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Attn: News, Calendar and Features Editors

Contact:  Laurie Nivison, Director of Marketing

413.775.7127 or lnivison@historic-deerfield.org

Digital hi-res images available upon request.

 

Historic Deerfield Fall Programs Focus on Weaving and Historic Trades
Deerfield, Mass. (August 10, 2016)---- As the temperatures fall and the leaves change to their red, yellow, and gold hues, there's nothing like the aroma of mulled cider and the smoke from the open hearth that fills the air. Whether it's seeing an artisan demonstrate an historic trade, strolling down the street touring houses, or learning how to weave, this autumn is chock full of great programs and activities for everyone at Historic Deerfield.
 
The following is a list of upcoming programs and events at Historic Deerfield in September and October 2016. Unless otherwise noted, all programs are included with general admission.
 
Special Events

Harvest Day for Families
Saturday, September 24
10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., drop in anytime during the day.
Families are invited to a celebration of the fall harvest. Visit the Cooks' Garden and help pick herbs for drying. Make a recipe book and spice mixture to take home. Families can help our hearth cooks prepare dishes using foods that are in season like apples and pumpkins. Learn how cloth is made as you card wool and weave on a loom. Visit the Sheldon House to see how a farm family lived between 1790 and 1810. Do a Story Walk on the grounds of the History Workshop Building. The Wapping Schoolhouse will be open for early 19th-century lessons. Enjoy a scavenger hunt in the Flynt Center of Early New England Life. Make time to take a walk down the Channing Blake Footpath. Bring a picnic, and have your lunch near the Cooks' Garden. 

2016 ADA/Historic Deerfield Antiques Show
Saturday and Sunday, October 8-9
11 a.m. - 6 p.m. (10/8), 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. (10/9)
Deerfield Academy Hockey Rink. $15, free for Historic Deerfield members.
On Columbus Day Weekend,  the Antiques Dealers' Association of America, Inc., will once again bring together some of the nation's finest dealers for their annual art and antiques show featuring the best of 18th- and 19th-century American art, antiques and design.  Surrounded by the historic houses and quintessential New England village setting of Historic Deerfield, in Deerfield, Massachusetts, the ADA/Historic Deerfield Show provides customers with a fun and informative experience in antiquing and early design. The show is considered by both serious and casual collectors to be one of the year's most important. On view and for sale will be remarkable objects from the 17th through the 19th centuries that will improve the quality of any collection and the look of any home.  For more information, visit adadealers.com.

Archaeology Day in Deerfield
Saturday, October 15, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Free
Enjoy a guided tour of the Old Burying Ground on Albany Road with Claire Carlson, Education Program Coordinator at Historic Deerfield at 11 a.m. and at 2 p.m. a lecture  by Dr. Heidi Bauer-Clapp, University of Massachusetts Amherst.  This will be  followed by a close-up of "Eliza Clarkson's Sewing Table: It's Incredible Journey from China to St. Helena to New England." at  3 p.m.  All programs are free and open to the public. Part of Massachusetts Archaeology Month.

Old Burying Ground Tour
Monday, October 31, 2 p.m.
Start your Halloween celebrations with us! Join us for a guided tour of the Old Burying Ground and discover the history of the families that lived in Deerfield.  Who knows what spooky things you might find.

Hands-On Learning 
 
Wonderful Weaving
Weekends, September 10 - November 20
12 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., History Workshop Building, drop-in anytime.
Learn the basics of weaving at the History Workshop this fall. Take a turn using our small floor loom and make a woven wall hanging to take home. Using burlap as a warp and a range of bright and beautiful materials as the weft, everyone can become a weaver. Explore the many examples of beautifully woven and unique textiles throughout our historic houses and in the Flynt Center of Early New England Life when you pick up a copy of the Textile Treasure Trail at the Visitor's Center at Hall Tavern.  Upon completion of the Trail, visitors will receive a small gift.

Demonstrations 

Open Hearth Cooking: Foods of the Fall Harvest
September 17, 24
10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Visitor Center at Hall Tavern Kitchen
Each year early New England families planned carefully to ensure that harvest time produced a balance of vegetables, herbs, and fruit to eat, preserve, and exchange. The ripening and harvest of each crop was followed by time-sensitive steps that prepared each food for enjoyment later in the year. Hearth Cooking demonstrations this season will focus both on recipes for fresh foods of the harvest, as well as some techniques for preservation.

Open Hearth Cooking: Tavern Fare
October 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29
Colonial New England taverns were common in both small towns and cities. They were a welcome sight for travelers who could stop for a drink and a hot meal. Local people went to taverns to catch up on town news, see friends, have a drink or a quick meal. Taverns were known for their quick and hearty meals rather than fine dining. Come see the 1786 kitchen at the Hall Tavern and see what's on the Bill of Fare for the day.


Historic Trades Demonstrations
Visitors will meet talented craftspeople and observe their work up close each weekend this fall with our Historic Trade demonstrations. Learn how a printing press was important to communication in colonial times. See a joiner use a series of tools to square, shape, and join separate pieces of wood into a single, strong window sash. Working with the head of fiery coals, watch the blacksmith deftly transform hard, shapeless metal into a graceful, functional object. Check the calendar for a schedule of specific demonstrations which occur on Saturdays and Sundays, September 24 - December 10. Included with general admission.
 
Program Calendar
Historic Trades Demonstrations
Saturdays and Sundays (unless otherwise noted), September 24-December 10, 10:30 a.m. - 
4 p.m.
 
Saturday, September 24, 2016
White Pine Bark and Ash Bark Basket Making with Jennifer Lee
 
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Redware Pottery with Rick Hamelin

Saturday, October 1, 2016
Dressmaking with Linda Oakley
Shoemaking with Peter Oakley
Dressing and Spinning Flax with Gina Gerhard
 
Sunday, October 2
Stoneware Pottery with Mark Shapiro

Saturday, October 8, 2016 
Gunsmithing with Leonard Day

Sunday, October 9, 2016 and  Monday, October 10, 2016
Carving and Shop Joinery with Craig Farrow

Saturday, October 15, 2016 
Architectural Woodworking with Ted Ingraham and Silversmithing with Steve Smithers
 
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Tailoring with Henry Cooke
 
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Tinsmithing with Bill McMillen and  Coopering with Neil Muckenhoupt
   
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Blacksmithing with Rick Martin

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Gravestone Carving with Karin Sprague

Sunday, October 30, 2016                                       
The Doctor is In! Early 19th-Century Medical Practices with
Dr. Jack Richman

Friday, November 25, 2016
Paper Marbling with Regina and Dan St. John
Redware Pottery with Stephen Earp

Saturday, November 26, 2016
17th-Century Life

Saturday, December 10, 2016
Letterpress Printing Demonstration with Carl Darrow

 
About Historic Deerfield, Inc.
Historic Deerfield, Inc., is dedicated to the heritage and preservation of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and the Connecticut River Valley. Its museums and programs provide today's audiences with experiences that create an understanding and appreciation of New England's historic villages and countryside.
 
Admission is $14 for adults (18+), $5 for children (6-17), free for children under 6, members and Deerfield/South Deerfield residents. For more information, please call (413) 775-7214 or visit historic-deerfield.org.