What we’re all about.

Most visitors comment about the passion they hear in our voices when Brian, Alyson, or I show them around the Palatine House.  So what makes us so passionate? 

For me it’s my heritage.  I am descended from some of the first Palatine immigrants who settled in Schoharie.  I know their names, I know the names of their children, I am the keeper of their 305 year old Bible and I am proud of my ancestry.  As I type this, I look up at the portraits that hang in my living room of my great, great, grandparents, and realize that they were the sixth generation of Schaeffers in Schoharie.  Two generations before them my great, great, great, great grandfather, Hendrich, was involved in the building of what was then the Lutheran Parsonage, and is now the museum that I direct.  It was meant to be.

I won’t try to speak directly for Brian or Alyson about their passion.  You’ll have to stop by and let them tell you themselves.

Combined, I know that our passion also comes from the cold, snowy days this past Spring when we dove into this project without any clear direction on where we were headed.  We’re finding our way now, and that way is constantly evolving.  I intend to write a mission statement (on the ever growing to-do list), but I think we need this first summer to clearly define our goals.  In the meantime we’re having fun and working hard on everything from programming, to fence building, to creating our own Palatine House tongue twisters that are used to engage our younger visitors.

Stay tuned….”Who were the Palatines?” comes next!

 

Where we  are.

Tucked away behind the County Courthouse, up a hill and at the far corner of the Lutheran cemetery, is the Old Lutheran Parsonage, aka the 1743 Palatine House Museum.  As a village with no stop lights, Schoharie could be considered off the beaten path, and the Palatine House is off from that.  Is that problematic?  Not at all.

We love our remoteness, it embodies all that we stand for.  When you leave your car and meander down the path, you will cross a foot bridge over a spring that bubbles from the rock ledge and winds into a creek.   You can enjoy a stroll through the herb gardens, stare in awe at the hops cascading from their 20’ tall poles and visit with scarecrow, Nicholas, as he stands guard in the vegetable garden.   Centuries old pine trees provide peaceful shade while you enjoy a picnic, and the peaceful atmosphere engulfs you. 

Yet there is more……history!

Who we are.

A recent Facebook post inquiring where exactly the Palatine House was, gave me pause to contemplate what we have been posting about (our fun and sometimes arduous activities) and what we haven’t (our history, mission, location, etc.).  So I’ve created this blog to provide more information, while Alyson continues with the fun stuff!

Let’s start with a brief explanation of who we are, and go backward from there.  The Palatine House is operated by an amazing group of altruistic volunteers at Schoharie Colonial Heritage Assoc.   This past January they appointed me, Sue deBruijn, as the new Director of the 1743 Palatine House Museum.  My husband, Brian, immediately jumped on board as a volunteer (we’re a package deal), and Alyson was hired as our Docent.  Puppy, Cora, tags along and we now have “Team Palatine.”  On a cold, snowy day in March we all walked through the front door together and began what has truly become a journey of discovery. 

More to follow……