GAYLORDSVILLE – The Merwinsville Hotel Restoration, Inc., will unveil its third floor ballroom restoration June 30 with an afternoon tea party from 2 to 4 p.m.
The menu includes tea sandwiches, small bites, and desserts served by Hendrick’s Catering of Sherman. Entertainment will be provided by Kandie Carle with period dancing demonstrations.
There will also be a Merwinsville Hotel-themed art installation and prize awards announced from the competition that includes professional and amateur categories in three medium categories: painting/drawing, photography and mixed media. Entries for this special art show are due Sunday, June 16 and must have been completed in the last three years. The show will be on display throughout the summer and visitors will be able to vote on the People’s Choice Award.
Tickets for the unveiling are available online at www.merwinsvillehotel.org. Hotel members are $25; non-members, $30 and sales at the door, $35 per person. Advance ticket purchases and RSVPs must be received by Saturday, June 15. Invitations have been sent to those on the hotel mailing list and checks are payable to Merwinsville Hotel Restoration, P.O. Box 304, Gaylordsville, CT 06755.
This is the final portion of the restoration that began in 1971 when a group of local Gaylordsville residents formed the non-profit organization to save the deteriorating historic building that first opened in 1843 as a meal stop serving the Housatonic Railroad.
The ballroom was the site of many dances and events over the hotel’s long history. In recent decades it has been used as a storage area. Due to current fire codes, there is a limit to how many people are allowed in the ballroom at any one time.
The hotel is a 100 percent volunteer-run organization, with a volunteer Board of Directors and dedicated individuals who raise funds for the operation of the 181-year-old building that is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Funds for the ballroom restoration came from local donors and the three annual seasonal fundraisers that incorporate art shows and sales of artisans’ and craftspeople’s work.
The Merwinsville Hotel is located at 1 Browns Forge Road in Gaylordsville, CT. For more information and to receive a prospectus for the art show entry, contact Jeremy Ruman at jeremy@merwinsvillehotel.org. For further information, call 860-350-4443.
