Alison Lanza Falls admires the “Windows in Time” display at Catawba Island’s Union Chapel Museum that focuses on the unique Rock Ledge community on Catawba Island developed by her ancestors, the Holt Family.

“Windows in Time,” a program recently created by the Catawba Island Historical Society to encourage the naming of display areas at its Union Chapel Museum, has attracted participation by Alison Lanza Falls and David and Marsha Polus. They join retired doctors Phillip and Carol Teitlebaum as sponsors of the inaugural 3 of 10 exhibit panels made available for selection.

A $10,000 investment, payable over four years, entitles interested patrons to placement of a permanent bronze commemorative plaque above a large display station on the Museum’s interior perimeter walls. Each station shares a chapter in Catawba Island history from geological birth to modern day.

Falls is a Certified High Performance Coach and former managing director of a global investment bank in New York City. Her plaque honors the family of her late husband, S. Douglas Falls.

Ancestors on his mother’s side were the Holt Family, who developed the Rock Ledge community above and along Sand Road. Holt Cottage, the Rock Ledge Inn and Five Bells Inn all evolved from the original vision of Rock Ledge founder Charles Holt of Toledo.

“Doug and I began vacationing at Holt cottage in the early 1970’s, and made it our full time home in 1998,” recalled Falls. “His mother, Margaret, and his aunt, Wilma, were bright, energetic women who cared deeply about Catawba.

“They taught me to love it as much as they did. Honoring them and Doug by supporting the new Museum at Union Chapel this way I’m sure would make all of them smile with approval.”

Polus is a prominent wealth management advisor. She is a retired American Primitive oil artist published at the University of Michigan. Their primary residence is in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., but they have homes on Catawba and have been vacationing there for 60 years.

Marsha Polus said she and her husband grew up in the same Polish neighborhood in Toledo, a place where everyone loved to fish.

“When we were kids, our fathers often brought us to Catawba to test our angling skills from Moore’s Dock. It just seemed appropriate,” she said, “that we should sponsor the Museum’s “Window in Time” that currently is dedicated to the Island’s reputation as a sportsman’s paradise.”

The Catawba Museum at Union Chapel opened for the 2019 season on May 15. Operation is scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More information is available on line at www.catawbaislandhistoricalsociety.com, or by calling 419 967 5363