The Annual Meeting of the Griswold Family Association was held in Wethersfield, CT, on October 6, 2001.  An energetic group conducted the group's annual business meeting, enjoyed a buffet lunch, visited historic sites in Wethersfield,  and gathered for "high tea" in the afternoon at the Michael Griswold House.  Thanks to GFA President Richard Griswold and his family for hosting the event. 

EARLY AMERICAN ARTS & CRAFTS

In the colonial times as well as for the next 100 years or so, the vast majority of the residence of a town like Wethersfield achieved whatever measure of success by virtue of one or several skills they possessed.  Most all of these skills involved the use of their hands, instruments of power, strength and creative ability.  There has been a renaissance of interest in hand skills.  We will travel back in history to that era when the Michael Griswold house was built and share with talented craft-persons and artists some of their creative skills.  

            At the beginning of the eighteenth century, it was said that a majority Connecticut farmers bought little except, salt, nails, rum, sugar and tea.  Most countrymen and their families at the time dressed in homespun and made their own shoes, breeches, hats and stockings.

            As the colonies grew in numbers, people from every part of Europe brought their combined knowledge and their individual skills and fused them with what was already established.  Thus, in spinning and weaving, in the needle arts, rug-making, building, carving, painting, and all the other arts and skills, the essence of many cultures is reflected.

            Appreciation of any art or craft practiced by a skilled artisan is heightened and enriched as we come to know something of how it was wrought.  For more than three centuries, New Englanders by inheritance and by adoption have been making useful and decorative objects of every conceivable kind and description, and the tradition remains unbroken.  The urge to create cannot be stifled or subdued, since no other outlet is more rewarding and satisfying than working with one's hands.  It is more than therapy, it is a natural expression of well being and fulfillment.  The labor involved and the effort required seem insignificant when the object itself is used, enjoyed and admired.  

            Hundreds of crafts-persons and artists participated in the Wethersfield Historical society Crafts Festival.