On March 18, the doors of the Medad Stone Tavern will open to the public to allow history lovers to step into Pages from the Past, a special program highlighting diaries of Medad Stone Tavern residents of days gone by, as well as other memorabilia in the archives of the Guilford Keeping Society (GKS).

Peek into the past with passages like this one, written by Alphonsine Davis Hubbard, who grew up in the tavern in the late 1800s: "January 29 [sic] 1885. Day opened clear and cold, very little sleighing after last night [sic] snow. Worked all day on my crazy quilt…. This evening it is lovely and moonlight [sic]."

"This wonderful diary is one of hundreds of documents that the Guilford Keeping Society found in the attic here," said Patricia Lovelace, museum director and interim GKS curator. "It's delightful that we have not only Alphonsine's diary, but also a photographic portrait of her and the beautiful crazy quilt she mentions in the diary."

With 14 rooms and 11 fireplaces, the tavern was built to be used as an inn, but instead became a home. GKS will share diaries, inventories, legal papers, photos, and letters dating from 1803 to 2001, many found in the attic, all helping to tell the story of tavern families of the past. The tavern was bequeathed to the GKS by its last resident, Len Hubbard, in 2001.

As part of the day's presentation, Guilford Municipal Historian Joel Helander will share information on the society's photos and glass negatives. The program starts at 3 p.m.

Non-profit GKS is currently working to match a $2,500 challenge grant (with a June 2012 deadline) from the Guilford Foundation to build museum-appropriate shelving and a cabinet designed for the glass-plate negatives; as well as obtaining a new climate-control system for the archives room and two fireproof filing cabinets.

Admission is free to Pages from the Past on Sunday, March 18, 3 p.m., Medad Stone Tavern, 197 Three Mile Course. For news more GKS Sunday events, including a Sunday, April 1 tour of the tavern barn, visit www.guilfordkeepingsociety.com. Also on March 18 at noon at the tavern, the Len Hubbard Community Garden's first garden workshop series features Master Gardener Carole Miller, owner of Topmost Herb Farm, on organic growing topics, including heirloom tomatoes. Admission is free; pre-register by emailing terricain@gmail.com.