In April 1941, the picturesque village of Marlow, New Hampshire was surrounded by flames from a raging forest fire that extended into the neighboring towns of Stoddard, Gilsum, and Washington, burning a total of 24,000 acres. To commemorate the 65th anniversary of what is believed to be the largest forest fire in New Hampshire's history, local historians Charlie Strickland and Tracy Messer are producing a one-hour documentary entitled Four Days of Fury. The introductory showing of this new film will be the program at the Historical Society's Annual Membership Meeting in April.

During the month of April 1941, the state had experienced the highest average temperature and lowest average rainfall of any single month in seventy years. The forests were also clogged with blown down timber as a result of the hurricane of 1938. Numerous crews had set up portable saw mills to remove the timber.

On April 28th, the accidentally ignited fire broke out in a northern section of Marlow when a portable saw mill overheated during a record-breaking heat wave. The fire quickly raced southward, burning the full length of Marlow and into the town of Gilsum. The next day the wind shifted and the fire spread rapidly toward Marlow village. Ten local fire departments worked to save the village as the fire raced through dry fields and up to the houses. It burned all around the homes isolating the people of Marlow, but the village was saved.

Fred Jennings, the watchman in the lookout tower on Pitcher Mountain in Stoddard, made reports on the fire's progress as it raged into Stoddard. He finally fled down the mountain as the lookout tower burned behind him. The village of Stoddard was saved as rowboats were placed along the road and filled with water as a means of transferring water up the road to the fire. The fire continued to burn into April 30th, but the wind died down and snow and rain began to fall, aiding the crews in finally extinguishing the blaze.

Many homes were destroyed by the fire. Forty-eight percent of Marlow's land area had burned. In Stoddard, forty-two percent burned, as well as smaller portions of Washington and Gilsum. Although many were left homeless by the fire, not one person was injured in the blaze, including the 2,000 men who had converged on the towns to fight the enormous forest fire.

"Since the 50th anniversary event held in 1991," explains Tracy Messer, "we've been gathering photographs, news articles, official records, and first-hand accounts. The story offers a timeless message for generations of today and tomorrow about how communities support each other in the face of disaster."

The story is told through interviews with those who were involved and through original research. It incorporates elements of irony, bravery, terror, and humor. Among the remarkable individuals profiled are: "Boots" Beauman, the heroic driver who volunteered to bring a gasoline tanker truck through the burning woodlands to refuel the fire fighting vehicles in Marlow; Bill House, one of the first people to arrive at the scene of the fire; Susie Holland, assistant to the district fire chief, who maintained communications around the clock and kept a detailed log book of all communications that came through her office.

The production of Four Days of Fury has been sponsored by Patricia Gallup, co-founder and chair of PC Connection, Inc. of Merrimack, NH. The nationwide supplier of personal computer products was established in Marlow in 1983. Kris Richardson of the company's PCTV division is the videographer and editor.

Please join us to view the introductory showing of the documentary film Four Days of Fury by Tracy Messer and Charlie Strickland at our Annual Membership Meeting on Monday April 24 beginning at 7:30 p.m.. For further information, please contact HSCC at 352-1895 or hscc@hsccnh.org.

HSCC will hold its sixth annual used book sale on May 12 and 13, 2006. For the sixth year in a row a local book dealer has made a generous and large contribution of used books for our fundraising event. HSCC is once again encouraging members and friends to donate additional volumes to supplement those already contributed for the sale.

We are hoping for saleable hardcover nonfiction books to add to the selection. Topics such as antiques, history, travel, nature, cookbooks, or similar subjects would be appropriate for this book sale. This will be a "buck a book" sale, with a small grouping of higher priced items also available. We are not looking for mass market paperbacks, damaged items, or older fiction.

Do you have overflowing bookshelves and would like to help HSCC raise some money? We can use your help. Books should be delivered to HSCC by May 8th. Picking up books may also be possible. Please call HSCC at 352-1895 if you are unsure if your books are appropriate for this sale or need additional information.

HSCC's spring school group season is quickly approaching. Beginning in early May students will have an opportunity to receive a guided tour from our period dressed interpreters at the Wyman Tavern to learn about life in the late 1700s. At our main facilities, students participate in a scavenger hunt to help them learn about the history of their community and of Cheshire County by finding items within our permanent collection, our spring feature exhibit, and on an array of artwork, maps, and primary resources.

In partnership with the Horatio Colony House Museum, the Transportation Fund covers the cost of a school bus so students throughout Cheshire County can have a quality museum experience at a time when transportation costs are not available in many school budgets. Nearly 250 students from five different communities participated in 2005. With your continued support, we hope to build on the success of the past two years. If you would like to make a contribution to the Transportation Fund, please contact Tom Haynes at 352-1895.

Keene's most historic structure, the Wyman Tavern, will open for the 2006 summer season on Thursday June 1 and continue until Saturday September 2. Museum hours are Thursday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., or by appointment. Tavern fees are $3.00 per person and free to HSCC members. A listing of Tavern summer events will be announced in our June newsletter. For further information, please contact HSCC at 352-1895.

Friends of the Wyman Tavern will host its annual Spring Clean Up on Saturday April 29th starting at 9:00 a.m. No special skills or tools needed, just a love for this historic structure and willingness to help maintain and improve this wonderful building and grounds for educational use. Spring clean up tasks will include raking, pruning, maintaining flower beds, cleaning out the carriage shed, and light carpentry work. For further information, please contact Tom Haynes at 352-1895.

