton, featuring 90 plus pages about Epsom schools; the other, 'East Street', was presented free to each family taking the tour. Both publications are available for purchase at the Epsom Public Library, proceeds to benefit the Historical Association. Working during the day at the exhibit were Dick Fowler, Joyce Rand and Lisa Cote, along with help from Judy Rand, Megan Rand and Jay Carroll.

Thanks to the Epsom Public Library for helping distribute advance tour tickets and Dail Transportation and driver Ruthie Batchelder.for making the tour possible. Committee members puting the event together were Carleton Rand, Elsie Fife, Phil Yeaton, Harvey Harkness and T.J. Rand.

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