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01/31/2018 07:30 AMSeveral fun and informative displays by the local historical society greet visitors in the foyer of the North Haven Memorial Library. These impressive exhibits are the work of avid library member and society volunteer Kathy Prentiss, who relishes the opportunity to get people interested in the town’s past.
“I always loved history, and…I get the biggest thrill of holding something in my hands,” she says, “I mean, I’ve held things over there that are almost 200 years old.”
The theme of the current display is Valentine’s Day, featuring old Valentine’s cards, historic photographs (which Kathy says is her favorite part of the display), and other “pretty stuff.”
Kathy enjoys the chance to share the town’s hidden treasures and the local parks are one of her favorite subjects. She says she got a little carried away with that display, making dioramas of some of the parks and their features, and even had rocks and grass in the exhibit.
“I spent three weeks getting the picture of the bird that I wanted,” Kathy says with a laugh.
In the summer months, Kathy created the “guess the object” display, celebrating one of the games played by participants of the library’s summer reading program.
“Being from the historical society, I pick the oldest, weirdest things I can think of and see what people know,” she says, adding she gets a kick out of people taking pictures of the object.
Kathy says some people will know exactly what it is while others have no idea—even she doesn’t always know what the items are before she does her research. She says people enjoy the guessing game, confirming that all of the artifacts and most of the photos come from the archives of the historical society.
Kathy gets positive feedback from the community and Library Director Patricia LaTerza, who Kathy says has been tremendous in opening up the library to everyone.
Kathy was also involved in a community fundraiser at Rising Sun Tavern in December, which featured Colonial re-enactors demonstrating muskets. Inside the house and helping to answer questions all day long, Kathy wanted to make sure she was outside for the last musket firing of the day. With just the historical society volunteers remaining, Kathy actually got to fire a musket herself. She says she normally won’t touch guns, but it was the historical aspect that hooked her in.
“I figured what harm could I do? It wasn’t loaded,” Kathy says with a laugh.
She could hear others laughing on the side after she fired the musket and immediately sent a picture to family members when she got back home.
An American history buff, Kathy enjoys visiting Sturbridge Village, particularly the re-enactments and going through the old buildings. Her favorite activity is talking with the shopkeepers.
“They speak to you from that time,” Kathy says, “It’s just really interesting because they’ll get into it with you.”
In her spare time, Kathy’s passionate about genealogy, having completed six family trees and discovering that one side of her family’s ancestry can be traced back farther than she ever expected.
“We still have that elusive relative that we cannot get past on one side,” Kathy says.
Kathy is very involved with her family, and is happy that she’ll be a grandmother in May. She helps out with her husband Harry’s at-home business, and in turn, he helps Kathy with her displays, including “all the lugging” and putting the treasures up for display on the top shelf.
“It’s very annoying I’m sure, but he’s fantastic and he helps me every time,” Kathy says, “I always tell him ‘You’re my right-hand man with these displays, I couldn’t do them without you.’”