At the June 2016 General Membership meeting our special guest speaker was Eileen Wagner, author of The Ghost City of San Luis Island. We also viewed our digital copy of an old promotional move about Alvin.

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Sunday, June 26 2:00 pm 309 W. Sealy Street (Alvin Senior Center) Join us at the upcoming Alvin Museum Society General Membership Meeting to hear author, Eileen Wagner review her book. "The Ghost City of San Luis Island". Based on historical events from the 1500’s to the present, the book describes an in-depth look at the City of San Luis and its people through newspaper clippings, maps, documents and narrative collections along with several rare photos that have never been made available to the public before.

" A Mother's Love" Rose King Doll Exhibit is open to the public. Do you recognize this doll? If you do, stop by the Museum to see if you are correct!

Thursday evening, May 5th, 2016 Alvin Museum will have the opening of a new exhibit. " A Mother's Love" Rose King Doll Exhibit.

Robbie and Michelle Schultz Gardem on the Alvin Garden Clup 16th Annual Garden Tour 2016

Hood-Case Elementary Nature Gardens on the Alvin Garden Club 16th Annual Garden Tour 2016

Wayne and Janice Bell garden on the Alvin Garden Club 16th Annual Garden Tour 2016

David and Roxanna Corona Garden on The Alvin garden Clup 15th Annual Garden Tour 2016

Garden Club's 16th Annual Alvin Area Garden Tour. Theme: Customizing Backyard Spaces Price- $8 donation to Alvin Museum Society $7 advance tickets available at Alvin Historical Museum, Alvin-Manvel Chamber of Commerce, DaVinci Salon, Helen's Flowers

Alvin Museum Society is proud to be a part of the Alvin Area Garden Tour again this year! Maps and details coming soon.

ALVIN MUSEUM SOCIETY CELEBRATES ITS 40TH ANNIVERSARY THEN What was done over the years to arrive at ….NOW What has been accomplished And come with us to what is BEYOND GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Sunday, February 28, 2:00 pm 309 W. Sealy Street (Alvin Senior Center) In preparing for the 40th Anniversary celebration of the Society, we become increasingly aware of the countless hours spent over the years to establish and develop a museum. These efforts have not only produced one, but two, in the course of just 40 years! Combing through Society records, minutes and newsletters, we realize how many volunteers gave their time to put together and set up exhibits in various locations, prior to having our permanent museum site, and simultaneously working at raising funds to support their efforts. Today we are very fortunate to be the beneficiaries of their efforts. We are now responsible for continuing the task of recording and preserving the history of our community while, at the same time, reaching out to provide growth and educational opportunities using the historical resources we have in our museums. We invite you all to be an active participant in these efforts. Kathy Mattes

Historic Trade Days

Friends, Here is an application for our Alvin Historic Trade Days plus a flyer in two different formats. Copy them, send them to friends, and put out on social media. All funds from booth rentals goes to the Alvin Museum Society. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE !!! Here is an updated Flyer showing that proceeds are donated to Alvin Museum Society-

AMS had the annual membership meeting Sunday, June 28. Thanks were extended to outgoing board members and introduction of new board members. We were treated to a skit with dancing cows to point out our newest exhibit of dairy equipment showing the history of the dairy business in Alvin.

Photos from the Garden tour

2nd Graders donate to the Museum

Students of Lou Ann Vasquez's 2nd Grade class presented a check to Jerry Pryor and Kathy Mattes, representatives of the Alvin Museum Society The students earned the money through their annual "Wax Museum" class project. The students dressed as, and recited information about historical figures, receiving donations for their efforts. The Society congratulates theses boys and girls for their interest in history and greatly appreciates their generous donation to the Museum.

