- Details
- Category: Current Issue
Boxcar
museum
going
gang
busters
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — It’s like the “Little Engine That Could” — only it’s our Boxcar version.
Perhaps it faded into the background during three years of renovations and COVID, but the Gertrude Chandler Warner Boxcar Museum is already shining brightly this season.
And it’s busy! The museum is in need of volunteers. The Boxcar is open weekends from May through mid-October. Volunteers are asked to work one shift per month from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. or from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Saturday or Sunday. According to Pat Hedenberg, “It’s easy and training is provided. For further information call Renee at 860-974-0325.”
Visitors are pouring in from around the world.
Renee Boutin Tsanjoures said that from 2004 to 2018 the museum in the red boxcar had visitors from 30 countries. And just this year, after a three-year hiatus, she said four more countries have been added to that list.
The total number of visitors from April 2004 to the end of October 2018 is more than 7,700. And that’s probably on the low side because many visitors don’t sign in.
“Adults/families have visited from Indonesia, United Kingdom, Algeria, and just last weekend folks had come from Amman, Jordan,” she said. “The thing that has always surprised me is that the Boxcar gets visitors from around the world, but our local communities sometimes, don’t even know about the Boxcar.”
Tsanjoures said the boxcar has had visitors from 130 of the state’s 169 towns, plus 44 states and four Canadian provinces.”
Most of the “missing” Connecticut towns are in the northwest and southwest corners of the state.
Visitors have come from: Alberta-(Calgary); Ontario-(Toronto and Mississauga); Quebec-(Montreal); New Brunswick; plus: Denmark, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Israel, Malaysia, Hungary, Guatemala, Germany, China, Nicaragua, Dubai (UAR); Hong Kong; Poland, Vietnam, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Cambodia, England, Antigua, Cuba; Thailand; Netherlands; Australia, and Haiti.
So far this year, she said, visitors have come from: Tennessee, Nebraska, Michigan, Georgia, West Virginia, Hawaii, Florida, Vermont, Virginia, Ohio, California, North Carolina, Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, lots of parts of Connecticut, and four countries.”
Such a long, fun, educational reach from Putnam around the world.
Volunteer Barbara Schreier said: “I enjoy the social aspect of volunteering. I like speaking with people from other towns and countries, and hearing their histories. I am amazed how many people enjoy exposing their families to the stories and the pleasure they derive from sharing. There is something for all ages to do while visiting, whether it is creating a spool pet, taking a mystery tour, filling out a crossword puzzle or having your photo taken with Watch – the dog, we have it all.”
Another volunteer, Will Child, said: “I enjoy volunteering for something that promotes reading and education. I grew up reading the Boxcar books by Gertrude Chandler Warner and found that they help to build a child’s vocabulary along with being entertaining. They are still relevant today and are used by missionaries in China to promote reading.“
And volunteer Barbara Scalise said: “Since I retired, I have volunteered for three local groups. Volunteering leads to meeting many fabulous people that you may have never otherwise met. Volunteering also leads to many unexpected life experiences. Through working at the Boxcar Museum I have spent a day with Patricia MacLachlan, a famous author, participated in making a promotional video with Open Road Media and worked with editors from Albert Whitman Publishing Co. However, meeting and interacting with museum docents and visitors is the best.
.