Farmers’ Museum

Farmers’ Museum Annual Benefit Horse Show, Clinic

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Hunt-seat riders are welcome to submit entries for The Farmers’ Museum’s 14th Annual Benefit Horse Show, scheduled for Sunday, June 13, at the Iroquois Farm Showgrounds on County Route 33, in Cooperstown. The show, which offers equestrians the opportunity to test their horsemanship skills, features a range of classes for beginner through open riders.

Riders and spectators alike will enjoy the course which features handcrafted jumps representing local landmarks in Cooperstown.

The 4th Annual Horse Show Clinic will be conducted by Timmy Kees from Westport, CT. With over 35 years experience on the “A” horse show circuit, W.T. (“Timmy”) Kees is one of the country’s most prominent hunter/equitation trainers. His riders have won the ASPCA Maclay, USEF Medal and USET equitation finals a total of 7 times. Kees has also trained hunters such as Holy Smoke, Watership Down and Castaway to championships at Devon, Harrisburg, Washington and The National Horse Show. He is a USEF “R” judge and conducts clinics throughout the country. Kees was recently inducted into the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame. He is based at Red Gate Farm in Newtown, CT, where he trains horses and riders for the hunter, jumper and equitation divisions with partners Olympic gold medalist Leslie Burr Howard and Grand Prix riders Molly Ashe Cawley and Chris Cawley.

The clinic will be held on Saturday, June 12, and is open to riders of all ages, levels, and abilities riding horses or ponies. (Participants must be able to jump at least 2’.) Overnight stabling off-site and a discount on entry fees is available for registrants who will be participating in the clinic and the show. Four sessions are available. Space is limited and registration is required by June 9. Registration forms are available on our website at FarmersMuseum.org.

The 14th Annual Benefit Horse Show will be held on Sunday, June 13. A warm-up over-fences class will be offered from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. The show begins at 9 a.m., rain or shine. Championships will be awarded as well as The Josef Neckermann Perpetual Trophy, presented to the best child rider- The John Moffat Perpetual Trophy, granted to the Champion in the Equitation Division- The Coral Island Leading Hunter Perpetual Trophy, awarded to the horse scoring the most points entered in the children’s, adult and/or open divisions- and The Good Sportsmanship Award, will be presented to a rider, trainer, or parent who exemplifies good conduct, character and overall good sportsmanship.

Judges for the show include Mason Phelps, Wellington, FL- Walter T. Kees of Westport, CT- and Susan B. Schoellkopf of Buffalo, New York. The course designer and show manager is Leo Conroy of Wellington, FL. The announcer is David Distler of Norwalk, CT. All classes are pointed by Chensego Hunter Association.

The Annual Patrons’ Luncheon will also be offered at noon. Enjoy a delicious champagne luncheon coupled with ringside seating under the tent. Coffees and teas will be available from 10:00 a.m. – noon- champagne and mimosas will be served starting at 11:00 a.m.- and afternoon refreshments will follow through the end of the show. Tickets are $45 per person (adult) and $10 (12 and under). Reservations are required by June 1st. For more information or to make a reservation, please contact Laura Gattoni at 607-547-1471 or email [email protected].

For a prize list, information on the horse show or clinic, please contact Meg Preston at (607) 547-1452 or visit our web site at FarmersMuseum.org. Admission to the show is free. Dogs are welcome at the show, but must be leashed at all times. Food and drinks will be available for purchase throughout the day.

Proceeds raised by the Benefit Horse Show will support the education programs at The Farmers’ Museum.

Cooperstown: Food For Thought Programs

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Food for Thought, the popular lunch and lecture series of The Farmers’ Museum and the Fenimore Art Museum, kicks off the 2010 season on Wednesday, May 12. All programs are held on Wednesdays beginning at noon at the Fenimore Art Museum or The Farmers’ Museum.

