Latest Issue

May 2026 Issue

In the May 2026 issue, we have a lot of news for you, including two stories that have unfolded in recent weeks.

On April 11, local student Eliza (Ellie) Ruck and her Mill River Union High School teammates won a 1st Place Award at the Vermont History Day competition at St. Michael’s College in Colchester. The Vermont win qualified the team for competition in the National History Day competition to be staged June 14-18, 2026, in College Park, Md. See Ellie’s tribute to what she learned as a youngster growing up in Middletown Springs in “Learning to Love History” on Page 6.  

And, on May 8th, MSHS itself was honored by the Vermont Historical Society with an “Award of Excellence” for its Video History Series, which premiered last fall at the MSHS Annual Meeting in September. The VHS award was presented to MSHS at the May Annual Meeting of the League of Local Historical Societies and Museums in St. Albans, Vt. See Page 1 for details. 

Inside the May 2026 issue, you’ll also find details about two MSHS events on Sunday, June 21st: our 51th Annual Strawberry Festival featuring fresh strawberries galore, small craft fair, live music, and free museum admission—plus the debut of our newest exhibit, Cabinets of Curiosities, showcasing  nearly 50 objects from the Society’s own collection, which has been curated to include items that have Middletown Springs provenance. Other stories focus on the 2025 Annual Meeting report, and the Revolutionary War talk scheduled for the upcoming MSHS annual meeting on September 20, 2-4 pm. MSHS is pleased to announce that its featured guest presenter in September is Ennis Duling of East Poultney, giving an illustrated talk on “Mount Independence: Defending the Young Republic.”

And, finally, in The President’s Corner, David Wright delves into the kinds of intriguing queries and comments that MSHS receives from visitors to the MSHS website.