"What Was New": The "What's New" archive

(Wednesday, 26 May 2004)

The season of Frolicks is now over. This calendar year so far we have entertained in the neighborhood of one thousand school children in field trips and in the two Spring Frolicks. The Frolicks this year featured a new presentation of wooden bowl carving. This was a first both for the presenter and for the school children attending: a nicely done presentation of beautiful work.

(below) redware presentation plate by potter Ned Foltz

The Curator and Educator have been engaged in study. The Curator is enrolled in a Certification in Folk Art Studies program sponsored jointly by the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design and the Heritage Center of Lancaster County. This month he attended seminars on Ceramics and Woodwork, and is currently writing an essay on Ceramics at the Herr House which will be featured in the Summer newsletter and on this website. The Educator attended a seminar on uses of linen, led in part by renowned linen specialist Alan Keyser. She is eager to share her new knowledge of Mennonite cloth dolls.

The Director is busily conducting training sessions for new volunteers at the Museum. Just a reminder to anyone who is interested -- we are always looking for volunteers!

Dale Herr continues to work in the orchard, pruning and supervising the apples, spraying when necessary. The garden has been laid out so the beds seen from above have a diamond effect -- the rows in each bed are on a diagonal. Due to the lovely conditions of alternating rain and sun, everything is growing well, including the weeds, of course! The Gardener has been at pains to contain the Hops in the southeast corner, and so far this seems mostly successful... now if only the mint could slow down...

Unfortunately, the Museum did not receive grant funding for the Summer Youth experience, but we are proceeding with the program as well as we can with a smaller budget. Participants will have hands-on learning opportunities in colonial-era skills such as hand sewing, gardening and field work, blacksmithing, basketweaving, flax and wool processing, dyeing, and weaving.

(Thursday, 8 January 2004)

The Director has been feverishly working to prepare grant applications for the coming year. Yesterday, a letter of interest was submitted to the Lancaster County Community Foundation  for a Youth Summer Experience at the Museum, including administration, materials cost, and consultation fees. The Director is also preparing an application to the Ressler Mill Foundation for the costs of preparing and printing an updated version of our educational packet for teachers, originally entitled Colonial Time Machine.

Last year Lancaster County Community Foundation and Ressler Mill Foundation provided considerable funds towards the restoration of the Herr House roof -- thank you!

(Wednesday, 26 November 2003)

My apologies to anyone who looks at this website dedicatedly. No update has appeared on the web since the 1st of April. This was not intended to be a sort of April Fool's Joke, but with one thing and another, I have not been able to take the time to figure out why it is that the updates I have been writing have never made it onto the Internet. I don't claim to understand how, but I think I have solved the problem -- if you are reading this, that would be some confirmation of the truth of this proposition.

Sadly, our historical breeds program suffered a setback earlier this month when the entire flock was killed in a single night; a dog seems to have been responsible, but exactly how it was able to accomplish this is not clear. Dale Herr has done great service for the Museum, caring for the chickens by cleaning and securing the chicken house, feeding and watering the chickens, and collecting eggs. We shall miss the flock. They added a dramatic touch to the Museum grounds. We hope to try again with a new batch of chicks in Spring 2004.

Dale has also been tremendously helpful in clearing the woodlot behind the 1835 Shaub House, cutting brush and fallen limbs, and in some cases cutting down injured or diseased trees. Although we did not have much rain from Hurricane Isabel earlier this Fall, we did have several severe windstorms. The grove of Locust trees just west of the 1719 House suffered a good deal of damage, and Dale quickly trimmed those trees and made a neat pile of firewood.

(October)

The Snitz Fest, or Mud Fest, depending on how you would like to think of it, was a surprise to the Curator. Snitz Fest 2002 had been marked by some light showers in the morning and fairly strong wind in the afternoon, but Snitz Fest 2003 was wet, wet, wet. Well, not as wet as the second Spring Frolick this year, but enough to turn some potential visitors away. The folks engaged with the hog butchering had to seek the shelter of the overhang of the Tobacco Barn, where they also needed to set out planks to walk on because of the mud. Nonetheless, they remained cheerful and completed their tasks.

At Snitz Fest, at long last, the Gift Shop was able for the first time to offer reproduction Pewter and Redware Pottery.

The Fall Frolick was chilly but otherwise tolerable. A record number of students attended and the Museum received a number of strongly complimentary reports from teachers and parents.

(Tuesday, 5 August 2003)

What's New at the Museum?

    Well, our summer programs are mostly over: Mama & Me was a success, as was Heritage Day, although the attendance to the latter was lower than average, as it was also last year, probably because of the high humidity and overall high temperature. The presentations on or in Pennsylvania German dialect given at Heritage Day were particularly appreciated.

    Mama and Me this year featured children's games and toys, corn-husk doll making, finger-crocheting, and a presentation of blacksmithing. We saw full enrollment for the event, and everyone had an opportunity to take home their dolls and tapes made by finger-crochet as well as their memories.

    Heritage Day (Saturday 2 August) showcased the theme "All That is Old is New Again", with presentations on Pennsylvania German dialect, including storytelling by Dorothy Frey. The new restoration of the roof shingles and the south-side roof overhang were widely admired. Many folks commented something along the lines of "Now at last the house looks complete." Mabel Burkholder was on hand to sign copies of her historical novel The Herrs.

