SINCLAIRVILLE – The Valley Historical Society is welcoming the public to attend its meeting today to learn more about the historic Mitchell/Colburn cider mill.

The group holds its meetings on the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m., except for in January, February and March. Meetings are often held at Sinclairville Free Library, 15 Main St., which is where today’s meeting will be held.

Speakers are also often welcomed to their meetings, and November’s speaker is Lori Brockelbank, the current owner of the historic Mitchell/Colburn cider mill.

“She is in the tree business, but she has a love for the old cider mill,” said Larry Barmore, Valley Historical Society president. “She bought it several years ago along with the house, and she has restored the house and is working on restoring the mill.”

Barmore said Brockelbank will be talking about her current efforts to restore the mill.

The cider mill was built in 1881 by Ted Mitchell, who owned and operated it until he died. His wife then rented the mill to someone until that person decided they did not want it. The mill was then taken over by the Colburn family until it stopped bringing in a profit in the 1960s.

Barmore said anyone interested in not only the history of the mill but also the history of Sinclairville should attend.

“It’s one of the older buildings in town and it’s the first in Sinclairville with a cement foundation rather than a stone foundation,” Barmore said. “Ted Mitchell’s father was a mason by trade and he built a lot of the buildings in Sinclairville.”

Barmore said if people enjoy history they should expect to be entertained if they come to the meeting. He hopes that people will leave with a better understanding of the history of the mill.

“I think people know the mill, but they don’t necessarily know about the history of it,” he said.

This will be the last Valley Historical Society’s meeting involving a speaker until April. The December meeting will be a Christmas party, and the first meeting of next year in April is expected to be a maple syrup party, where Barmore said people will learn about maple syrup and how to make things such as cream with it.

He encouraged everyone to come out to the meeting.

“Come out and hear what Lori has to say, and learn about the history of the mill,” Barmore said.