By Maggie Gill-Austern,Special to the Sun Journal

CHESTERVILLE – After nearly three years of hard work, members of the Chesterville Historical Society will holding a public signing of their newly published book Oct. 22 at the Town Hall.

“Chesterville Memories: A Bicentennial History scrapbook, 1802-2002” was born in 2002 as the historical society prepared for the town’s bicentennial, member Cindy Whittier said. The society had formed a number of small committees to oversee various elements of the celebration, including one to make a pamphlet about Chesterville history.

“We got ambitious and decided to make a book, something we could give back to the community – thinking it would be a simple process,” Whittier said. “Once we got started we realized how difficult the whole process was.”

Whittier said the group decided to make a “scrapbook” style tome, rather than compile a history book, because “none of us are historians.” The team did interviews, researched old town documents and read newspaper articles about the town from as early as 1900.

What they ended up with, Whittier said, is a scrapbook documenting the town’s history through photographs, interviews, articles, official documents, and personal journals recording aspects of town life including schools, churches, the fire department and industry.

She said she was surprised to learn how many businesses were once in town. “We have a bigger population now, but less industry,” she said. In addition, she said, the focus of the community seems to have shifted outward, and townspeople spend less time with one another than they did in years past.

She learned that when her father was in grade school, “they did plays and programs, but they had them at the church and the whole town would come. Everybody went to graduation whether they had kids graduating or not.” In addition, she said, in school, “the older kids helped the younger kids” with class work. She interviewed one man who took over from his teacher when snow prevented the teacher from attending classes. “He would come early and build the fires,” she said. “It’s totally amazing, what they used to do.”

She said community elders she interviewed miss the sense of community they enjoyed “in the good old days.”

“They’re glad the roads have improved,” she said, “but they miss the community closeness.” The Grange is suffering because nobody joins anymore, she said. People she has spoken with miss “not having the pie socials; not having the big turnouts at church. And the industry.”

Books will be on sale from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Chesterville Town Hall. Poet Phoebe Walton will be signing books. The signing will be followed by a boiled dinner. Books will cost $12.