What Makes Newtown Special

To The Editor:

As most of you know, the Newtown Historical Society owns and operates the Matthew Curtiss House Museum located at 44 Main Street in Newtown’s Historic District.

In the fall of 2007, we learned that the wood roof on our museum was in deplorable condition and needed to be replaced with a historically correct new wood roof. Needless to say, wood roofs are very expensive.

We are an all-volunteer group and operate on a very small budget and certainly did not have sufficient funds for this project. The historical society did what most organizations would do and sent out a townwide mailing appealing for help. The response from the community was good and we received more than 125 donations from generous townspeople. The problem was, after printing and mailing costs, we did not raise nearly enough money for this project. The roof continued to deteriorate and, in fact, this winter we did get a small leak in one spot which we were able to temporarily patch. Our plan was to try and obtain a grant, which is very difficult, or perhaps hold some type of fundraiser.

Last winter, out of the blue, I received a phone call from a total stranger. The call went something like this: “Hello, my name is Mark Edwards and I understand you need a new wood roof for your museum.” “Yes,” I replied. Mark said, “Well I grew and live in Newtown and always loved the Curtiss House and even remember my class trip there in second grade. I own Mark Edwards Roofing and Siding, and if you can purchase the materials at my wholesale cost, I will put the new roof on and donate all the labor.” As you can imagine, I was speechless.

The project was completed last month and due to Mark’s generosity, we had enough funds available. We cannot thank Mark and his crew enough for doing such a great job.

On Saturday, July 18, we will hold our annual House & Garden tour. You can stop by the Curtiss House then to buy your tickets and see our wonderful new roof.

Lincoln Sander, President

Newtown Historical Society

211 Walnut Tree Hill Road, Sandy Hook                        July 6, 2009