Don't forget !!! On Saturday, April 18th, 2015, Alvin Museum Society will sponsor the Fifteenth Annual Alvin Area Garden Tour. Touring hours are 10:00 A.M. til 4:00 P.M., and the tour price of $8.00* is a tax-deductible donation to AMS. The event includes tours of three private area gardens (listed below) plus the Marguerite Rogers House Museum, as well as a plant sale out of the House Museum garage and Alvin Garden Club's Annual Flower Show at the Senior Center. Garden of Joe Sumners at 703 Old Galveston Rd. Garden of Bob and Judy Webb at 1404 Highland Dr. Garden of Roger and Jeannette Stuksa at 2185 Troon Dr. This year’s Tour theme is "Conserving, Recycling, and Winterizing." The theme of this year’s Flower Show is "A Fantasy Fairy Tale: 'Jack and the Beanstalk.'" *$8.00 Tickets with flyers and maps will be available on the day of the tour at each garden. Advance tickets are available for only $7.00 each until April 17 at several places in Alvin: the Alvin-Manvel Area Chamber of Commerce, Helen’s Flowers, DaVinci Salon, and during open times at Alvin Historical Museum. Please purchase tickets for yourself and a companion to join in the fun, or give tickets as gifts to friends or loved ones. Even if you are scheduled to work a two-hour shift, there will still be plenty of time for going on the tour. Proceeds from the event will fund maintenance of the House Museum and grounds. For a nominal rental fee, there is boothspace available on the Museum grounds for venders of garden/patio art, furniture, accessories, etc. For further information, call 28l-393-l538 or consult the Alvin Museum Society blogspot: amuseums.blogspot.com. (Calls and e-mails will be done during the 2 weeks before the event to remind AMS members who have signed up to work shifts at the sites and lend support by doing other necessary tasks before, during, and after the Tour.)

15th Annual Garden tour

This year's theme-- "Conserving, Recycling, and Winterizing"--promises some tips and pointers for every Gulf Coast gardener/ homeowner. Along with the cottage and grounds of the House Museum, we've booked three private gardens for touring: Joe Sumners' on Old Galveston Road, the Stuksas' on Troon Drive, and the Webbs' on Highland Drive. Once again, Alvin Garden Club's Annual Flower Show will be part of our line-up, and we'll have the usual Plant Sale out of the House Museum garage. There are two ways for every AMS member to help. The Graefs will bring in some blooming plants from Smith Nurseries for our sale, but we'll also need donated plants of all kinds. Please think of our event during your spring cleanup. And please get ready to say "yes" when an AMS member calls to sign you up for a two-hour workshift at one of the sites. We'll need plant cashiers and sale watchers, ticket takers and garden watchers. No "job" is difficult, but all are necessary to the success of our event. Sign-up sheets will be out at the February AMS meeting, and calls will begin after that to complete our workforce. If there is a particular job you'd like to sign up for early, please call Pat Klopp at 281-393-1538. Before most calling begins, she will be looking for various kinds of help: counting out and batching tickets and flyers in February for distribution to our advance ticket sellers and for inclusion in our cash boxes; doing some "superficial" cleaning of the cottage and outbuild-ings and/or receiving donated plants on the Friday before the event; chairing tour sites (picking up supplies and set-ting up ticket table and/or taking it down and returning supplies to the House Museum) on the day of the event. Remember that your loyal AMS participation is what keeps our event successful!

The February meeting featured a presentation on early flight history and the story of the Savidge family that were pioneers in airplane flight and did air shows in Alvin, Texas before the First World War. Some of the family settled here and some descendants attended our meeting.

The Karpeles Manuscript Museum has put their building (the old Methodist Church on Johnson Street) up for sale. The city is working to try to keep them here. We are putting together a presentation to go before City Council Thursday February 5th defining the many benefits of the museum to our city. The last portion of the presentation will be a list of people who urge that council make every effort to ensure this museum locates in our city including making available funds from the Hotel/Motel Tax Fund. We are soliciting names of people to include from across this community who support this endeavor. Below is the actual text under which the names would be listed. Please reply to this email if we can have your permission to include your name on the list. If you have questions please feel free to contact Tom Stansel at 713 247-9356. For additional information, this is the link to the Karpeles Museum website: http://www.rain.org/~karpeles/ it is well worth the time to look at the web site and see the Karpeles’ incredible collection. Thanks, Tom A Request from the Alvin Community Dr. Karpeles is a California philanthropist who has spent many years collecting significant documents and currently has a collection of over 1 million original manuscripts (the largest private collection in the world). He has opened over a dozen manuscript museums around the United States where his huge collection is displayed. His museums do not charge an admission fee and he has also instituted a program of taking copies of the manuscripts to local schools as a free educational tool. Alvin has been incredibly fortunate to have Dr. Karpeles select Alvin (the only site in Texas) as a site for one of his museums. He has purchased the old Methodist Church on Johnson Street and has been restoring this historic building for over 3 years but due to rising costs and building code issues, he is considering relocating elsewhere. We request the Mayor and City Council make every effort to ensure this museum locates in our city including making available funds from the Hotel-Motel Tax Fund.

The October General membership Meeting of the Alvin Museum Society featured a program by James Glover who is a well known researcher on the descendants of the founding families of Brazoria County. According to Mr. Glover, the families, including the Thomas family, from which he is descended, have “intertwined throughout time and territory, “creating an interesting family story which he enjoys telling.