On Sunday, December 21, 2008, The Curran Homestead Living History Farm and Museum will be hosting a Christmas Holiday Gathering at its site on Fields Pond Road in Orrington. We will be offering cookies, pies, and other goodies with mulled cider and egg nog. A decorated tree will be featured prominently in the Curran House living room, and Mary Ann Perry of Holden will play holiday music on our parlor upright piano and our vintage pump organ. Those who wish to provide vocal accompaniment are welcome to do so. Admission: $3 per family
The Curran Homestead also seeks donations for its continued operation in the coming year, and miniature stockings will be provided for those who wish to make a charitable donation to this 501 (c)(3) nonprofit corporation. The miniature stocking containing your donation will be hung on the tree. A gift will be provided to those who donate $50, $100, $500, or more. In order to continue our gatherings and further develop our educational outreach and programming we need your charitable donations. We function solely through volunteers.
Mr. and Mrs. Claus and a Holiday Photo, the Perfect Gift
Mr. and Mrs. Claus will be set up in their sleigh in the "Sugar Shack" to hear holiday requests from good boys and girls. A photographer will be there to fulfill any requests for a photograph with the crimson clad couple. The photograph will be printed onsite, and a choice of sizes is available for the perfect holiday momento. 8 x 10" photos will be $4 and 5 x 7" will be $2. All proceeds to benefit The Curran Homestead.
Showing posts with label New. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New. Show all posts
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Oriental Jade Dinner Buffet Fundraiser
The Curran Homestead Living Farm and Museum volunteers will be the wait staff for an Oriental Jade Restaurant Dinner Buffet Fundraiser on Monday, December 8. The buffet features a large selection of both Far Eastern and American food choices. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the museum's restoration and education projects.
Reservations are required by Thursday, December 5. Tickets are limited for the two seatings at 5:00 PM and 6:15 PM. The cost for the "all you can eat buffet" is $14.00 for adults and $7.00 for children (12 and under). There will be two door prize drawings at each seating.
Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and greet Bob Schmick (and his family). Schmick is the Curran Farm's new Volunteer Director of Education Programs. He comes with a Ph.D. in Education and training in museum operations. He grew up on a farm in New York State and has long been interested in the role of the farm as a center of education and greater community cohesiveness. During the dinner, schmick will speak about his thoughts about developing a greater relationship with area schools, providing in-school presentations, lesson packages and plans online to be followed-up by field trips to the Curran Farm at Fields Pond in Orrington. He will also talk about his plans for gathering oral histories that connect with rural life in Maine, the family farm, and the Curran Farm itself.
For tickets and more information, contact Irv Marsters at Bangor Letter Shop, 207-945-9311; email:irv@bangorlettershop.com; John Mugnai of Center Drive School in Orrington, email: jmugnai@cds.u91.k12.me.us, or Karen Marsters at 207-947-0749.
The Curran Homestead, Inc. is a Community Education Project and a 501(c)(3) Corporation that relies upon its membership and the community for its support.
For more information:
Irv Marsters, Treasurer
The Curran Homestead
Cell: 207-745-4426
irv@bangorlettershop.com
Reservations are required by Thursday, December 5. Tickets are limited for the two seatings at 5:00 PM and 6:15 PM. The cost for the "all you can eat buffet" is $14.00 for adults and $7.00 for children (12 and under). There will be two door prize drawings at each seating.
Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and greet Bob Schmick (and his family). Schmick is the Curran Farm's new Volunteer Director of Education Programs. He comes with a Ph.D. in Education and training in museum operations. He grew up on a farm in New York State and has long been interested in the role of the farm as a center of education and greater community cohesiveness. During the dinner, schmick will speak about his thoughts about developing a greater relationship with area schools, providing in-school presentations, lesson packages and plans online to be followed-up by field trips to the Curran Farm at Fields Pond in Orrington. He will also talk about his plans for gathering oral histories that connect with rural life in Maine, the family farm, and the Curran Farm itself.
For tickets and more information, contact Irv Marsters at Bangor Letter Shop, 207-945-9311; email:irv@bangorlettershop.com; John Mugnai of Center Drive School in Orrington, email: jmugnai@cds.u91.k12.me.us, or Karen Marsters at 207-947-0749.
The Curran Homestead, Inc. is a Community Education Project and a 501(c)(3) Corporation that relies upon its membership and the community for its support.
