As the new director of the Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum, Timothy Quill hopes to de-emphasize the agricultural.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Timothy Quill is the new director of the Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum, which opens for the season later this month.
Timothy Quill is the new director of the Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum, which opens for the season later this month.
In addition to the antique tractors and farm equipment on display at the museum, Quill would like to see visitors pay equal attention to attractions like its recreated veterinarian's office and one-room schoolhouse, as well as its fully functional Model T, which ferries guests around at the museum's Old Ways Days every summer.
“We show people what rural life was like in the 1800s and 1900s,” Quill said.
Quill came to the museum after 33 years of teaching social studies at Marion Central School. The drive to Marion from Quill's home of Cayuga had finally worn him down when he spotted a listing for the museum's director posted in the newspaper.
When he interviewed with the board of commissioners, which included Norm Riley, Quill could already list the improvements he had in mind for the museum.
“He just demonstrated that he was a leader,” Riley said. “He seemed to be the one we should hire.”
With less stress and structure than an educational setting, Quill has settled comfortably into his new position.
Though his educational background prepared him for directing the museum, it is Quill's childhood that's especially relevant. For 28 years he was raised on a dairy farm in Cayuga with his mother and father, four brothers and three sisters.
“The family's always together, they never left to go to work,” Quill said. “It's all bonding and coming together.”
Since taking the helm of the museum in March, Quill has already made many leaps toward establishing it as a worthwhile learning experience. New DVD technology will enable Quill to tape events, such as a visiting blacksmith, and show them to guests when the volunteers don't happen to be on hand.
“It's like an extension of the classroom,” Quill said.
Quill is also overseeing the opening of a new museum gift shop with T-shirts and hats, as well as educational items for children. A new patrons campaign will seek support from local community members and businesses.
“We're owned by the county and they're quite reluctant to finance us the way we'd like, but with Tim's leadership and suggestions we may be able to do more with our exhibits,” Riley said.
“Tim's main objective is to get more people in the museum.”
A room on the museum's second floor long used for storage is currently being converted into a library with a conference table, where lectures can take place year round once the space is heated in the winter months. Quill is also heading up the restoration of the museum's herb garden, where he hopes to see museum patrons having lunch and studying the plants.
As Quill's additions draw new visitors, Riley feels the museum's regular attractions will receive the attention they deserve. He points to the local history represented by the bronze bell of the old E.D. Clapp factory on the corner of West Genesee and Columbus streets, as well as the wooden models of wagon trappings used in court by a competing company to allege patent infringement against the Clapp corporation.
New to the museum this year is a working horse treadmill, 10 feet in diameter, that was used to power the churning of 400 pounds of butter a day at a Sempronious farm in the 1830s.
“There's more in central New York's history at the museum than you'll find anywhere else in central New York,” Riley said. “But people don't seem to realize that.”
If you go
What: Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum
When: Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, May 19 through Friday, Sept. 19
Where: 6880 E. Lake Road, Owasco
For more: Call 252-7644
“We show people what rural life was like in the 1800s and 1900s,” Quill said.
Quill came to the museum after 33 years of teaching social studies at Marion Central School. The drive to Marion from Quill's home of Cayuga had finally worn him down when he spotted a listing for the museum's director posted in the newspaper.
When he interviewed with the board of commissioners, which included Norm Riley, Quill could already list the improvements he had in mind for the museum.
“He just demonstrated that he was a leader,” Riley said. “He seemed to be the one we should hire.”
With less stress and structure than an educational setting, Quill has settled comfortably into his new position.
Though his educational background prepared him for directing the museum, it is Quill's childhood that's especially relevant. For 28 years he was raised on a dairy farm in Cayuga with his mother and father, four brothers and three sisters.
“The family's always together, they never left to go to work,” Quill said. “It's all bonding and coming together.”
Since taking the helm of the museum in March, Quill has already made many leaps toward establishing it as a worthwhile learning experience. New DVD technology will enable Quill to tape events, such as a visiting blacksmith, and show them to guests when the volunteers don't happen to be on hand.
“It's like an extension of the classroom,” Quill said.
Quill is also overseeing the opening of a new museum gift shop with T-shirts and hats, as well as educational items for children. A new patrons campaign will seek support from local community members and businesses.
“We're owned by the county and they're quite reluctant to finance us the way we'd like, but with Tim's leadership and suggestions we may be able to do more with our exhibits,” Riley said.
“Tim's main objective is to get more people in the museum.”
A room on the museum's second floor long used for storage is currently being converted into a library with a conference table, where lectures can take place year round once the space is heated in the winter months. Quill is also heading up the restoration of the museum's herb garden, where he hopes to see museum patrons having lunch and studying the plants.
As Quill's additions draw new visitors, Riley feels the museum's regular attractions will receive the attention they deserve. He points to the local history represented by the bronze bell of the old E.D. Clapp factory on the corner of West Genesee and Columbus streets, as well as the wooden models of wagon trappings used in court by a competing company to allege patent infringement against the Clapp corporation.
New to the museum this year is a working horse treadmill, 10 feet in diameter, that was used to power the churning of 400 pounds of butter a day at a Sempronious farm in the 1830s.
“There's more in central New York's history at the museum than you'll find anywhere else in central New York,” Riley said. “But people don't seem to realize that.”
If you go
What: Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum
When: Open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, May 19 through Friday, Sept. 19
Where: 6880 E. Lake Road, Owasco
For more: Call 252-7644