Friends of Boothe Park
To Preserve & Restore
We are an all-volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and protecting Boothe Memorial Park & Museum for present and future generations.
We honor the legacy of the Boothe Brothers by supporting the preservation, restoration, interpretation, and long-term care of Boothe Memorial Park & Museum. Through volunteer service, fundraising, educational programs, museum tours, events, and community outreach, our work helps keep the park active, welcoming, and meaningful for future generations.
Our mission is to honor the legacy of the Boothe Brothers, advocate for the preservation of their vision for the Park and Museum, and ensure the Park’s long-term viability and sustainability for the benefit of present and future generations.
Our work spans preservation and museum stewardship, education, events, gardens, fundraising, and volunteer coordination.
We help oversee the museum buildings and collections, plan exhibits, care for artifacts, and support the visitor experience.
We raise funds and coordinate support for restoration projects, building improvements, signage, gardens, and historic features throughout the park.
We offer seasonal tours, educational programs, demonstrations, and opportunities for visitors and students to connect with the park’s history.
We sponsor events such as Opening Day, Hats Off To Roses, Christmas at the Homestead, historical presentations, and community gatherings.
We help maintain the formal Rose Garden and other smaller gardens that add beauty and character to the park.
We coordinate volunteers, welcome members, publish updates, and build community support for the park’s long-term future.
Dedicated volunteers give their time and talents to care for the park, welcome visitors, and support its programs.
Our organization has contributed more than $500,000 of its own funds to restoration and improvement projects across the park, including the projects featured below.
Volunteers donate thousands of hours each year to tours, gardens, events, preservation, and programs.
Our organization was incorporated in 1985 to help preserve and protect the Boothe Brothers’ legacy.
Although the park grounds opened to the public in 1955, many buildings and collections remained closed for decades. In the early 1980s, preservation concerns led to renewed attention, restoration planning, and the creation of the Boothe Memorial Park Commission. In 1984, the decision was made to form a nonprofit organization that could recruit volunteers, raise funds, and help preserve the Boothe Brothers’ legacy for the public. The Friends of Boothe Park was incorporated in 1985.
Park grounds open to the public
Preservation concerns bring renewed attention to the buildings and collections
Boothe Memorial Park Commission is formed
Decision made to create a nonprofit support organization
Nonprofit support organization is incorporated
Our organization includes a governing Board of Trustees, officers, lead volunteers, and a wider community of volunteers who help carry out activities throughout the park.
Governance & lead volunteers
Provides governance, planning, fiscal oversight, and long-term organizational leadership. Officers and lead volunteers help translate those priorities into tours, gardens, events, collections, education, and day-to-day museum activities.
Hands-on community support
Carries the mission forward through hands-on service, membership, donations, tours, gardens, preservation work, and community outreach.
Over the years, volunteer effort, fundraising, and community support have advanced restoration and improvement projects across the park.
Restored in 1995, the miniature lighthouse was returned to an earlier documented appearance through the work of volunteers, including architect Paul Reslink. The project preserved one of the park’s most imaginative small-scale landmarks.
This octagonal Queen Anne-style shelter once served the trolley line along present-day Route 110 and was moved to the park in 1936. We later completed a full restoration, preserving a reminder of the transportation system that served Putney.
Built in 1935 with an extraordinary 44-sided design, the shop housed one of the Boothe brothers’ largest tool collections. Its full restoration returned the forge to working use for demonstrations and educational programs.
Created by volunteers in 1990 and presented to the Town in 1991, the Rose/Wedding Garden includes more than 450 roses. Its centerpiece is the restored antique fountain once owned by the Boothe brothers, while preserved iris connects the garden to the property’s past.
Volunteers restored the interior of this early-20th-century Shingle Style cottage, with longtime volunteer architect Paul Reslink later recognized for his work. After serving as a genealogy library, the building was adapted in 2019–20 as the Stratford Veterans Museum.
Community support helped renew a signature museum building and protect its distinctive collections.
A restored building now helps orient visitors to the Boothe family story and museum grounds.
Interpretive exhibits, maps, and signs help visitors understand the park’s history and layout.
Whether you become a member, volunteer your time, attend an event, make a donation, or help spread the word, you play a part in preserving Boothe Park for future generations.