It was the PERFECT Storm....and not just weather wise  (although that was the "icing on the cake").  Take a busy summer, and add on a whole series of events almost weekly through September and October, throw in an event cancellation, a few postponements and rescheduling,  and a computer crash, then top it off with loss of power this week from the storm, and that is exactly what happened over these past several weeks. The result....a lot of stress and one very late newsletter!   So my apologies for the delay!  But there is always plenty of news to share so let me try to catch up on the highlights of what has gone on since the last newsletter in August.  W e've had some pretty amazing events and activities take place during these past few months.  

The American Girl Doll Garden Party  in August was a sell-out, with tickets continuing to be sold hours before, while torrential rains were coming down on our tent.  But by the time everyone gathered, the raindrops had stopped and the sun even appeared a bit so everyone had a great time and nothing had to be missed out as a result.

Then at the end of August was the final Thursday evening guided tour which featured our 1904 World's Fair exhibit.  Among those on the tour was a visitor who was compelled to donate her mourning jewelry collection to us as she experienced Hearthside. See more about this in this newsletter (or better yet come to our Gone But Not Forgotten exhibit now taking place to see these fabulous pieces of workmanship and beauty in person).  

Originally scheduled for June, but postponed because of wet fields, the Downton Abbey Fox Hunt couldn't have been any better when it was held on Sept. 16th.  The day was picture perfect, the setting was gorgeous, the program was great, the luncheon was outstanding, and the hunt club with their horses and hounds were so gracious and quite an amazing sight to see.  Very high marks on this one and hopefully will be repeated again in the future.

A week later, we hosted Great Road Day, our annual free admission event to several historic sites in the area.  This year we featured the relocated Pullen School House (c.1850), open to the public for the first time!  Although not completely finished with the restoration work yet, there was enough done to be able to see what it will be like very soon.  This is a great addition to the Chase Farm Park offering for school visits and other group tours.  Great Road Day offers the rare opportunity to open the Moffett Mill. And that is always a treat for the public to see the inside of this 1812 mill that everyone drives by all the time and wonder what it's like inside.

It was a real privilege for us to host Roland Comtois, internationally-renowned spiritual medium once again, and naturally the event sold out very quickly for the Sept. 28th program.  But that afternoon, Roland was forced to cancel due to illness.  Luckily he rescheduled within two weeks, and his Oct. 12th event was another incredible evening of emotion and spiritual communication with loved ones.

We were so very disappointed to have had to cancel a very special event, something that is not easily done, especially when there is a great deal of effort put into the planning of it, there is the loss of revenue from a major fundraising event, and the plans ruined for many guests who counted on a very special occasion.  But sadly this was the case for our Victorian Dinner Party, scheduled for Oct. 7, which happened to fall on Columbus Day weekend, and that caused a real conflict with so many who had wanted to attend but couldn't, leaving us with not enough guests to fill the seats at the table.  We typically hold this dinner in Nov. but had to move it earlier this year because of our busy schedule for late Oct. and early Nov. We'll attempt to re-create it with a new date in our spring schedule.

A first for us was the Revolutionary War reenactment held on Oct. 21st.  That turned out to be a fabulous event in every way.  The event drew 170 reenactors and over 400 spectators for the one-day event.  Of course, it helped to have absolutely perfect fall day in a beautiful spot!  This event was only a tease for what is being planned for the fall of 2019!

And as soon as the Rev War soldiers moved out with less than a week to get ready for our next event,  we got busy setting up all the mourning artifacts, casket, and black drapes for the  Gone But Not Forgotten exhibit, which opened last Saturday.  And if you haven't been to this unusual exhibit before, you really need to make a point of seeing it!  It really gets better every year, and this is the best one yet!  Oh yes, and we've added another special event in the midst of this..... Spiritual Communications Through Table Tipping....which is taking place next Tues., Nov. 7th.  It's a small event with very limited capacity, but nevertheless another offering in our schedule.

If all these events weren't enough, work on the  restoration of the school house has continued to take place every day, and we managed to get it open to the public a few weeks ago, and our educational initiative featuring cursive writing classes was also launched!  Whew...a whirlwind of activity!

Next up to close out our season is Christmas, which is our favorite time of all at Hearthside and one that everyone looks forward to.  The decorating starts as soon as the Mourning exhibit comes down.  Definitely a bright spot to look forward to.  Here's hoping for a much more relaxed pace so we can all enjoy the holiday season!