Grand Island Historical Society celebrates 60th anniversary

Story and Photo by Alice Gerard

Senior Contributing Writer

The Grand Island Historical Society celebrated its 60th anniversary on March 16 with an open house featuring historic toys at its River Lea museum in Beaver Island State Park.

“There are a lot of different items that are always in the house, and now, we get to highlight and see them,” said Ann Ruland, membership chairperson.

“I think these toys ranged from 1890s to 1970s. They are all (from) Island families. Some of the toys have probably been here since day one. I don’t remember a time when there wasn’t the boudoir doll sitting on the bed in the bedroom upstairs. There are some newer items and some on-loan items. Carol and Kenneth Hamm brought the beautiful, 1920s Keystone fire truck.”

“We put on loan for this display my husband’s father, Charles Hamm’s, fire truck from the 1920s,” said Carol Hamm, who described the fire truck as a “Riverside-area fire truck.”

Kenneth Hamm, who grew up in the Riverside neighborhood in Buffalo, said and his brothers played with the fire trucks when they visited their grandmother.

“It was a lot of fun,” Hamm said. “When they passed, we each got a fire truck to remember them by. This is the one that I got.”

The fire trucks, he added, “are a good size. They’re over 90 years old, and they were built to last. Now, it’s on display at my house. I really don’t play with it much anymore, but it’s a keepsake and a memory of my father.”

Another toy that was on display was a miniature theatrical stage that was a gift from a German worker to Sharon Nichol’s family. The paper theater was made in 1880 in Germany by toy manufacturer Adolf Engel. Paper theaters were popular in Germany in the 19^th century, and there have been annual events celebrating paper theaters at the Märkisches Museum in Berlin. They were suspended in 2020-21, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It (the paper theater) actually came from the Pierce farm, and my grandparents were working there,” Nichols said. “My father and my sister were little kids. So, a German workman gave it to them. It was from his family.

“As children, we were allowed to play with it, and, now, it’s on exhibit here. It has all these different sets. They’re reversible. And then, the side sets go in. Oh, and it has a trap door. You turn the little knob, and everything falls down. So, that’s how all of our stories ended. Somebody went through the trap door.”

In addition to the toy exhibit, there was a clothing exhibit.

“Another thing I want to mention is we are featuring ’60s-style outfits on all of our mannequins,” Ruland said. “Three of them are from founding member Sharon Nichols.”

When asked about the high points of the first 60 years of the Grand Island Historical Society, Nichols said, “I think just saving the building because there is a history here: our connection to Grover Cleveland. Also, Lewis F. Allen. He was a very important person in the Buffalo area. So, the history that we saved is very, very important to Grand Island.”

Nichols said she’s really appreciated “our events, our open houses, the school tours, the Christmas programs, and just the fellowship.”

For Nichols’ daughter, Ann Ruland, the Grand Island Historical Society has been a big part of her life since she was a small child.

“I have many founding members of the Historical Society who are my family members. It has been great getting to know a lot of the members who are passed, and having those memories of their history of Grand Island and the things that they talked about when I was little. And then growing up and seeing the museum actually evolve into a museum and have more of an educational directive and a preservation of history directive. It’s really growing in its focus.

“I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of years of focusing and highlighting different collections. We did a hat show. The military show was one of the best attended. This weekend, we have toys. It’s just a fun way to see what’s in our collection. We get to put our hands on it, clean them up, document them a little bit, and get to love them again.”

Ruland said the Society’s relationship with New York state’s park system has been a big part of the experience.

“We try to maintain a really good relationship with our local New York state parks system,” she said. “And we do have a good park manager in John Wenner that he’s very open to help us whenever we need something and to also coordinate events.”

Ruland said she would encourage people to join the Grand Island Historical Society.

“I think, if you’re interested in Western New York history, not only Grand Island, we have a broader view of enjoying the history of Buffalo, the history of Niagara Falls, and all the local areas of Western New York,” she said. “We exchange ideas with other museums and have field trips. So, it’s a good way to learn a lot about Grand Island and a little more about Western New York. Also, I think it’s a good place if you do have an interest to share and bring ideas to the Historical Society. We have people who are very interested in music and, so, we have some programming around music. There’s a little bit of something for everybody.”

The next general meeting of the Grand Island Historical Society is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 3 at River Lea.

“Our general meeting will be a talk about the Bedell House, which, I think, should have a lot of interest for a lot of the Islanders,” Ruland said. “That will be here at River Lea, and the speakers are Curt Nestark and Mary Cooke. That will be the history of the Bedell House.”

The building is currently undergoing changes, Ruland explained: “We are undergoing some renovations upstairs. We are redoing the Grand Island room, as part of our 60-year celebration of being at River Lea, to better display our historical items.

“This May, we should have a very interesting walk. We’re going to do the lower East River, the homes that were taken down to build the golf course.”