This month: The Castle is opening and members can participate in small-group tours this Saturday! Plus, a sidewalk sale at Seventh Sister Souvenirs, and pictures from a really beautiful morning celebrating the Chester-Hadlyme ferry. A FREE lecture about William Gillette. Sherlock meets the new board members, and the Test Your Trivia Challenge!

The Castle is opening!

The Castle is scheduled to open on May 29! Park staff are busy sprucing up the interior and getting ready to welcome visitors again.

Get a sneak preview before the rest of the public!

What's the deal, you ask? Well, the Castle guides are newly hired and need some practice giving Castle tours before the official opening. So, you get the opportunity to help them practice by participating in small-group tours of the Castle next weekend! These free tours will be very small - only six guests per group.

When: Saturday morning, May 22. We will have staggered start times starting at 9:30 a.m. and the last start time is 11:15 a.m. The tour is approximately 45 minutes long.

What's the catch? This is a members-only opportunity.
Sign up by Friday and we will send you the details about how to participate.

Already a member? You already have the instructions in your inbox, but drop a line to info@gillettecastlefriends.org if you need a re-send of the information.
Castle Ferry celebration
A fabulous ferry celebration!
We had a really fun time at the ferry celebration! The weather was glorious, and Captain John Marshall took us all on a lovely scenic ride.
Sidewalk sale this Saturday at Seventh Sister Souvenirs!

This weekend: May 22 and 23, 2021
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Outside the Visitor Center
Antiques, holiday items, collectibles, unique decorative gifts!

All must go! Making room for new inventory!
Drop by on your way to your small-group Castle tour!
FREE LECTURE: The Glamourous American—William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes.
Our resident historian and William Gillette scholar, Susan Dahlinger, will be speaking about Gillette via Zoom on June 17 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. as part of a FREE series from Portsmouth Library UK’s Richard Lancelyn Green Arthur Conan Doyle Collection. The series is in memory of Prof. Neil McCaw, who spoke widely to publicize the Collection before his untimely death last year.
Talk summary: At the height of the Great Depression, a Connecticut Yankee in a deerstalker cap trouped America in the Final Tour of a legendary play about a very British detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle. Tonight’s talk is about the enigmatic actor, his career and his castle, and his role in reviving the Sherlock Holmes franchise to the joy of fans on both sides of the pond.
Test Your Trivia!
The May edition
A compilation of little-known facts about William Gillette and Sherlock Holmes

May 12, 1932: William Gillette bids everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! What was the occasion he was celebrating?

May 14, 1923: The opening of a short play at the Lyric Theater in Philadelphia. The play is Gillette's final theatrical work to be produced. Name the play.

May 25-27, 2002: The re-opening of a William Gillette landmark after the completion of an $11 million restoration project. What is the name of this landmark and where is it located?

Read the answers and more in this month's edition of "Test Your Trivia!"
Castle Holiday show
Where's Sherlock?
Sherlock heard there are new folks in town! The Friends have a new secretary, and a new president, and

<drum roll to build the suspense>

for the first time in several years, a new chairperson for an events committee!

Sherlock got a copy of the biographies of each of the new board members that was reviewed at the annual meeting. He thought it was really interesting reading! See who they are in this month's Sherlock on the Shelf travelogue!
Sherlock shout-out. Sherlock is thrilled to welcome new members Janet L., Rick P., and Nora P.!