Farmers' Museum to host lineup of weekends celebrating variety of themes

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June 13, 2012

Farmers' Museum to host lineup of weekends celebrating variety of themes

Anonymous Staff Report The Daily Star Wed Jun 13, 2012, 03:30 AM EDT

Fighting fires, making beer and grinding herbs in yesteryear will be highlights on selected weekends this summer and fall at The Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown.

Step Back in Time Weekends will present history and activities based on a theme on eight weekends, with the first this weekend.

"¢ Fireman's Muster, Saturday and Sunday: Central New York volunteer fire companies and their trucks, pumpers and hose reels will be at the museum after appearing on Main Street in Cooperstown in the National Baseball Hall of Fame Classic parade.While at the museum, visitors may participate in a bucket brigade and learn about fire safety from Safe Kids Otsego County. There will be a display about the Great Fire of Cooperstown, and the museum's collection of firefighting equipment will be displayed.

"¢ Fantastic Natural Fibers, June 30 and July 1: Demonstrations, hands-on activities and exhibits will show how natural fiber is harvested and transformed into yarns and threads -- and how yarns and threads are turned into wearable, utilitarian and decorative items. Ongoing activities will include spinning, dying, weaving, felting, knitting, crocheting and fiber processing.

"¢ Treating Our Ills and Curing Our Chills: Medicine Now and Then, July 14 and 15. Participants will be able to try grinding herbs, tour a medicinal herb garden and take a nature walk to identify wild medicinal plants in an exploration of historic uses of herbs as medicines. Visitors will hear about a time when people purchased patent medicines or ingredients from pharmacists to make home remedies, used recipes from newspapers, family members and cookbooks, and about how medicinal uses of herbs continue.

"¢ Hops and Beer, Aug. 4 and 5: Participants will walk in a field of hops, a vigorous, climbing perennial used as a flavoring and stabilizing agent in beer. They will learn about the importance of hops in New York and the culture surrounding hop-growing in the 1800s. Hands-on activities will be offered in the Pope Hop House.

"¢ Blacksmiths' Weekend, Aug. 11 and 12: Blacksmiths from across the state will demonstrate traditional tool and hardware making, working with hot iron as in the 1840s. In the Field Blacksmith Shop and on the museum green, blacksmiths will make handles and door hinges. A farrier will make shoe horses.

"¢ Letterpress Printing, Aug. 18 and 19. Participants will discover the history of printing, as well as the continued popularity of the craft into the 21st century. The entire process of making a book, from the manufacture of paper and type, to the setting of type and the process of printing on 19th-century presses, to assembling and sewing the books will be displayed. Participants will have opportunities to set type, sort "pied type" by font, print souvenir cards on a period job press and make paper to take home. Throughout the historic village, period newspapers and broadsides will demonstrate the importance of the village printer.

"¢ Animal Power, Aug. 25 and 26: This weekend is all about the animals that have shaped farming history. Oxen and horses will show their power throughout the day with demonstrations of cultivating and driving. Visitors may test their strength by using historic farming tools, and a blacksmith will work on equipment for draft animals.

"¢ Carousel Organ Rally, Sept. 29 and 30. The Farmers' Museum will host the Carousel Organ Association of America. The Mighty, Majestic, Military Band Organ of the Empire State gives regular concerts in the Carousel Pavilion.

All Step Back in Time Weekends are held at the museum -- 5775 State Highway 80 in Cooperstown -- from 10 to 5 p.m. Museum admission is $12 for visitors 13 to 64, $10.50 for those 65 and older; $6 for children 7 to 12; and free for New York State Historical Association members and children 6 and younger. Through Labor Day, active-duty military and up to five family members are admitted free, through the Blue Star Museum program.