The 2006 baseball season has started, and we have again secured group tickets to watch the Boston Red Sox play the Tampa Devil Rays on Thursday May 25th at 7:05. The bus will leave HSCC promptly at 3:30 p.m. This third annual fundraising event to support our educational programs and activities has sold out. Thanks to all of you who will be attending this year's game, and your continued support of HSCC's educational programs.

Trustees
Ernest L. Bell, Richard Church, William Faulkner Joslin Kimball Frank, Verne Greene, John W. Harris, Christopher Kaufer, Gregory Knouff, Jim O'Neil, David Proper, Stillman Rogers, Philip Taaffe, Paul Vincent, Christine Weeks, Suzanne Whittemore

Paul Bourassa is a familiar face in the Society's Wright Room Library because of his many years of assisting patrons with their research. Paul has considerable knowledge of our local and French Canadian history and years of experience conducting genealogical research. His specialty is Franco American genealogy, where he has researched many local families. Paul also volunteers at the American-Canadian Genealogical Society in Manchester, New Hampshire. Over the years, Paul has also been a careful observer of changes in Cheshire County, documenting such changes through photography.

Paul's wide range of knowledge on topics of local history and his year's of genealogy experience are priceless contributions to HSCC. We thank Paul for the tremendous amount of time he has volunteered for the Society. It is volunteers such as Paul that help make the Society the successful organization it is.

- Business Manager Assistant: Jobs include membership mailings, data entry, and museum store inventory.

- Research Assistant: To work with the Director of Education.

- Mailing Assistant: To prep materials for bulk mailing.

- Office Assistant: Assist in a variety of jobs including computer work, covering front desk, and answer phones.

- Photograph Cataloger: To catalog and add photographs to the collections.

If you are interested in volunteering for one of the positions list above, or to volunteer in another way to support HSCC, please contact our volunteer coordinator Gail Currier at 352-1895 or bizmgr@hsccnh.org.

Looking for an opportunity to conduct genealogy research all day at one or more facilities in Boston? If so, join us on Wednesday July 19th. Our bus leave HSCC at 7:00 a.m. to arrive in Boston at approximately 9:00 a.m. Researchers will be able to visit the Boston Public Library, New England Historic and Genealogical Society, Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, State Library of Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Archives. The bus will arrive back in Keene about 7:00 p.m. Cost for this trip to Boston is $25 for HSCC members and $30 for nonmembers. To sign up for this great research opportunity, or for further information, please contact HSCC at 352-1895.

We want to thank all our 2006 business and organization sponsors. They help provide support so we can continue to offer many of our educational events and activities. For this wonderful support, thank you.

Dublin Historical Society - February Membership Meeting on the Dublin Art Colony

PC Connection - April Annual Membership Meeting on the Marlow-Stoddard Fire of 1941

Keene Sentinel - Kingsbury Toy exhibit

Keene Sentinel & Ashuelot Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution - June teacher workshop on the American Revolution

If you would like to become a sponsor of any of our educational programs, please contact Tom Haynes at 352-1895.

The Historical Society lost a wonderful friend and supporter upon the death of David F. Putnam on March 1, 2006. David's involvement with HSCC covered some four decades. He became involved in the late 1960s as one of several local residents who worked to assure the preservation of the 1762 Wyman Tavern on Main Street, often referred to as Keene's "most historic house." The foundation that acquired the Tavern transferred ownership to the Historical Society for educational use as a period house museum.

The Wyman Tavern was just the beginning of David's involvement with the Society. He also supported summer internships to catalog the organization's collections at its Colony House Museum on West Street in the 1970s. In the early 1980s he chaired an endowment campaign for the Society. Ten years later he co-chaired a capital campaign to acquire a new home for the organization, and then served on the Building Committee that made that home a reality.

Although David worked on fund raising campaigns and served on several committees, he truly enjoyed working behind the scenes to improve the organization. He researched museum computer systems and installed the Society's first computer and software in the 1980s. He also brought to the Society his valuable ability to view an issue from various perspectives, thereby allowing him to imagine how others would interpret it, and then using this information to help the organization to make the best decisions for its future growth and development.

The Historical Society will miss David Putnam's interest, guidance, and his strong support for local history and preservation. We will also miss his regular telephone calls to ask how things were progressing, and if there was anything he could do to help the organization.

The Kingsbury Fund recently donated more than 250 of the company's historic and beloved metal toys to HSCC. To honor this donation, HSCC's spring/summer feature exhibit will tell the story about the manufacturing of these toys for more then 40 years here in Keene. We will be sending out a special invitation to announce the exhibit and opening reception.

For further information, call 603-352-1895 or visit our web site at www.hsccnh.org

Monday - April 24
Annual Membership Meeting. 7:30 p.m. at HSCC (See related article).

Saturday - April 29
Wyman Tavern Spring Clean Up. 9:00 a.m. at Wyman Tavern (see related article).

Monday - May 8
Spring School Group Season Opens (see related article).

Friday-Saturday - May 12-13
Annual Book Sale (see related article).

Saturday - May 20
Architectural Tutorial w/ Max Ferro. Horatio Colony House Museum, 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Reservations or information at 352-0460.

Sunday - May 21
Architectural Tutorial - Walking Tour of Main Street w/ Max Ferro. Horatio Colony House Museum, 4:00 p.m. Reservations or information at 352-0460.

Thursday - May 25
Boston Red Sox Field Trip. Bus leave HSCC at 3:30 p.m.

Thursday - June 1
Wyman Tavern opens for summer season. Open Thursday-Saturday 9 to 4 (see related article).

Wednesday - July 19
Genealogy Research Trip to Boston. Bus leaves HSCC at 7:00 a.m. (see related article).