At the Valley Historical Society meeting, Sheryl Christy was one of the speakers on genealogy research. Photograph by John Sipos

SINCLAIRVILLE – Members and guests of the Valley Historical Society met recently for a meeting and program at the Sinclairville Fire Hall Dining room.

President Larry Barmore welcomed all, and then led the group in the Lord’s Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Secretary Evelyn Thorndike read the minutes of the previous meeting. Treasurer John Sipos gave the financial report of the society, and then a report of the recent 26th annual history fair. There were many people who were thanked for making the event, including all of the efforts of Dean Houser and Barmore.

A bottle of MItchell’s cider vinegar was found in the basement of Barmore’s mother’s house, and Barmore presented the unopened bottle to Lori Brockelbank, who is the current owner of the former Mitchell Cider barn. It is estimated to be about 70 years old.

The program of the evening was on genealogy. Two guest speakers were Susan Sipos and Sheryl Christy. Mrs. Sipos has been doing genealogy work for more than 30 years, and showed everyone how to begin genealogy work, and the kinds of organizational sheets to use for gathering information. At all times she said use a pencil because one would want to add or change information. Mrs. Sipos said she has found her family information dating to the 1600s. There were many notebooks and a picture board for all to examine.

Mrs. Christy said she began genealogy work in the 1970s with her husband’s side of the family. She has then expanded her research to include her family since many of them are from the Chautauqua County area. She also had many notebooks of records for all to examine. Oftentimes, one only finds a small amount of information in some book, but all helps in putting pieces together for research. Both speakers provided a very interesting program.

Following the program, refreshments of donuts and cider were provided for all by Peggy Maloy and Helen Runge.

The Valley Historical Society was formed in 1977, and in 1978 the museum was purchased. The museum located at the corner of Main and Lester Streets in Sinclairville, houses many old artifacts of the Cassadaga Valley area. For more information on the Valley Historical Society, write to P.O. Box 1045, Sinclairville, NY 14782.