ARCH to Honor Odediah Skolnick with 2023 Heritage Award
The Association for Rollinsford Culture and History (ARCH) has chosen to honor Odediah Skolnick with the 2024 ARCH Heritage Award. The award will be presented to Ms. Skolnick at the annual ARCH dinner and auction on Saturday, November 16 at Spring Hill in South Berwick, Maine.
Thanks to Odediah, the Wentworth House has become a place where people of all ages can learn about (and try!) traditional fiber arts. Her work has significantly increased the awareness of the role of textile arts in our community’s history.
An avid hand spinner and fiber artist, Ms. Skolnick has greatly enhanced the educational mission of ARCH by creating a strong traditional fiber arts program at the Colonel Paul Wentworth House. Due to her efforts, the Wentworth House now hosts an annual sheep to sweater event in the spring, offers monthly free learn to spin sessions, and hosts fiber arts programs presented by the Southeast New Hampshire Spinning Guild.
“Odediah’s passion for passing on these traditional skills and her initiative in bringing these programs to the Wentworth House have had an enormous impact on ARCH,” said Nancy Dickinson, the ARCH board president. “Thanks to Odediah, the Wentworth House has become a place where adults and kids can learn these traditional skills and share ideas and techniques. In the process she has attracted many visitors to the Wentworth House and has also increased an awareness of the role played by the textile arts in the history of our community.”
The ARCH Heritage Award is given annually to recognize those who have made significant contributions to the preservation of the history, heritage and culture of Rollinsford and the lower Salmon Falls region.