Food for Thought programs are a lunch and lecture series which offers visitors a more in-depth understanding of our exhibits and programs. All programs begin at noon on Wednesdays and include lunch ($15 for NYSHA members and $20 for non-members). Registration is required at least three days in advance. Cancellations without advanced warning will be charged. To reserve your spot, please call Karen Wyckoff at (607) 547-1410.

Food for Thought programs at the Fenimore Art Museum:

May 12 Virtual Folk: A People’s Choice Exhibition

June 2 Thirty Feet of Legend and Lineage

June 16 John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women

June 23 In Our Time: The World as Seen by Magnum Photographers

July 7 Civil War Arms & Equipment: The New York Soldier

Food for Thought programs at The Farmers’ Museum:

June 9 New York State Barns

July 14 The History of Thrall Pharmacy

July 28 Phrenology in 19th-Century America

Mothers: Free Admission to Fenimore, Farmers’ Museum Sunday

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In recognition of Mother’s Day, all mothers and grandmothers will receive free admission to the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum on Sunday, May 9.

Visitors can start the day at the Fenimore Art Museum by taking in one of the new exhibitions, such as Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion &#8211 an exciting exhibition of the Museum’s collection of historic dresses. The exhibition includes the oldest known example of a dress with a label, stunning examples of Empire, Romantic and Civil War era dresses and turn-of-the-20th century items. Afterwards, visitors can enjoy lunch on the terrace overlooking Otsego Lake and then stroll across to The Farmers’ Museum to visit the baby lambs and ride on The Empire State Carousel.

About the Fenimore Art Museum

The Fenimore Art Museum, located on the shores of Otsego Lake &#8212- James Fenimore Cooper’s “Glimmerglass Lake” &#8212- in historic Cooperstown, New York, features a wide-ranging collection of American art including: folk art- important American 18th- and 19th-century landscape, genre, and portrait paintings- an extensive collection of domestic artifacts- more than 125,000 historical photographs representing the technical developments made in photography and providing extensive visual documentation of the region’s unique history- and the renowned Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art comprising more than 800 art objects representative of a broad geographic range of North American Indian cultures, from the Northwest Coast, Eastern Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, Great Lakes, and Prairie regions. Founded in 1945, the Fenimore Art Museum is NYSHA’s showcase museum.

About The Farmers’ Museum

As one of the oldest rural life museums in the country, The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, New York, provides visitors with a unique opportunity to experience 19th-century rural and village life first-hand through authentic demonstrations and interpretative exhibits. The museum, founded in 1943, comprises a Colonial Revival stone barn listed on the National Register for Historic Places, a recreated historic village circa 1845, a late- nineteenth-century Country Fair featuring The Empire State Carousel, and a working farmstead. Through its 19th-century village and farm, the museum preserves important examples of upstate New York architecture, early agricultural tools and equipment, and heritage livestock. The Farmers’ Museum’s outstanding collection of more than 23,000 items encompasses significant historic objects ranging from butter molds to carriages, and hand planes to plows. The museum also presents a broad range of interactive educational programs for school groups, families, and adults that explore and preserve the rich agricultural history of the region.

Young Interpreters Sought at The Farmers’ Museum

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The Farmers’ Museum is seeking applicants for its Young Interpreter Program. By pairing young people with museum staff, this popular summer program teaches students about America’s past, helps them develop new skills, and allows them to share their newfound knowledge with museum visitors. Boys and girls between the ages of 12 to 14 as of May 1, 2010, are invited to apply. A limited number of students will be accepted for the program.

The Young Interpreter Program began in 1993. The program takes place at The Farmers’ Museum, a premier rural history museum established in 1943. The museum presents the trades and crafts common to ordinary people of rural 19th-century New York State in its historic village and farmstead. Young interpreters will have the opportunity to work in various selected sites throughout the museum including: Peleg Field Blacksmith Shop, Bump Tavern, Lippitt Farmhouse, Dr. Thrall’s Pharmacy, The Middlefield Printing Office, Todd’s General Store, the Children’s Barnyard, or developing spinning and weaving skills.

