Berkeley Township Historical Society Hosts Holiday Wreath Raffle

BERKELEY, NJ — The Berkeley Township Historical Society (BTHS) added a new incentive to their 2021 membership drive—hand-crafted holiday wreaths.

During the next six weeks of the membership drive, one new member of the historical society will be selected every week to receive either a poinsettia wreath or a winter snowflake wreath.

Josephine Manfre-Morey, an interim membership chair of the BTHS, is donating wreaths that she crafts to the historical society. Manfre-Morey said the holiday wreaths are “reminiscent of the historical days when people decorated with cut out snowflakes and poinsettias in their homes, before all the elaborate displays came into being.”

The BTHS aims to boost their membership from 112 annual memberships to over 500 this year. The membership application can be accessed online on the Berkeley Township Facebook page. A yearly membership costs $10 per person and $15 per family, and will be good now until Dec. 31, 2021.

“There are over 50,000 residents of Berkeley Township, and only 112 members of the historical society,” Manfre-Morey said. “It is the new president's goal to get one percent of our town to be part of the historical society, so that would be 500 members.”

According to a BTHS Facebook post, this year's membership dues will contribute to "much needed exterior maintenance of the museum building," including new windows, repainting the exterior and replacing any rotten wood trim.

Membership dues also support the work of the society, including monthly programs and presentations to schools and civic groups, community events, document searches at the new research center and the creation of an interactive website.

“There’s so many things we wanted to do this year but because of the pandemic we couldn’t, but we’re just gonna roll over all those ideas until next year,” Manfre-Morey said.

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