by Sylvia Benavidez
The Albion Historical Society’s annual Mother’s Tea kicked off a new season of touring The Gardner House Museum on Saturday, May 10. The museum, located at 509 S. Superior St. was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and celebrates its 150th year since being built.
The tea’s theme this year was Come With Your Mother’s Hairdo! Attendees were encouraged to come to the tea with their hair styled as their mother’s in honor of one of the two exhibits. Albion Historical Society President Celeste Connamacher explained, “Barbershops and Beauty Shops of Albion, that’s open. We had a soft open in November of last year, a brand-new exhibit. The other one is the dams of Albion.”
Connamacher credits the team for the success of Saturday’s two seatings, one at 11 a.m. and the other 1 p.m., totaling 35 people. She said, “It’s all homemade cooked food.” A warm quiche, cucumber sandwiches, berries, dessert, and a variety of teas all were found a table graced with antique tea sets. “It’s really a team effort. Overall, this entire organization is here to keep Albion history alive, and this is a historical event that we do every year.”
Working the annual Albion Historical Society functions has taught Connamacher much about Albion’s history since she is not native to Albion. “Every year I learn something more. I really enjoy the history of Albion,” she said. “I love seeing connections. Where I came from in western New York, it’s interesting to me to see how they had an influx of immigrants and how their history played out. And to me, this is just a few pages down the book.” The first settlers of Albion migrated from New York and Gardner House Museum explains that history.
The treasurer of the Albion Historical Society, Jim Seidl, also help host the tea. People, he said, have no idea how sturdy this house is, he said, “I always tell people if there was a tornado coming, this is where to go. This is one of the best built houses in Albion because it’s all brick.”
The Mother’s Day Tea gives him the chance to spend a little more time with visitors of all ages. “I like the fact that it brings people from Albion into the museum to learn about the museum and to learn about the history of Albion and some of the different people who were founders of Albion because so much of it is lost. People drive by this house all the time. It amazes me as a docent how many people come in here and say it is the first time they have been in here in their life.”
Although Albion resident and artist Sara Neville has visited the house before, the tea was new to her. “This is the first time I have been here, and I am glad I did it,” she said. “I enjoyed the tea by myself. It was good, and all the older stuff, the fireplaces, the whole (experience) just makes me feel ethereal.”
Neville spoke with Albion resident Erika Flores about World War II and her father’s Army unit which she found was the same unit Flores’ son joined years later. It’s these types of connections that has kept Flores returning to the event for 10 years. She said, “It’s elegant, lovely, and tasty. I love the company and the setting. I am hoping to do it again next year.”
Janelle Mujahid, Albion, brought her family to the tea. “We actually do that at home often. So, we call it tea and crumpets,” she said. “My mother passed away and we used to do that often with her and they enjoyed the fact that that was something their grandmother enjoyed doing also.”
Seidl took her children through the house and Mujahid explained what they liked best. “Yes, all the pictures. They like to know about the pictures of the little kids, all the adults. They want to know what’s it about, what were they doing, and who are they. I think they are just mesmerized by the history.”
Mujahid said her kids will be helping at the tea next year and she did her part in sharing Albion’s history during the tea. “I told my kids the history of Mother’s Day, that we invented Mother’s Day. I explained it to them and showed them the plaque.”
“We want to honor Juliet Calhoun Blakely who is our link to Mother’s Day and by having this tea we bring people into the museum who don’t even realize we have link to Mother’s Day so that’s why it’s important,” said Seidl. Blakely’s son encouraged the town to celebrate their mothers and eventually others for all they did in the community. They supported her temperance movement work to being willing to step in for the local paster when he had to leave suddenly to help his son in trouble with the law over alcohol.
Connamacher said there will be fun activities planned throughout the year to celebrate the home’s 150th year. She said, “We are going to kind of make a big celebrations of that. It’s been roughed out. Details to come.”
