On Monday, September 18, the Calais and East Montpelier Historical Societies invite you to attend a presentation by Tom Schmidt who will be speaking about the history of the Old Meeting House in East Montpelier. Tom has written "Presence in the Center: A Bicentennial History of the Old Meeting House" in honor of the church's 200th anniversary. The presentation takes place at 7:00pm at the Old Meeting House Parish Hall, 1620 Center Road, East Montpelier. Both the Old Meeting House in East Montpelier and the Old West Church in Calais were built by framer Lovell Kelton between 1822-23 to 1825.

Also, on display are prints of paintings by James Franklin Gilman who was an itinerant artist, born in Massachusetts in 1850, who arrived in Vermont in 1872 where he lived for 20 years. Gilman sold his first painting in his early 20s and became a self-taught, traveling painter, mostly using his skills to trade for room and board. These reproductions are privately owned by the Vermont Historical Society and descendants of farmers with whom he stayed in East Montpelier, Calais and North Montpelier. They reflect rural life in America at that time, as well as the farm life around the Old Meeting House in 1832 when it was being built.

Donna Fitch, Calais Historical Society

Sep 20, 2024, 7 to 9:30 PM

Sep 21, 2024, 9 AM to 1 PM

Sep 21, 2024, 9 AM to 2 PM