MILLSTONE – The Friends of Millstone Township Historic Registered Properties will host two events this summer. The first will be the creation of a custom cookbook featuring residents’ favorite recipes and the second will be a yard sale fundraiser.
Both events will help the Friends continue their preservation efforts in the community.
On June 3, the Friends held an open house at the Clarksburg Methodist Episcopal Church on Stagecoach Road to celebrate the completion of the site’s restoration. The church, which was built in 1844, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
The building was purchased by Millstone Township in the late 1990s and had been used for community functions, but those activities were suspended after structural issues arose at the building several years ago. A restoration project was undertaken and just completed.
The Friends also maintain and operate the Thomas Baird Homestead. The Baird residence was built circa 1830 and was home to the Baird family, prominent early settlers of Millstone Township. The home contains many original features, including pine plank flooring, moldings and a hearth and beehive bake oven.
The maintenance of the Baird homestead relies solely on fundraising and donations, with all of the money used for the betterment of the property to preserve the historic resource and museum, according to Mary Lepping, the fundraising and event planning co-chair for the Friends.
According to the Friends, their cookbook fundraiser will include recipes that will be submitted by residents. After all of the recipes have been compiled, the cookbook will be professionally published, with each contributor’s name printed next to their respective submission(s).
While there is no deadline for submissions, the Friends said they hope to receive about 250 recipes to include in the cookbook, which will be sold for $12.95. Proceeds will allow the Friends to continue their preservation efforts in Millstone Township.
A flier distributed by the Friends states that the cookbook will become “a treasured keepsake.”
Anyone interested in submitting a recipe may fill out a form at mtfriendsofhistory.org by clicking on the Cookbook tab. These forms will be emailed to [email protected]
On July 8, the Friends, which is a nonprofit organization, will host a yard sale fundraiser from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 24 Baird Road (rain or shine). At this time, the Friends are asking for donations of items and volunteers to work at the event.
Donations of toys, bicycles, sports equipment, home decor, holiday decorations and housewares are requested. For information about how to donate items or to volunteer, email Randie Rubenstein at [email protected] or 732-522-2184.