Last year, the society’s main goal was to restore the roof on the house. That goal was accomplished at the end of 2022 after successfully raising the needed funds. This year’s ride will raise funds to continue to restore the rest of the building.

The sleigh rides will be held March 3 through 5 at the Meeting House, located at 3502 Fluvanna Ave. Ext. in Fluvanna. The rides on Friday, March 3, will be held from 4-8:30 p.m.; Saturday’s rides will be from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and on Sunday, the rides will be from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The price is either donations, or if someone comes and renews their membership to the Fluvanna Historical Society or joins the society they can ride for free, but it is asked that all interested either book rides through the website or call.

Similar to last year’s event, the sleigh rides follow the story of Samuel Whittemore, one of the original founders of Fluvanna, who took his horse and cutter through the town and gathered the community into helping restore the meeting house over 180 years ago. The sleigh rides will take place on an authentic 19th century cutter, which is basically a horse-drawn sleigh, though President of the Fluvanna Historical Society Richard Keefer said the rides will have a different route this year.

“There will be a new, shorter route this year,” Keefer said. “Weather permitting, we will go through the woods, over some fields, and then back to the meeting house. The cutter is also smaller and more maneuverable, to show an even more authentic 19th century travel.”

An artist’s depiction of a 19th century cutter. In March, the Fluvanna Historical Society will host its second annual sleigh rides to raise funds. Submitted photos

Keefer said what the historical society is most excited about is the ability to actually be in the meeting house for this year’s event, now that the roof is finished. The building is also heated, and participants will be able to learn more about the meeting house, Whittemore’s ride, and the future renovation plans while they wait. There will also be hot chocolate and refreshments.

Mostly, Keefer wished to highlight the completed roof project.

“We are celebrating that we got it done in record time for us,” Keefer said. “We were able to raise all of the funds and the community really came together to help. We are so grateful for that, and we are very excited to be able to be in the meeting house now.”

There is still a lot more work to do to complete the restoration, Keefer said, and part of the event at the beginning of March will give participants the ability to see pictures of what the meeting house used to look like and what the historical society wants it to become, with the goal being restoring the house to a place where people will be able to meet for the next 200 years, according to Keefer.

The roof project was officially finished on Nov 4, 2022 after construction began on Sept 21, 2022. Keefer said they were able to raise the funds in a little bit over a year, beginning in June 2021 and raising all of the funds by July 2022. He added that completing the roof did provide some unique challenges for the construction company, requiring special equipment to use on the steeple.

“We are excited that we can start moving back in,” Keefer said. “We have a bold vision of what we want the meeting house to be. We want it to be a center for the community once again. At the event there will be people there to talk about it, pictures, and artists’ renderings of what it looked like in the past and what we want it to look like in the future.”

The next step, Keefer said, is coming up with both a comprehensive and strategic plan for the continued restoration. The historical society has both an architect and engineer on board, both of whom Keefer referred to as “wonderful”. Yaesol Lee and Hyungsuk Kang are helping the historical society to prioritize what they want to be done and working to get this plan together for both the building and the park next door to it.

Keefer said the next goals are bringing back the original clapboard siding and vents on the steeple of the house, to give people a glimpse of what it used to look like, and a demolition of the inside including the windows, bathrooms, and lights. They will also be meeting with a group to help restore the park.

“We’re really excited,” Keefer said. “We will have community meetings as well to be able to share our vision with everyone.”

Keefer encouraged everyone to visit the website to be able to book a sleigh ride for the March event, or to stay up to date on the meeting house, and learn more about the roof project. The website can be found at www.fluvannahistory.com, and they can be reached at (716)804-7163 if needed to call to book a ride.