The “endless days of Summer” may be waning, but that certainly didn’t put a damper on the enthusiasm that peaked this noon in anticipation of Blanche’s extraordinary program! A boatload of Members and guests gathered to enjoy fellowship, and to hear all about The Cleveland House!
The Meeting commenced with President Bruce beckoning everyone to join him in saying The Pledge. Judy’s fervent words during the Invocation thanked The Lord for the gifts that he has given each of us. “May we show kindness to everyone that we meet along our path,” Judy prayed. For our patriotic song, Pres. Bruce had us sing “My Country Tis of Thee”. There were 27 Members in attendance, along with five Members online, and three guests. We welcomed Sharon, Gwen Fellows, and Jo Cornish, who rounded out the group! Skip greeted us warmly as we entered The Redwood, and he would provide today’s Rotary Moment.
Bruce and Betty were back with us today, having spent the last two weeks with the children at Camp O. They talked about the programs and activities, (which could be seen online). Some examples of these were the “treasure hunt” and home-made boats. Both Bruce and Betty agreed that though there was lots of work to be done each day, the rewards of being with the children were one hundred-fold!
Bo gave an update on the Walk of Life. We made close to $10,175!
Mike J. created a Sign-Up Sheet to help at the Grape Fest, which will be September 25-26 this year. The sheet was passed around for people to select times in which they could help. There are many time slots available in various capacities.
Skip noted that the Annual Steak Roast is September 13th at 5:30 at the VFW. Tickets are $10 each, and we are asked to bring a dish to pass. Please reach out to Skip if you are interested! This event always includes great food and fellowship!
There are still Covid concerns among the Membership regarding our meeting in-person these days. Pres. Bruce has promised to come up with a “Hybrid Model” which he will share with us soon.
Pres. Bruce also announced our newly elected Vice President for the 2021-2022 year. Congratulations to Liz Yee!
We are keeping those neighbors who have been affected by the recent flooding in town in our thoughts and prayers, as they recover from last week’s rainstorms.
John F. announced that we have a new configuration of teams for the District Golf Tournament on September 10th. We have one team with Tony, Marty, Clyde, and Billy, and another team with John, Micah, Bo, and Pat. Naples Rotary will have great representation!
As one enters our charming village either by way of Route 21, or Route 245, there at the corner, where these two roads merge, stands a stately-looking building with a white exterior and windows surrounded in blue. This building, flanked by beautiful shrubs, trees, and flowers, has much history behind it, and is known as The Cleveland House. For those of you who happen to be on Face Book, no doubt, many of you have enjoyed the plethora of historic pictures of the Naples Area, (along with detailed descriptions), that Blanche has shared with the community. Today we were privileged to hear once again from our own Blanche, as she told us all about this iconic building…The Cleveland House.
Before delving into the heart, and pictorial of her presentation, Blanche shared a bit of early history indicating that there was negotiation with the Seneca Indians to obtain a parcel of land. The house was built by Captain Ephraim Cleveland, a Revolutionary War Officer, in 1794, being one of the first frame houses in the village. Today, it is much the same as it was back then.
Showing us a picture of “Watkinstown”, as Naples was earlier known, Blanche pointed out some familiar and not-so-familiar places such as the Cemetery, the Original Schoolhouse, the Inspire Moore Building, and the Vineyard. One could almost appreciate in his mind’s eye, how Naples must have looked back then!
With its simple construction, attractive front façade, and its New England style of being built around a central chimney, the Cleveland House was put on the National Registry in 1994! Various features on the interior include its intricate stenciling, (circa 1878), the kitchen with its half door, (to reach for water buckets), and the fireplace where friendly Indians frequently huddled. These aspects all contributed to The Cleveland House being a welcoming place! Many original features remain within, such as the spiral staircase.
The elaborate stenciling, which was done on plaster was done by Stephen Clark, an educated man. A point of interest was that he was one of the originators of Sentence Diagramming!
In 1906, the building was sold to the Tellier Family, and improvements and preservations were made over time. Many reasons exist for its being a special place. These include the stenciled room, the amount of history behind it, its location, Native American History included, early history of the village, its excellent condition, its connection to existing assets, and that it is on the National History Registry. What a diamond in our community!
In closing, Blanche acknowledged Jim (former Naples Rotarian) and Carolyn Tilburg by thanking them, as they were the previous owners of the Tellier House, the former name of the Cleveland House. As a finishing touch, Blanche shared a cute romantic story within the Cleveland Family, ending with lovers’ initials scratched in a windowpane!
A tremendous amount of thanks goes to Blanche for the exceptional amount of information that she imparted to us in preparing for her program today. It was excellent!
As Laurie went around the room with the basket, many Happy Bills were collected in appreciation of Blanche’s stellar program! Other reasons for joy included Mike’s cool shoes, Bruce and Betty returning, Rose’s daughter’s home, Aimee is 50, Sharon’s Mom is doing better, Jack golfed in Hamilton, Bruce’s help, Alex’s son’s home, Bruce seeing his grandson, and we and John are all happy for Liz, our new VP!
The Fifty-Fifty was up to $389! Guest, Gwen drew Laurie’s Ticket, #661506! By gum, didn’t Laurie draw the Ace of Hearts today!! She was one Happy Camper, that’s for sure! Jack put in a plug for the Win-Win by urging us to catch a play at the BVT before the Summer Season ends! Skip had a great Rotary Moment by marveling at how our Naples Club continues to draw new members. Hooray!!
Hope everyone will have a splendid Labor Day Weekend. We will meet again next time on September 13th for our Steak Roast!
