News

Courthouse Fall Newsletter 2023

January 17, 2023   The Historic Salem Courthouse Thanks Bob Akland for Years of Service"       Bob Akland began planting trees on his farm in East Greenwich in 1993. Since then he has planted about 10,000 trees, including Norway spruce, black walnut, locust and larch. The trees, he says, are an investment in the future, but somebody else’s future! Bob has always found ways to devote his time to investing in the future of others.  He spent his 33 year career teaching and as a guidance counselor endowing kids with the knowledge and skills they would need in

Love and Light December 2022     Perhaps nothing evokes holiday nostalgia more than the sound of young voices singing traditional tunes and carols.  At the Salem Historic Courthouse on Sunday evening, December 4, a multi-generational crowd stood among a small forest of bedecked fraser firs and chimed in with those voices at the 2022 Love and Light Memorial Tree lighting ceremony. Leading up to the evening, members of the community were given the opportunity to “buy” one of the twenty trees to decorate in memory of a loved one.  The trees featured photos, drawings and special ornaments, but the

Story Court Salem Historic Courthouse October 8, 2022 A new program, Story Court, debuted at the Historic Salem Courthouse on October 8th. The details of daily life while growing up in Salem and the surrounding area, as told by two lifelong residents, Neil Adams, 88 and Dick McGuire, 100, were the focus of a casual evening of oral history. According to Neil Adams, of Shushan, when he was a boy Saturday nights on Main St in Salem were so busy it was difficult to find a parking spot. Women came to the village for shopping, kids came for haircuts and

Courthouse Knitters May12, 2022 “I like eating the snacks!” said fifth grader, Maggie Patrick, about the Tuesday afterschool knitting group she’s been attending at the Historic Salem Courthouse. Her twin sister, Lauren, says it is exciting to learn something new each time. Since October, four enthusiastic beginning knitters have been crossing the road from Salem School to join four experienced knitters (well, one does crochet) headed up by Salem resident, Priscilla Cutler. They knit, nibble, talk and learn together for about an hour each week. On Tuesday, May 10, they enjoyed an end of the year celebration, complete with certificates,

March 2022 The Historic Salem Courthouse Preservation Assocation is celebrating its 20 th anniversary this year. It has served as an organization dedicated to preserving and restoring the 1869 courthouse, but it is much more than that. The Courthouse campus has become a lively place full of arts and educational programs, and is the site of a thriving community garden, commercial kitchen and thrift shop. Since the stewardship of the building transferred to the HSCPA in 2002, the organization has aspired to make The Courthouse a true community center. The most significant community project sponsored by The Courthouse has been

HHHN Mobile Health Van at the Historic Salem Courthouse Community Center 11/2021 A convenient new option for primary health care became available to Salem, and the nearby community, in June when the Hudson Headwaters Health Network mobile van started its weekly Monday and Tuesday rounds. Parked just outside the Historic Salem Courthouse and directly across the road from the Salem Central School, the fully equipped mobile clinic is certified by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The handicap accessible 40ft long RV has everything you would find at a brick and mortar clinic including two exam rooms, a

At The Historic Salem Courthouse, The Battenkill Kitchen, an approximately 800 square foot New York State certified commercial kitchen, has been the heart of countless food focused activities for many years. Managed by volunteers since 2013, the kitchen has hosted cooking classes and nutritional awareness activities for both adults and children, as the meal preparation site for events and fundraisers, and a place where small food entrepreneurs can build their businesses. Until 2003, when the new jail in Ft. Edward was completed, it was the kitchen for the Washington County Jail. Currently, there are 12 members of the shared kitchen

Girls on the Run February 2022   Across North America about 200,000 girls benefit from “Girls on the Run” programs each year. Now, 16 very excited girls in Salem will be participating in the eight-week season at the Historic Salem Courthouse community center beginning on March 28.   Girls on the Run (GOTR), which began in 1996, is “dedicated to creating a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.“ The program is not new to Salem, having run there for several seasons until about ten years ago. Fortunately, former coaches

20th Anniversary Courthouse Story January 2022   Over twenty years ago, a tenacious and resourceful group in Salem realized if they didn’t act, the stately county courthouse property in their village could deteriorate from lack of use and neglect once the new county courthouse complex (1994) and jail (2003) were completed in Ft Edward. Their first priority was to control the destiny of the buildings so that they could be preserved   Salem, in what is now Washington County, had been a county seat since 1779. The massive county, originally 8000 square miles, required a second seat, which was located