For more information:
Irv Marsters, Treasurer
The Curran Homestead
Cell: 207-745-4426
irv@bangorlettershop.com
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Old Family Farm Thrives as 'Living History Museum,' by Steve Cartwright
This article originally appeared in the magazine Memories of Maine (Fall 2008)
Imagine motoring down a country road and spotting an old farm where the farmer is wearing 1900-era clothes and working the land with turn-of-the-century technology.
This can actually happen at the Curran Homestead Living History Farm and Museum, east of Bangor in the sleepy town of Orrington.Drive through the inland towns of central and northern Maine and you'll see plenty of abandoned farms. They are sad signs of an economy that has gone south. Some old farms turn into paved malls, industrial sites, and housing developments. Others revert to woodland. But a handful of these 19th century farms have been revived through nonprofit efforts to save them, and one sterling example is the Curran Homestead.
Here on well-fertilized ground, inmates of the Penobscot County Jail have planted gardens that supply them with fresh and healthy food. Young people have volunteered on projects such as rebuilding an authentic outhouse, gates, and fences. Families have joined in a spring maple sugaring fest, a fall harvest festival, a St.Patrick's Day festival (The Currans emigrated from Ireland), and Tom Sawyer days.
A small, determined band of volunteers has worked since the early 1990s to restore the house, barns, pasture, and vitality of what was for generations Fields Pond Farm, a dairy farm operated by the frugal and tenacious Currans, an Irish immigrant family that worked the land and prospered, even renting canoes to summer visitors. The last of the Curran dynasty, "Miss" Mar Katherine, died in 1991, and the will specified the old farm should be preserved---if an organization could be found to take on that daunting task.
The once-thriving Curran farm on Fields Pond Road was in decay and disrepair. Barns sagged, paint peeled, and the 300 acres of land were weedy, overgrown, and neglected so Irv Marsters, a Bangor printer, joined others in forming a living history museum on 35 acres, a portion of the old farm. An adjacent tract of land is in the custody of Maine Audubon Society. It's a place, he said, where people of all ages could connect with the world of horse-drawn wagons and sleighs, homemade and handmade food, drink and music.
Besides educating people about living off the land, the organizers hoped a visit to the museum would be fun. The volunteers dress in period costumes and assume Curran-era identities while on duty. The idea is to create an environment where you literally step back two or three generations and feel right at home in that setting. The Curran concept includes the belief that we can learn from the past. It is said that "those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them," the homestead's oreganizers remind us.
Don Colson, a fundraiser for the homestead, and veteran Bangor broadcaster, says: "The American family farm is vanishing, and with each lost farm goes another symbol of Maine's unique culture." Colson says the museum will "enrich the lives of our children, offer our community many opportunities for wholesome family fun, and serve as an excellent resource, through museum displays and hands-on activities and programs." He said the Curran Homestead captures the values and customs of another era, when thrift and self reliance were watchwords.
Immigrant farmers such as the Currans, who bought and expanded an existing farmstead, demonstrated you could live off the land, be relatively self sufficient, and live mostly in harmony with the seasons---if you worked hard at it and knew what you were doing. Theirs was a horse-and-buggy era, a far cry from our SUV-and-cell phone era.
Preserving the Curran Homestead took a leap forward when Marsters and his collaborators submitted a comprehensive proposal to the administrator of the Curran estate and that plan was accepted, even though the group had just been formed and at first had virtually no funds. The group got professional advice from RSVP, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program in Bangor. Now, 17 years later, the homestead is an established feature in Orrington, and the town itself votes a modest contribution toward its upkeep. The town has also featured photos of the farm on its town reports.
Donations and grants help pay costs, along with membership dues of any amount. Marsters, who is the treasurer, said he and the board must ramp up fundraising efforts to pay for a permanent staff person, maintain farm animals on site, and continue upkeep of the house, barn and outbuildings. The homestead's board of directors invites you to take a leisurely visit to the farm and savor the sights, sounds, smells and feels of an era when a family could live on a small farm, provide for themselves, and trade with surrounding communities.
It was a hard life and a good life, and there are lessons in it, perhaps for all of us.
The Curran Homestead is located at 327 Fields Pond Road in Orrington. The mailing address is Curran Homestead, Box 107, Orrington, ME 04474-0107. The phone is 207-945-9311
Imagine motoring down a country road and spotting an old farm where the farmer is wearing 1900-era clothes and working the land with turn-of-the-century technology.