Young interpreters are expected to work one day a week for a period of eight weeks, beginning the last week in June and ending the last week in August. Students who would like to participate should submit a one or two-page letter expressing their interest and reasons for wanting to be a Young Interpreter, as well as an explanation of where they would like to work and why, to: Young Interpreter Program, The Farmers’ Museum, P.O. Box 30, Cooperstown, NY 13326. Letters of application must be received by May 15, 2010. Letters of reference are not necessary. A committee of museum staff will review the applications. Candidates may be asked for an interview. Applicants will be chosen based on their commitment and interest, maturity, willingness to learn, and ease with the public. Students applying for the Young Interpreter Program must have parental permission and transportation to the museum during the course of the program.

For more information, please contact Deborah Brundage at 607-547-1484.

Cooperstown: Dinner at A 19th Century Tavern

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Escape to the 1800s with The Farmers’ Museum’s &#8220Evening at the Tavern&#8221 and experience music and merriment topped off with an authentic period dinner. Evenings at the Tavern will be offered on Saturday, April 10 and 24 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Guests will enjoy a dining experience featuring a four-course candlelit meal, period music and games, and old-fashioned hospitality in the Museum’s historic Bump Tavern. The menu is designed and based on foods that were served in rural 19th-century New York taverns. Dinner includes soup, vegetables, roast meat, fresh bread, and dessert. During the evening, guests will be offered a tour of the historic tavern with the Museum’s interpretative hosts, learning about the history of taverns and travel in the 19th century.

Bump Tavern was built by Jehiel Tuttle in the late 1790s in the village of Ashland, Greene County, New York. Strategically located on the Catskill and Windham Turnpike, the resting spot served cattle drovers and other travelers passing through the area. The tavern was purchased in 1842 by Ephraim Bump, who expanded the building and updated the Federal period architecture with Greek revival porches. In 1952, Bump Tavern was moved to Cooperstown, where it became part of the collection of historic buildings at The Farmers’ Museum.

Space is limited- reservations are required and are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Full payment is required in advance by check or credit card. The fee, which includes the complete meal and an unforgettable experience, is $60- $55 for members of the New York State Historical Association. Wine and beer will be available for an additional fee. For more information or to make reservations, please call The Farmers’ Museum at 547-1452.

Farmers Museum Offers Spring Craft Workshops

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Beginning April 3, The Farmers’ Museum will offer a series of workshops based on 19th-century trades and crafts with topics ranging from blacksmithing to beekeeping. All workshops are held at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown. Registration is required. For more information and reservations, call Karen Wyckoff at (607) 547-1410. Information on future workshops can be found on their website at www.farmersmuseum.org.

Farm Family Meal (parent/child)
April 3, 10 am – 2 pm / Fee: $50
Learn what it took to create a meal during the 19th-century. Participants will cook a simple meal over the fire while learning about daily chores of parents and children during the 1840s.

Heritage Vegetable Gardens
April 10, 10 am – 2 pm / Fee: $40 per family
Spend the day learning about historic and current practices for planting and maintaining heritage vegetable gardens. Participants will discuss layout of gardens, cultivation and pest control, and storage of vegetables. They will also have the opportunity to build a hot frame and plant seeds and will leave with packets of heritage seeds.

Farm Chores
April 12, 19, and May 3, 8 – 11 am / Fee: $50 per family or $20 per person
Spend the morning with the farmers preparing the farm for a day’s work: open the barns, clean stalls, feed the animals, thresh wheat, etc. Each day will bring different tasks, just as it does on any farm. A perfect &#8220morning out&#8221 for a family or adults.

Growing a Taste of Yesterday: an Heirloom Gardening Workshop
April 17, 10 am – 2 pm / Fee: $40
This hands-on workshop will focus on starting and maintaining your own supply of heirloom vegetables. Participants will have the opportunity to plant a selection of vegetable varieties for their home gardens. In addition the process for starting a hot frame and composting for your garden will also be discussed. There will also be a discussion and demonstration of propagation methods for saving your favorite vegetable varieties.

