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Events
 Guest Speaker
As part of its mission, the Riders Mills Historical Association is involved in reaching out to and serving the communities in the northern area of Columbia County. Each year it hosts a number of activities, which are available to the public, free of charge. For instance, since completing the primary part of the restoration of the schoolhouse, the Association has sponsored a number of lectures of historical and artistic interest. In addition, the Association has held several appreciation days, with wine and cheese events that serve as a way of thanking members and others for their support.
Annual Art Show
 It was decided that after the primary restoration of the school, the Association would once again hold an annual art show as it had done in the 1960s and early 1970s. For the past six years, the schoolhouse has been the site of an outdoor "fence show," sponsored jointly by the Association and Columbia County Council for the Arts, at which as many as 60 artists display and sell their paintings and photographs. These events are again free to the public and feature not only art but also music and refreshments for the approximately 500 attendees. The seventh annual Riders Mills art show will be held under a tent in an adjacent field, rain or shine, Saturday, September 4, 2010, from 10 AM to 4 PM.
Scholarship
Another way the Association serves the surrounding community is through its annual F. Fowler Root Scholarship. This award, currently $750, has been given each year over the past 30 years to a deserving high school senior, alternately from Chatham High School or New Lebanon High School, the two school districts formerly served by the Riders Mills Schoolhouse. Students receiving this award must demonstrate an interest in history and historical restoration and must be recommended by teachers and guidance counselors at their schools. Click here to view the current and previous winners of the F. Fowler Scholarship.
Exhibit
In addition to the above, the Association has developed a seven-panel display of documents, pictures and written material, covering the history of the school from its inception in 1795 until its closing in 1953. This display has been on view at the schoolhouse as well as its being exhibited by the Columbia County Historical Society. The Association is in the process of planning and videotaping a memoir featuring the recollections of former students at the school. This will supplement the already developed display and ensure that students and others visiting the school will get a complete picture of schooling in one-room schoolhouses.
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