About Us

Our Purpose

The mission of the Omena Village Preservation Association (OVPA) is to preserve the historical character of downtown Omena and to sponsor educational and cultural activities to enhance the appreciation of Omena’s unique history.

 Our Responsibility

The founding of OVPA expresses the commitment to stewardship of its members in the appreciation of the natural beauty and community spirit of Omena.  The preservation and management of such resources is the responsibility of those who live or vacation here. The Association acknowledges the contributions of other Omena organizations with related goals, and is pledged to work with them.

Our Accomplishments
There are numerous ways one could list the accomplishments of OVPA over the past five years, but a good method might be to take the approach taken in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  Jimmy Stewart’s guardian angel, Clarence, shows Jimmy what Bedford Falls would have been like if Jimmy had never been born.  So, let’s  picture what the village of Omena may have been like if OVPA had not existed.

                

· The dilapidated pole barn on the Nelson property would have added another layer of rust.

· The historic Anderson House might have been torn down or left standing empty and derelict.

· The Post Office, the focal point of the village and the place where neighbors gather to swap stories and news might be a distant memory.

· All that would be left of the historic Putnam-Cloud House would be the remains of its stone foundation over-grown with weeds on the Villa Marquette property, instead of it being one of the crown jewels of Omena, beautifully renovated by the Omena Historical Society and serving as a museum for Omena’s rich history.

· The historic Barthe House behind the Nelson property might not have been purchased and renovated.

 The Harbor Bar building might still be unoccupied instead of being transformed into an attractive restaurant and wine tasting room because the investors would have looked across the street and been discouraged by the state of the Nelson property.

 

To paraphrase Jimmy in the movie, “Atta boy OVPA!”

The Anderson house was built in 1880 and was purchased by the OVPA in 2002.