This can actually happen at the Curran Homestead Living History Farm and Museum, east of Bangor in the sleepy town of Orrington.Drive through the inland towns of central and northern Maine and you'll see plenty of abandoned farms. They are sad signs of an economy that has gone south. Some old farms turn into paved malls, industrial sites, and housing developments. Others revert to woodland. But a handful of these 19th century farms have been revived through nonprofit efforts to save them, and one sterling example is the Curran Homestead.
Here on well-fertilized ground, inmates of the Penobscot County Jail have planted gardens that supply them with fresh and healthy food. Young people have volunteered on projects such as rebuilding an authentic outhouse, gates, and fences. Families have joined in a spring maple sugaring fest, a fall harvest festival, a St.Patrick's Day festival (The Currans emigrated from Ireland), and Tom Sawyer days.
A small, determined band of volunteers has worked since the early 1990s to restore the house, barns, pasture, and vitality of what was for generations Fields Pond Farm, a dairy farm operated by the frugal and tenacious Currans, an Irish immigrant family that worked the land and prospered, even renting canoes to summer visitors. The last of the Curran dynasty, "Miss" Mar Katherine, died in 1991, and the will specified the old farm should be preserved---if an organization could be found to take on that daunting task.
The once-thriving Curran farm on Fields Pond Road was in decay and disrepair. Barns sagged, paint peeled, and the 300 acres of land were weedy, overgrown, and neglected so Irv Marsters, a Bangor printer, joined others in forming a living history museum on 35 acres, a portion of the old farm. An adjacent tract of land is in the custody of Maine Audubon Society. It's a place, he said, where people of all ages could connect with the world of horse-drawn wagons and sleighs, homemade and handmade food, drink and music.
Besides educating people about living off the land, the organizers hoped a visit to the museum would be fun. The volunteers dress in period costumes and assume Curran-era identities while on duty. The idea is to create an environment where you literally step back two or three generations and feel right at home in that setting. The Curran concept includes the belief that we can learn from the past. It is said that "those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them," the homestead's oreganizers remind us.
Don Colson, a fundraiser for the homestead, and veteran Bangor broadcaster, says: "The American family farm is vanishing, and with each lost farm goes another symbol of Maine's unique culture." Colson says the museum will "enrich the lives of our children, offer our community many opportunities for wholesome family fun, and serve as an excellent resource, through museum displays and hands-on activities and programs." He said the Curran Homestead captures the values and customs of another era, when thrift and self reliance were watchwords.
Immigrant farmers such as the Currans, who bought and expanded an existing farmstead, demonstrated you could live off the land, be relatively self sufficient, and live mostly in harmony with the seasons---if you worked hard at it and knew what you were doing. Theirs was a horse-and-buggy era, a far cry from our SUV-and-cell phone era.
Preserving the Curran Homestead took a leap forward when Marsters and his collaborators submitted a comprehensive proposal to the administrator of the Curran estate and that plan was accepted, even though the group had just been formed and at first had virtually no funds. The group got professional advice from RSVP, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program in Bangor. Now, 17 years later, the homestead is an established feature in Orrington, and the town itself votes a modest contribution toward its upkeep. The town has also featured photos of the farm on its town reports.
Donations and grants help pay costs, along with membership dues of any amount. Marsters, who is the treasurer, said he and the board must ramp up fundraising efforts to pay for a permanent staff person, maintain farm animals on site, and continue upkeep of the house, barn and outbuildings. The homestead's board of directors invites you to take a leisurely visit to the farm and savor the sights, sounds, smells and feels of an era when a family could live on a small farm, provide for themselves, and trade with surrounding communities.
It was a hard life and a good life, and there are lessons in it, perhaps for all of us.
