Family Festivities Planned at Sturbridge for April Vacation
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Families are encouraged to visit Old Sturbridge Village during school vacation week between April 13th and 21st to take part in or witness a number of special events being held at the interactive museum.
"After such a long, snowy winter, people are really looking forward to spring. The April vacation is a much-anticipated start of spring – and is a wonderful chance for families to enjoy the Village together," says Ann Lindblad of Old Sturbridge Village
A sure sign of spring, newborn lambs, including a set of twins, have already arrived at Old Sturbridge Village, with more expected in the days and weeks to come. Visitors can also meet the Village oxen, cows, and chickens, learn how to churn butter, and try a variety of hands-on activities make-and-take crafts.
"Sheep farming was a big part of rural life in the early 1800s. Farmers in the Sturbridge area once ran flocks of about 10-60 Merino sheep, which were noted for the fineness of their wool. Every year the Village welcomes a dozen or so newborn lambs, and we are especially delighted when they arrive in time for April school vacation visitors," says Ann.
OSV also offers Discovery Adventures called "A Child's Work and Play" during vacation week with two-day, three-day, or five-day options. Children who participate get to wear period clothing and experience first-hand what it was like to be a kid in the early 19th-century. They will learn how children had fun and also how indispensable farm girls and boys were to the family work force. Activities include cooking over the hearth, sewing, preparing a kitchen garden, making their own toy, learning old-fashioned stories and games, and attending a 19th-century magic show.
Museum visitors can also tour the Village's latest exhibit A Child's World: Childhood in 19th-Century New England. This marks the first time that more than 150 rare child-related artifacts from the Old Sturbridge Village collection are on display together. Highlights of the exhibit include toys, games, puzzles, portraits, clothing, furniture, toy soldiers and antique dolls. The Child's World exhibit is entering its final weeks, and is on view only through Memorial Day, May 27.
"Old Sturbridge Village has a collection of 60,000 artifacts – far more than we have room to display on a daily basis. Each year we mount an exhibit of some of the most interesting items in our collection so more people can enjoy these treasures," says Lindblad.
Lastly, on Patriots Day, April 15, Old Sturbridge Village historians will re-create the 1775 muster of the local Sturbridge militia gathering in response to the battles at Lexington and Concord that marked the start of the Revolutionary War. Young visitors (armed with wooden muskets) can join the action -- becoming "Minutemen" and "Minutewomen" and learning to march and drill with the militia. Fifers and drummers will play throughout the day, and visitors can meet a "patriot" from the nation's oldest commissioned war ship, "Old Ironsides." The USS Constitution surgeon will be on hand, in full 1812 naval regalia, to describe life and the practice of medicine aboard the historic vessel.
"The mission of Old Sturbridge Village is to depict what everyday life was like in early New England from 1790 – 1840 – to show how people lived and worked in all four seasons. OSV historians depict activities typical of springtime in that time period – farmers readying fields for planting, farm wives cooking over the hearth, the blacksmith repairing tools, and the printer, potter, and shoemaker at work," remarks Lindblad again.
For more information on all these events and more please visit www.osv.org.
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