Pratt House Opens With Annual Porch Party

The Gauchos Jr. roster.

Gauchos uniforms, flags, newspaper clippings, pictures and other memorabilia are displayed at the Pratt House.

Donations and loans to the Pratt House included uniforms from the Tryniski family.

Flags, information, and former Gaucho instruments are seen on display.

A snapshot of the list of original Gauchos members.

A snapshot of the Gauchos Drum and Bugle Corp.

Former Gaucho instruments are on display thanks to several donations to the Pratt House.

The Gauchos Jr. roster.

This season, one downstairs room is devoted to music of Fulton’s past.

This season, one downstairs room is devoted to music of Fulton’s past.

This season, one downstairs room is devoted to music of Fulton’s past.

FULTON, NY – The John Wells Pratt House Museum is one of Fulton’s most historic sites featured in an original home built by hand by the Pratt family in 1861.

Each year, Friends of History in Fulton, Inc. allows the house at 177 S. First St. to open to the public to showcase Fulton’s rich history after an annual porch party kicks off the season.

This year, the porch party followed a “Let Summer Begin” theme after what seems like months of consistent rain has halted the arrival of warmth and sunshine.

With the weather following suit, a sunny evening allowed dozens of guests to flood the Pratt House to enjoy new history exhibits and rooms full of colorful, flavorful food.

Officially kicking off the season, guests were some of the first to be able to see the new exhibits on the first floor of the museum.

“I think what differentiates us from other similar museums is that we have rooms that change yearly. Instead of being set to time period, we find different interests of the community and incorporate them into one of our rooms downstairs,” said LaVerne DeLand, President of the FOH Board of Directors.

This year, a feature room downstairs is dedicated entirely to a well-known marching band that flourished in Fulton and surrounding areas through the 60’s and 70’s before disbanding in the 80’s.

“As a young boy, anytime we went to a parade in the 1960s it would feature the Gauchos Drum Corp. for the years they lasted. They were fantastic,” said new FOH board member, Ed Farfaglia.

He and his wife, Carole, shared fond memories listening to the Gauchos in their youth, reminiscing on hearing the Gauchos from their house across from the former Nestle’s parking lot where the group would warm up for parades and marching onto the Fulton softball field to the beat of the drums as they practiced near the field.

“They were uplifting, and they make up quite a good part of our history from the 1960s and 1970s,” Ed said, for which reason the two decided to make a room dedicated to the Gauchos at the Pratt House.

Ed and Carole Farfaglia worked tirelessly to gather donations from the local families with former ties to the Gauchos including their friends, the Tryniski family, Wes Dean, and Patrick Acquaviva.

Ed Tryniski was the core leader of the Gauchos in the original group and later became the director of the Junior Gauchos of which all four of his children became members.

The Senior Gauchos Drum and Bugle Corp lasted from 1960 – 1966 followed by the Junior Corp that lasted from 1971 – 1977.

“If you talk to just about anyone in the community, they’re going to have some memory of the Gauchos,” Carole Farfaglia said.

In May, the Friends of History hosted an open house that allowed former Gaucho members to reunite and reminisce over the Gaucho days of their past while admiring all the former memorabilia.

While the majority of the original Gauchos roster came from Fulton, the Drum Corp. grew in the years it lasted including into the Junior Corp. eventually drawing members from places as far as Rochester, Cicero, Syracuse, and even bringing in an instructor from Colorado.

The Gauchos display room will stay set up until they will find a permanent place in the Pratt House to enjoy for years to come.

“We just want to honor what happened. The Gauchos were wonderful while it was, and quite impressive,” Ed Farfaglia said.

As new board members, the Farfaglias quickly jumped into their role and became very active at the Pratt House.

“It’s just a good way to give back to the community,” Ed said of volunteering at the museum. “The more we got involved and learned, we quickly saw how worthy it is to keep the history of Fulton alive and to pass it on to other people in the community.”

Finding volunteers and acquiring more memberships is becoming harder as the years pass, according to Treasurer of the FOH Board of Directors and co-chair of the Porch Party planning, Sue Brown.

“I think our population is just getting older and there isn’t the same interest from the younger generations, but we’ve been able to maintain our number of memberships,” Brown said.

Corporate sponsorship from Fulton Savings Bank, Sunoco, Dr. Juan Lopez, Pathfinder Bank, Mimi’s Drive-In, Oswego County Federal Credit Union, L.C. Smith Collector’s Association, Oswego Valley Insurance Agencies Inc, LLC, and Oswego County Bank, Inc. have helped the FOH maintain the beautiful condition of the historic Pratt House Museum.

Sponsorship, volunteers, and memberships, when paired with historical donations from groups and individuals, are what keep the Pratt House and Fulton’s history alive today.

The Pratt House will host several fundraiser events throughout the season including a September yard sale, a chicken barbeque, the annual Hunter Arms Weekend that draws in guests from across the nation and the annual Punch Party in November to kick off the popular holiday event, the Parade of Trees.

To see this year’s display rooms featuring the Gaucho room and the music room, as well as the many permanent displays of Fulton’s history throughout the second floor of the museum, call 315-598-4616 to schedule a tour or visit during open hours every Wednesday – Friday from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and for the months of July and August on Sundays from 12:30 – 3 p.m.

For more information and to keep up with upcoming events, like Friends of History on Facebook.

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