Dear Friends,

Summer events ended as they began, with Margaret Perry’s slide presentation, "Mill Hollow History." Over the summer nearly 200 people participated in classes or workshops at the Mill – many visiting for the first time. They came to learn, experiment, and create and enthusiastically suggested new programs for next year. One recent class participant wrote that he felt "welcomed into a family" here at Chase's Mill.

Dozens of other visitors came for Bob Brown’s weekend waterpower tours, while volunteers worked on the nature path, the new storage shed, and exhibits in the community room. The Mill hosted memorial services for Joanna Dennett, granddaughter of builder Hartley Dennett, and for Dan Curll, a key founder of the Mill Hollow Heritage Association.

On Saturday, August 14, we celebrated under a big white tent with cookies and champagne to thank and honor some of the volunteers and donors whose generosity made the rehabilitation and reopening of Chase’s Mill possible. Our indispensable Programs Manager, Jill Hall, spoke for many of us when she said, “As one of those brand new to Chase's Mill, I'd like to observe that while it is obvious that Chase's Mill in Mill Hollow is a very special place, it is also easy to see that the people who gather here are also very special. Chase's Mill gathers talented, dedicated people who are curious, eager to learn, and equally eager to share what they know with others. That kind of community is rare and precious.” (Photo: Joyce Curll signs the Donors' Plank as Jim Gruber looks on.)

At the event, MHHA Board Chair Jim Gruber announced the creation of the Dan Curll Community Programs Fund, launched with a $50,000 challenge from Joyce Curll. Our goal is to raise $150,000 over five years towards this flexible fund to support our community and education programs during this startup period. If you would like to make a pledge to the Dan Curll Fund and help us honor Dan Curll and meet this challenge, please email Bryony Romer at bryonyromer@gmail.com.

To celebrate the contributions of individuals who have given time and treasure to the Mill, each was asked to sign a plank – not a plaque. It was salvaged from a tree blown down in the Hurricane of '38 (over 80 years ago) and had been stored above the ceiling joists in the Mill’s community room.

Our A Sense of Place series will continue offering virtual programs via Zoom this winter and early spring.

Here are some topics in the works:

We welcome your suggestions for future virtual and onsite programs, too! Just email Programs Manager Jill Hall at jhall@millhollowheritageassociation.org.

Students have already found remnants of the blacksmith shop that stood between Forest Road and Warren Brook, and have tried out the huge black bellows that fanned the flames of the blacksmith’s forge. This educational project, funded by the Bailey Charitable Foundation, serves as a pilot program that we will expand in the future. (Photo: LEAF students at the Mill.)

Outside, volunteers led by Juliana Stevens, Co-Chair of Community Programs, have almost finished building the Nature Path that makes it easier to see some ancient mill foundations along Warren Brook. LEAF students will design interpretive signs identifying those old mills.

Across Forest Road, young volunteers from Kroka Expeditions in Marlow cleared invasive species from the waterway that can once again be recognized as “Lake” Edith. Bob Brown rebuilt Heman Chase’s little dam there, and for a few days we saw a model waterwheel inviting kids to play in the stream as they did decades ago. (Photo: Kroka volunteers at "Lake" Edith.) 

Inside, the community room has been transformed. Ellen Chase built handsome wheeled cabinets to display Heman Chase’s models of historic mills. Devon Dennett’s ingenious latches and locks are now displayed on the side of one dormer. The floor has been sanded and refinished with a warm glow, thanks to a gift from the Bailey Charitable Foundation. Popular classes in drawing and painting used furniture purchased with the 2020 Timken Foundation grant that funded a number of improvements.

We just received a $7,500 grant from New Hampshire Humanities for operating expenses. Looking ahead to 2022, grant requests will focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and community events.

Our fall appeal will be coming to your mailbox and inbox shortly! You can support the Mill Hollow Heritage Association with a year-end gift via check (MHHA/Chase’s Mill, 39 Simon St. Unit 16, Nashua, NH 03060) or online at this link. 

Please help us save printing and postage costs. To keep receiving Grist from Chase's Mill send your email address to: admin@millhollowheritageassociation.org. Thank you!