Happy Healthy Hen House
April 24, 9 am – 1 pm / Fee: $40
This half-day workshop will introduce participants to techniques and information about the care and housing of chickens. Learn both about historic and contemporary methods of breed selection, nutrition, housing, management and general care for raising your own backyard flock. Come prepared to work in The Farmers’ Museum’s barnyard.

Spring Beekeeping
May 15, 9 am – 1 pm / Fee: $40
Are you interested in learning about the ancient art and science of beekeeping? This hands-on workshop will introduce you to the fundamentals of keeping bees. We will discuss the different ways to get started as a beekeeper and prepare you for the tasks involved. You will also learn some of the history and folklore of beekeeping.

In the Medicine Cabinet
May 15, 10 am – 1 pm / Fee: $40
This workshop will cover growing, harvesting, and wild crafting of about fifteen herbs. In addition, instruction will be given for producing medical preparations from the various herbs. Preparations will include oils (hot and cold infused), ointments, compresses, tinctures, infusions, and decoctions.

Udder to Butter
June 12, 8 am – 12 pm / Fee: $40
Join the farm staff in a unique opportunity to participate in the process of transforming milk into butter. We will start in the barn where you will try your hand at milking the cow and end in the kitchen enjoying our freshly made butter on toast. Participants will separate cream and churn butter using historic and contemporary methods.

Blacksmithing 1
June 12 and 13, 9 am – 4 pm / Fee: $150
This class covers the core skills of blacksmithing. Try out blacksmithing for the first time, or expand your existing skills under the supervision of our master blacksmith. Practice managing a coal fire and forging skills such as drawing out, bending, twisting, and punching. Projects include making decorative hooks, fireplace tools, nails, and hanging brackets. No previous experience is necessary. (Fee includes materials and information packet.)

Blacksmithing 2
June 26 and 27, 9 am – 4 pm / Fee: $150
This class requires students who already have core blacksmithing skills. Work with more complex forging projects. Skills practiced include hot punching, mortise and tennon joints, forge welding, and reproduction of historic ironwork. Students should have taken Blacksmithing 1 or have prior permission of the instructor. (Fee includes materials and information packet.)

Sugaring Off Sundays at The Farmers Museum

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Sugaring Off Sundays, The Farmers’ Museum’s annual event which honors the maple sugaring season, will be held each Sunday throughout the month of March and will also include Easter Sunday, April 4th. The event features historic and contemporary sugaring demonstrations, children’s activities and more. A full pancake breakfast will be served from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with all other activities scheduled 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visitors will be treated to demonstrations of traditional methods of maple-sugaring. Other hands-on demonstrations will allow visitors to experience the traditions of sugaring in the region.

Children’s activities will take place in the Filer’s Corners Schoolhouse throughout the day and maple cooking demonstrations will be held in the More House. Visitors are invited to have a taste of “jack wax” &#8211 hot maple syrup poured over snow! The blacksmith will also be working in his shop – stop in to watch a true craftsman.

The Empire State Carousel, a favorite attraction at The Farmers’ Museum, will also be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Facebook fans receive one free ride.

The Farmers’ Museum Store and Todd’s General Store will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each offers unique gifts, books and crafts.

Admission to Sugaring Off Sundays is $8 for adults- $4 for children age 7 to 12- admission is free for children 6 and under. Admission includes full breakfast. No reservations are required.

Call for Quilts From The Farmers’ Museum

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The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown is seeking submissions for its 2010 quilt contest entitled A New York State of Mind. The entries will be exhibited October 16 and 17, 2010 and will be judged by a team of museum professionals and textile experts.

