Fun for the Whole Family this Thanksgiving Weekend at Billings Farm & Museum
Nov 22, 2017 01:18PM ● By Linda DitchBillings
Farm and Museum is a fully operational dairy farm and museum that dates back to
1871. It is the oldest registered Jersey dairy farm in the country, and
demonstrations highlight Vermont’s rural heritage. More than 55,000 families
and school groups visit each year to view cow milking and historical exhibits
and to participate in interactive programs.
Groups and Events Coordinator Marge Wakefield answered a few questions about the weekend:
Q: How many years have you featured Thanksgiving on the Farm?
A: We have been featuring Thanksgiving on the Farm since the early 1990s. The annual attendance average over the three-day weekend is around 900.
Q: What can visitors expect?
A:
The weekend will feature traditional cooking demonstrations in the farmhouse,
horse-drawn wagon rides, farm tours, “Introduction to Milking” and “Milking the Herd” programs, and hands-on food preparation
and preservation activities.
You’ll
be welcomed to Frederick Billings’s farmhouse, where farm manager George Aitken
and his family lived and worked from 1890 to 1910.
Visit with costumed interpreters as they demonstrate preparing traditional Thanksgiving fare in the kitchen. Relax in the Victorian parlor and learn how our American Thanksgiving traditions have evolved. Enjoy a cup of spiced cider before boarding the wagon pulled by a team of draft horses for a ride around the farm. In the education room, hands-on activities for all ages include “Making the Perfect Piecrust” and peeling apples for drying.
Q: What is new this year?
A: New holiday programs include “What’s for Dinner?” and a children’s story about Sarah Hale, the woman who saved Thanksgiving.
Billings Farm & Museum 69 Old River Road (Rte 12N & Old River Road), Woodstock, VT