A Letter from President Drew Saur for 2026
December 18, 2025
Happy Holidays and New Year to Members & Friends!
Well, we did it! Have you seen it?
On Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 2pm, we hosted a grand reopening of our Museum. This event followed 21 months of volunteer work to finish the first complete exhibit overhaul in the Museum’s 56-year history, and the most substantial reimagining of its exhibits in three decades.
Every new exhibit has been examined through a fresh lens: Would this be something a visitor to our Museum would seek or expect to find? Gone are generalized displays of things that were merely “old,” whether from our area or not. Visitors will find exhibits dedicated to businesses of our town and village; key Native American artifacts; displays covering the social fabric of our community (baseball, civic organizations, parades, fairs, bands, etc.); school artifacts (yearbooks, uniforms, photos and other paraphernalia); portraits of, and art from, notable residents; and a whole section dedicated to the railroads (and airport!) of our area. All three rooms in our Museum are chock full of all-new items on display that pertain to our community. Thanks to the Honeoye Falls Foundation, we even have an interactive kiosk that displays videos and allows visitors to search our collections.
I want to thank our Wednesday morning volunteer corps (which included Gary Albright, Denise Dickinson, Kathy Eastman, Jacob Fox, Bill Lane, Jane McGory, Sue Ellen Roach, Penny Schraeder and Charles Woolever). Since the reopening, I can tell you that I have never seen visitors take so much time to take in and enjoy our exhibits in all my years with the Society. I promise you that these exhibits will capture your attention in a way they haven’t in quite some time.
Our 2026 Challenge for You
Do you know that you, as a 2025 member, are one of only about 40 active members of our Society? That’s right, 40. A Historical Society in a town of our size should, in my estimation, have at least 150 members. We have a long way to go. Our biggest goal for 2026 is to increase both awareness of our Society, and to increase membership. Membership dollars are the primary source of funding for our Museum displays and for our monthly programs. We need more members!
So: I have a plea for all existing members: Please get ONE new member to join our Society in 2026!
We really hope you are up for this challenge. If you have someone join, please let me know.
Other 2026 Goals
Of course, our regular duties for 2026 include:
- Continuing our full inventory of our Museum collections, which is a multi-year effort. If you want to help with this by volunteering on Wednesday mornings, please let me know!
- Continued indexing and photographing our archival materials and donations of artifacts to the Museum.
- Hosting our eight exciting new programs. Please take a look at them in the enclosed brochure. All eight are also listed on Facebook, and our website includes a download that will populate your e-calendars with them so that you don’t miss them. There is a QR code for this calendar on the front of the enclosed brochure if you’d like to avoid typing.
- We truly plan on a revised Holiday event this December; please look to our website and Facebook page as the holidays approach.
Membership & Renewals
We have an online membership renewal form at https://hfmhistorical.org/membership-donation/ – we prefer that you use this to renew if you can.
If you lack Internet access or just prefer paper, you are welcome to download and print our paper membership renewal form and return it with your dues payment. Remember to include your e-mail address to receive timely and detailed notices of Historical Society program meetings and other events of interest. Any questions, please call me at 585-281-0014 or e-mail me at president@hfmhistorical.org.
I am grateful for your ongoing support and, once again, for your individual ability to have one new member join our Society in 2026. We hope to see you at our free Thursday evening programs each month, and during Sunday afternoon Museum hours from 2–4pm.
May your 2026 bring health, safety, and joy.
Sincerely,
Drew D, Saur, President
president@hfmhistorical.org • 585-281-0014
