GREENFIELD — Friends and family members of the late Peter Miller, a former president of the Historical Society of Greenfield who died in January 2021 at the age of 82, came together on Saturday after the society dedicated this year’s ice cream social in honor of the local historian with a “golden heart.”

“Everybody had a connection to Peter,” said Kay Lyons, a member of the Historical Society of Greenfield’s board of directors. She explained Miller had a particular love for trains and railroads, the focus of one of the society’s current exhibits. “If you wanted to know something about Greenfield, ask Peter. … He was just one of those people, he knew so much. I don’t know how he kept it all in his head.”

Ice cream was provided by Herrell’s Ice Cream & Bakery of Northampton, which is owned by Judy Herrell, also a friend of Miller’s. The Falltown String Band provided music as visitors explored the society’s gallery at 43 Church St. Everyone who spoke emphasized the educational impact Miller had not only on the people in his life but also Franklin County as a whole.

“He was, as we will hear throughout the day, a guy who knew the history of Greenfield like nobody else,” said Sandy Thomas, one of Miller’s friends. “He loved Greenfield history, he collected it, he talked about it and he was a great resource about specific information on buildings. … There was no one like him.”

Miller educated Thomas about the Underground Railroad and Greenfield history.

“Peter’s enthusiasm for this town and our history was absolutely contagious,” she continued, “and I will always be grateful to him for that.”

“Peter was a good guy. He had a golden heart,” added Ed Gregory, a Montague Historical Commission member.

Gregory reminisced about meeting Miller in the 1990s at a flea market and spending time with him discussing the history of Greenfield and Montague. He also mentioned one of his favorite phrases that Miller used: “Take it easy.”

Lyons explained the ice cream social this year, funded using grants from the Crossroads Cultural District Committee and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, was held in honor of Miller after postponing the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic and while the Historical Society finished organizing the artifacts Miller had donated. Lyons announced that the newly organized Research Room has been named in Miller’s honor and includes a portrait of Miller that was painted by Harvey Dodd in 1969 when Miller was in his 30s.

Terry Ruggles, who met Miller more than 30 years ago, shared a story about asking Miller to work on collecting photographs from people living in various towns in Vermont to include in a calendar produced by the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.

“He really leapt at this chance,” Ruggles told those gathered at the Historical Society on Saturday. “It was the type of thing that, I’m sure you can imagine, he loved. Meeting all of these people, some of whom he hadn’t met before, and having historical conversations with them around the photographs. I’ll remember him and I know you all will, too.”