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Health & Fitness

Family Ties at Allaire Village

The following article was researched and written by Casey Wolfe, our Spring and Summer intern at Allaire Village! Great job, Casey!

The staff and volunteers at Allaire Village get along like one big, happy family. It is little known to our guests, however, that many of the staff members and volunteers are actually related! Working at Allaire is something that quite a few of our volunteers and employees have passed down through generations, keeping the Village alive with genuine family ties and interests. Whether it's a combination of siblings, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, or all of the above, here are just a few of our faithful workers who share a family history at Allaire Village!

Bill Gerhauser, Allaire's Chairman of the Board has introduced his granddaughter, Grace to the Village. Grace began volunteering at three-years-old (making her the youngest volunteer), and has returned ten years later! Also setting a high standard at the Village is Julia Lash, who volunteers with her father, Craig Lash. Julia is our 2012 Youth Volunteer of the Year. Militia Captain and Guild Master, Tim Brown also volunteers with his daughter, Meaghann, and his niece, Julia. Ed Delesky and Ed Delesky Jr. are father and son wheelwrights in the Village. Flo and Sam Spinazzola are a mother-daughter duo who serve as foodways Guild Master and member. Mother and son, Marie and Peter Larson volunteer as researchers and storytellers as well.

Siblings often volunteer together in the Village! Sisters Devon and Shannon Crumlish are tour guides and office staff. Karen Baum and Roni Vezeris are sisters and tour guides as well. Cameron and Brooke are a brother and sister pair who volunteer as youth interpreters.

The Sitkus family has a long history at Allaire Village. The family has been a part of Allaire Village since Mr. Allaire opened the Howell Iron Works in the 1820's. They continued to work here when Arthur Brisbane took over the property and are still a big part of the Village today. Hance Sitkus serves as Treasurer of the Board and General Store Manager while his mother, Linda Sitkus works for the State in the Visitor's Center. Hance's grandmother, Evelyn Kessler Morton spent a great deal of time at Allaire, even helping to raise money to restore the Village in the 1960's. Like her, Hance spent a large portion of his youth at Allaire. At age 12, he began volunteering as an interpreter, but his earliest memory of Allaire is riding the steam engine at age three. In 1991, he became Bakery manager and also began helping out in the General Store, where he now spends most of his time here. Hance said that he enjoyed the business of the Village so much that he changed his desired career path from becoming a history professor to managing the historic buildings. This family sets a high standard for working at Allaire Village for almost 200 years!

Family is important at the Historic Village at Allaire. It gives many of our volunteers an opportunity to spend time with their relatives and become educated about history that happened so close to home. Education is our mission not only for our visitors, but our many family volunteers as well!

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