Songs and stamps highlight 25th anniversary
celebration at Parma’s Meetinghouse

After weeks of housecleaning and exhibit rearrangements, the Parma Meetinghouse is ready to host its 25th anniversary open house on Saturday, December 6 from noon until 4 p.m.

Mystique, the popular women’s barbershop quartet, has prepared a special program of humorous and traditional holiday music. Florence Wright will present her popular exhibit of Christmas seals and Shirley Cox Husted has a new book to autograph during the sale of gift books from noon to 4 p.m.

There is a very special new item on display, a silver plated mustache cup presented to Hilton’s first president, as mayors were formerly called. It was contributed by the family of the Rev. Charles A. Hilton for whom the village was named and is part of a newly created voting exhibit which also includes old ballot boxes, commemorative presidential plates, a Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider’s costume once worn in local political parades, gavels and an oak table used by former town boards.

Christmas seals, the small stamps that have become an important fund-raising project for the American Lung Association since their introduction in 1907, will be the featured holiday exhibit. Emily Bissell borrowed $40 to have the first seals printed, raising about $3,000 through their sale at a penny each. Now over 28 million seals are mailed to homes across the country, seeking donations to help fund education, research and advocacy for asthma and tobacco control programs. Mrs. Wright, the wife of former Hilton resident Norman Wright, has created her exhibits as a way to help other people with lung disease. She suffered from a tuberculosis spot on her lung as a child.

Awards for her seal displays at stamp show exhibits have become a rewarding aspect of her zeal in collecting seals on envelopes and collectible objects for more than a decade. From her home on Northumberland Road, Pittsford, she contributes other services to help spread worldwide awareness of tuberculosis, as secretary of the Christmas Seal and Charity Stamp Society, a 400-member international organization. Seals from many other countries are included in her displays.

“The Funny Farm Cook Book,” a collection of 251 recipes and craft ideas suitable for youngsters and adults to enjoy making, is dedicated to the staff at McCracken Farms in Sweden, where Husted portrayed Talking Feather, the Native American storyteller, for the last 11 years. She’ll autograph copies, as will Rochester’s City Historian Ruth Rosenberg-Napersteck whose books are also on sale at the museum along with various books featuring local history.

For information, consult Parma’s webpage at www.Parmany.org and www.christmasseals.org.