Supporting A Good Cause

This is actually a pre-journey column, as I am writing it as we are preparing to go up to the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms for their annual Stickley Weekend and Gala.

Despite the 700 miles which separate us, I have been able to visit Craftsman Farms several times since my first tour in 1990. Like driving up the road to the Grove Park Inn, each time I see the log house through the trees, it never fails to inspire me.

I am also inspired by the New Jersey residents who in 1988 began fighting the developers who planned to build condominiums on Gustav Stickley’s former farm and transform his 1909 log home into a clubhouse. Complete, I would imagine, with a swimming pool in the front yard, a miniature golf course in the back, and tennis courts in the meadow. The surrounding trees would have been leveled for parking.

Today, fortunately, the Farms is in secure hands, having been purchased back then by the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills. The non-profit Stickley Museum, however, fights an on-going battle to raise the funds necessary to recruit, train, and maintain a small but talented and dedicated staff. Their task is to develop a series of community programs intended to educate people about the Arts and Crafts movement, as well as to preserve the museum’s collection of priceless antiques, most original to the house.

Chances are you, like myself, don’t live close enough to Craftsman Farms to sit in on committee meetings or to volunteer as tour guides. This week, however, there is something you can do to show your support for the staff and programs at the Stickley Museum. For the first time, non-attendees will be able to either leave bids on the seven live auction items or to bid on them over the phone. You can see the list of the live auction items in our “In the News” article above and at the link below.

The Stickley Museum staff has provided us with this link which you can use to both learn more about the live auction items and to place a bid on them. Take a moment to click on the link below and see what you won’t have to be missing this Saturday!

https://www.stickleymuseum.org/support/the-craftsman-gala/2019-auction-guide.html

On behalf of the board, the staff, the volunteers, and the people they impact, thank you!

A few members of the museum’s exhibition team: Trustee Barbara Fuldner, Jonathan Clancy, Guest Curator David Cathers, and Vonda Givens with Board President Barbara Weiskittel.