The Curran Homestead is located at 327 Fields Pond Road in Orrington. The mailing address is Curran Homestead, Box 107, Orrington, ME 04474-0107. The phone is 207-945-9311
New Director of Education
A new Director of Education, Robert Schmick, has been named to assist in The Curran Homestead's programming. After completing both a Ph.D. in Education at NYU and a Professional Certificate in Museum Studies and Administration at Tufts recently, Robert comes to The Curran Homestead with much enthusiasm for contributing to fulfilling its potential as both a place for community gatherings and learning at all levels. In addition to being a teacher, he will rely on the experiences of his family's dairy farm in upstate New York as preparation for assistingin the further development of this local living history farm and museum. Sharing such experiences and know-how with younger generations, who are becoming increasingly distanced from hands-on approaches to many of today's challenges, is central to the goals of the museum. "It was on the family farm that much of the training required for this position took root," says Robert. "This museum's unique mission is to both recreate and sustain the rewards of self-sufficiency, thrift, and ingenuity that have not only characterized rural life in Maine but elsewhere in both the past and present. "With the harsh realities of rising living costs and economic instability, The Curran Homestead envisions a greater educational role and relevancy to contemporary life, for it may be that the example of turn-of-the-century (circa 1900) know-how and self-sufficiency is the most effective remedy to today's ills.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Halloween Celebration and Christmas Event on the Way
Lots of new things have been brewing at The Curran Homestead Living History Farm and Museum at Fields Pond in Orrington. A Halloween celebration is scheduled for the public on Halloween Day, October 31 from 1-6 PM. The festivities are organized primarily for pre-schoolers, but all ages are invited. Featured will be hand-pressed cider and homemade donuts, a costume competition, a sort-of-scary scavenger hunt, a maze, antique auto and tractor-drawn rides, story time, a guitar/banjo singalong, and more. An emphasis on pre-school programming is planned for months to come centered around a weekly daytime story hour. Also in the development stage are several adult night classes planned for this winter centered around book binding, quilting, caning, etc. Details about these will be available soon.
Post October 31
The Halloween Celebration came off as scheduled. Several kids were spotted kicking and screaming once mom and dad said it was time to leave. Amongst the most popular attractions were the scarecrows and pumpkin painting. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be a kid and be given a paint brush and paint to do as I pleased. Most kids rose to the occasion, and there are some promising young artists from the Penobscot, Hancock, and other surrounding counties. There was a bit of trouble with the old-fashioned cider mill; it seems a spring was too tight making it almost impossible to crank. Next time kids! The Model T continues be a popular favorite of not only my son but all the frequent farmers who showed up. And no doubt those experiencing it for the first time will be back when the weather is warm again. A big cheer for those responsible for some very delicious donut holes for everyone. It was an added treat to hover around the wood burning kitchen stove waiting for the goodies, for there was a bit of a chill in the air on Halloween. Excellent costumes. My personal favorite was a whole slew of cowgirls that came together and obviously were lookin' for a round-up.
We look forward to seeing everyone again at our next event which will be Sunday, December 21, 2008 from 2-5 PM. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be in their sleigh under the roof of the "Sugar Shack" to hear requests for Christmas presents from all who show. There will be a photographer on site taking pictures of kids with Mr. and Mrs. Claus for a nominal fee. Pictures will be printed out on site and are also available in a frame if desired. There will be some mulled cider for refreshment and goodies to eat. Miniature stockings will be available for those interested in placing their holiday or annual donation on the Christmas tree in the Curran Homestead Living Room.
Post October 31
The Halloween Celebration came off as scheduled. Several kids were spotted kicking and screaming once mom and dad said it was time to leave. Amongst the most popular attractions were the scarecrows and pumpkin painting. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be a kid and be given a paint brush and paint to do as I pleased. Most kids rose to the occasion, and there are some promising young artists from the Penobscot, Hancock, and other surrounding counties. There was a bit of trouble with the old-fashioned cider mill; it seems a spring was too tight making it almost impossible to crank. Next time kids! The Model T continues be a popular favorite of not only my son but all the frequent farmers who showed up. And no doubt those experiencing it for the first time will be back when the weather is warm again. A big cheer for those responsible for some very delicious donut holes for everyone. It was an added treat to hover around the wood burning kitchen stove waiting for the goodies, for there was a bit of a chill in the air on Halloween. Excellent costumes. My personal favorite was a whole slew of cowgirls that came together and obviously were lookin' for a round-up.
We look forward to seeing everyone again at our next event which will be Sunday, December 21, 2008 from 2-5 PM. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be in their sleigh under the roof of the "Sugar Shack" to hear requests for Christmas presents from all who show. There will be a photographer on site taking pictures of kids with Mr. and Mrs. Claus for a nominal fee. Pictures will be printed out on site and are also available in a frame if desired. There will be some mulled cider for refreshment and goodies to eat. Miniature stockings will be available for those interested in placing their holiday or annual donation on the Christmas tree in the Curran Homestead Living Room.
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