Quilters are welcome to submit an original quilt project that fits one of the three contest categories: New York Beauty Quilts &#8211 quilts based on traditional motifs, styles and construction methods from the 18th- through 20th-centuries- Hometown New York Quilts – quilts that celebrate the hometown of the crafter in original designs- and Carousel Quilts &#8211 quilts drawing on the color and creativity of the carousel tradition.

Category winners will be exhibited in Cooperstown at the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum as a precursor to a major quilt exhibition that will run from April through December of 2011. Additional prizes will be awarded for audience favorite, judge’s choice, and others.

The Farmers’ Museum and the Fenimore Art Museum have long been associated with collecting and interpreting decorative and utilitarian textiles &#8211 including a large collection of quilts that date back to the 18th century. The Museums’ quilt collection has now grown to several hundred. Contest winners will have their quilts displayed alongside many of these rare works during the 2011 exhibition.

For additional information, a complete list of contest rules, or an entry form, please contact Kajsa Sabatke at The Farmers’ Museum, Box 30, Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326, (607) 547-1453, or via email at [email protected]. Information can also be downloaded from the Museum’s website at www.FarmersMuseum.org. All entries must be postmarked by August 2, 2010. Entry fee: $20.

Farmers Museum Event to Help Fund Local Schools

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The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown will host an evening of music, food, and activities that is sure to keep your feet stomping and your heart pumping – all while supporting local school children. The event, “Heat Up The Night,” will take place on Saturday, February 27th from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. in the museum’s Louis C. Jones Center. The benefit will raise funds needed to provide museum programming for area schools.

The highlight of the evening will be live music by local favorites “The Gypsy Pioneers” and the band “Cheese of the Misty Ceremony.” The event will also include other diversions such as fire juggling, an abundance of food and drink, a raffle by Ommegang Brewery, and interesting activities for the kids.

Adult tickets are $10.00 in advance and $12.00 at the door. Tickets for kids ages 13-18 are $5.00 and kids 12 and under are free. Facebook fans and museum members will receive an extra $1.00 off the regular ticket price. For more information or to order tickets by phone, please call Karen Wyckoff at (607) 547-1410.

Since 2008, NYSHA has seen a sharp increase in requests from local schools for assistance with field trip funding. Responding to this need, NYSHA has written grants and allocated resources that have allowed 29 schools and community groups to visit the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum during the 2008-2009 school year. Both museums see an annual visitation of approximately 10,000 students, and of that number over 1,100 students were able to visit utilizing these funds.

Since support is still needed, NYSHA is currently developing a fund that will be available to all New York State Schools for museum programming. The monies will go primarily to transportation costs, but all types of needs will be considered. Funds will be made available immediately after the event and interested schools should contact Karen Wyckoff at (607) 547-1410 for details.

Schools and community groups that received support from NYSHA in 2008-2009 include Cooperstown Schools, Benton Hall Academy, Sydney Central Schools, Hancock Central Schools, Roxbury Central Schools, Franklin Central Schools, Stamford Central Schools, South Kortright Central Schools, Sydney Center Central Schools,Townsend Central Schools, Jefferson, Downsville, Delaware Big Buddy Programs, and Otsego Head Start Schools.

Farmers Museum Offers Circus Workshop For Kids

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The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown will provide an entertaining way for kids to spend part of their February break by offering a 3-day, circus-themed workshop entitled &#8220Under the Big Top.&#8221 The workshop is designed for kids ages 10-14 and will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day (February 16, 17, and 18) at the Museum. This workshop will help kids discover the fascinating background of circuses and sideshows in New York State and throughout America.

Each day will feature history, art, games, and a chance for children to express their acting talents! Participants will see actual pieces of circus history, learn about clowns and their acrobatic antics, and even take part in a performance.

The cost for the 3-day workshop is $150 for NYSHA members and $200 for non-members. To register or to get more information, contact Karen Wyckoff at 607-547-1410. Circus-themed snacks will be provided but participants are asked to bring a bag lunch each day.