The bottles, each in the shape of a violin, sit in a row against my window - bottles of robins egg blue, cobalt, spring green, amber - dark and light - and clear with an ever-so-pale trace of lavender. They’ve sat on my window for years. As the sun goes about its business, reflections bounce off the glass, one way or another, sometimes creating streaks of light on the wall. My collection began with one green bottle nestled in a black wrought iron holder which hung on the wall of my childhood home. The bottle held water and sprigs of ivy which trailed towards the floor. This bottle started both my collection and my love for green, growing things.

In my kitchen, flow blue plates adorn the wall above my sink. One represents one of the few remaining pieces of my grandmothers set of wedding dishes from which the family enjoyed years of Thanksgiving dinners. Others go back even further. A flow blue pitcher - an early keepsake from Portland, Maine - sits below on the window sill and holds flowers. Its one-of-a-kind design represents the Longfellow House in Portland and brings to mind a relative I never met who owned the pitcher - great aunt Emma Zeruah, who never married but knew a ship captain who made regular trips to Africa and beyond. This piece reminds me of the exotic &endash; travel and adventure. These pieces are the foundation of my larger collection, which includes a tureen with a with a scalloped cover perched on a platter.

I occasionally glance towards my collections and remember &endash; family no longer here or houses no longer lived in while thinking ahead to the grandchild who just might treasure them as well. Most of these objects decorated homes in a time before cars, before planes and electricity, and during the early days of the last century, perhaps reflecting the same sun against other walls built long ago and filled with horse hair plaster. Most of these objects represent more than what I see. Sometimes when I glance their way, in these turbulent and somewhat anxious times of 24 hour news coverage, I am transported to memories of other people in other times in other places or of our family and its stories. Sometimes I long to simplify; to discard the old for the new, to sweep surfaces clean and neat, to unclutter my surroundings, but old things beckon. Such is the meaning of my collection.

Your collection may represent pleasant afternoons meandering at flea markets, garage sales, auctions, or antique shops. It may represent memories of an afternoon with a favorite relative or friend. Memories may warm a damp, rainy day or tug at your past as you walk by. Mine do. Your collection may sit on a shelf, nestle in a china cupboard, occupy the pages of a scrapbook, sit in a dark chest, grace a living room rug, decorate the surface of a favorite piece of furniture or sit on a window sill. If this is true, you just might have something great to do on Friday, April 9^th!

At 7:30 PM at the Old Edgell Memorial Library, Arthur Fitts III will present "Framingham and Hometown Collecting." The lecture and demonstration will be free for members of the Framingham Historical Society and cost $5 for non-members. All proceeds will benefit the fund for Village Hall. (Please contact the Society if you need help with handicapped accessibility.)

Arthur, who was born and raised in Framingham, is the oldest of three children born to Margery Lord Fitts and Arthur M. Fitts, Jr. He attended Framingham schools through junior high and subsequently went to Exeter and Harvard. He has been a partner of the Colony Coin Co. in Newtonville for the past 30 years and owner for the past 17 as well as involved in real estate in downtown Framingham. His collecting interests are Anglo-Saxon, English hammered gold and silver, milled coins, medals, early US coins and currency, and almost anything pertaining to Harvard and Framingham; postcards; maps, ephemera, and "broadsides." Arthur hopes that his slide show and lecture will inspire others to value and collect these items.

Earlier in the day Friday, April 9^th, Historic Village Hall on the common along Edgell Road will be a bustle of activity. With a theme of "Building Your Antiques and Collecting IQ," an appraisal day and speakers program featuring New England’s top speakers and appraisers will be held from 9 AM to 4 PM. Experts from Skinner, Inc. in Boston, Povall Clocks in Framingham, and others will be present.

Tickets are limited. The speakers program from 9-11:45 AM will be $40. Books, toys, general antiques, collectibles, Judaica, and sports memorabilia will be appraised in the afternoon from 12 to 4. The cost is $5 per item or 3 items for $10. To register for the speakers program and appraisal sessions, send the money and a self-addressed envelope to Village Hall, P O Box 2406, Framingham, 01703, or call 508-879-8995 for further information.

The Society’s Education Committee, headed up by Board Member Carol Getchell, needs new members to enrich the Framingham school history programs. If you are interested in education or history, do call Carol at (508) 877-1170. She would love your help!

The Framingham Historical Society’s "We Are History" oral history project is still looking for people who remember the !940’s and 1950’s in Framingham. We would love to interview you! Call me if you are interested at (508) 620-6440.

email at elsadave@ultranet.com

Framingham Historical Society Museum is in the Old Academy at the corner of Vernon and Grove Streets. Hours are Wednesday, Thursday 10am to 4pm, and Saturday 10am to 1pm. Admission $2, under 12 FREE.

For questions or information about becoming a member, call (508) 872-3780.