    The Museum historical breeds program, represented by nine Dominique pullets, two Dominique cockerels, and a Speckled Sussex pullet, is coming along fine, thanks in large part to the efforts of Dale Herr. The Project for Living History Programs at the Museum is also going well, with about twenty "Youth Corps" volunteers in 18th century style clothing  interpreting the garden, cellar, and various activities in or around the 1719 House. The Heritage day blacksmithing team produced several reproduction hoes for use in the garden, and we expect to receive pewter and earthenware table service from a company in Virginia at any moment. The Curator was pleased to observe at Heritage Day this year than an unparalleled number of our interpretive volunteers were dressed in correct 18th century attire from head to foot.

(Tuesday, 1 April 2003)

It's hard to believe that six weeks have passed since the last "What's New" entry. The shingles are all dipped now, and although we had some wet snow over the weekend, we'll call that the Onion Snow and consider that Spring has finally arrived. The annual pruning in the orchard by Eric Habegger and his new "apprentice" Dale Herr is mostly completed. Don Nyce is in the process of repairing the outside door to the main office, and we have had some contractors prepare estimates for replacement of the downspouting on the visitors' center destroyed in the heavy snows this winter.

This year's Spring Cleaning Day was windy and cold with spritzy rainy. Noah Hershey, Christ Herr, Dotty Smith, Donna-Lee Mylin and her daughters, Cindy Baker and her children, and the paid staff managed to set up the gift shop, clean the visitors' center, sweep and dust the Faith and Furrow exhibit building, and thoroughly clean the main floor of the 1719 House.

Last week a fairly large group of volunteers from the Museum went on a field trip to the PHMC Landis Valley Farm Museum, where Museum Educator Tim Essig took a good five hours out of his busy schedule to give us a behind-the-scenes look at the Landis brothers' legacy. The weather was lovely and the ground was mostly dry for a change, so we had a very pleasant and informative visit.

The pro-tempore Educator visited Millersville University in March for a Service Learning exposition, and came away with a stack of contacts from the University. The departments of Geology, Chemistry, and Education, are now negotiating with us to set up Service Learning programs at the Museum.

(Service Learning is a fairly new type of program in the college and university environment. It is similar to but different from internship and community service. Service learning is a program in which students receive academic credit for performing some service to a community institution and then critically reflecting upon that service. In an internship, students are paid for their work but are not necessarily expected to critically reflect upon it; in community service students provide a service gratis, but again are not expected to critically reflect on the service. Therefore Service Learning is more strictly learning, but a service is also provided,)

(Saturday, 15 February 2003)

We are back to cold and snowy conditions. Yesterday Dale Herr's St. Valentines' Day present to the Museum was a complete clearing of the snow from the parking lot and lane. This morning we received another inch or two of snow. Dale says he's not planning to clear the lot again until after the storms we are expected to receive tonight, tomorrow, and Monday.

In defiance of the cold and snow, the shingle dipping frolicks continue in the Tobacco shed. There are twenty-four stacks of shingles, and twelve will have been treated in preservative by the end of the day today, according to Marvin Sauder and Dwight Groff, two of the volunteer crew. Shingle dipping parties will be held every Thursday and Friday from now until all twenty-four stacks are treated. Typically four stacks can be treated in a day. The work is a bit sloppy, but the camaraderie and sense of completing an essential task for the Museum makes it enjoyable. Again, as noted below, anyone in the area interested in helping out is welcome to contact the Museum (717) 464-4438.

The Curator - Educator  is busy compiling wish-lists for the garden and other interpretive programs. If you are interested in participating as a volunteer, as a demonstrator at one of our Frolicks or other special events, or if you have some special interest in historical interpretation, this is an excellent time to contact the Museum: curator@hansherr.org (include RE: historical interpretation). We are looking especially for persons with some experience with historical varietals or breeds of plants and animals to work in the garden and with our animal husbandry program, which we plan to expand in the near future. We hope to begin a real (if small scale) farming program at the Museum by next summer, and would like to develop a part-time staff for that program. It would involve farming using pre-1750 technology and interpretation of farm life, ideally by "costumed" interpreters. Persons willing to share knowledge about 18th century Pennsylvania German farming techniques and breeds are heartily invited to contact the Curator with suggestions or interest or both.

Those of you eager for an on-line gift shop will unfortunately have to wait a bit longer still. The Museum recently received loan of equipment which will help in setting up an on-line shop, but we are facing a period of adjustment to the peculiarities of the equipment... what this means is, we hope to be able to scan some images of paintings available for sale in the Museum shop, but we haven't figured out how to get them to a workable scale. So, we will hope to have some of these items available soon, but hesitate to specify a time limit. Apologies to those who hoped to make Christmas purchases on-line.

(Monday 3 February 2003)

The cold weather has moderated somewhat, although more cold weather is predicted; at any rate things were thawed out enough for the Curator to perform some outdoor tasks comfortably around the Museum this weekend.

The shingles for the roof restoration are stacked and waiting in the Tobacco Shed. On Wednesday the 5th, Monday the 10th, and Saturday the 15th of February 2003 they will be dipped in wood preservative preparatory to their installation on the roof of the 1719 House. If you have an interest in observing, or perhaps assisting in, shingle dipping , please contact the Museum staff.

(Tuesday 28 January 2003)

The big news isn't news: it's still COOOLD here in Lancaster County. We have been experiencing, if not record low temperatures, a sustained period of sub-freezing weather (only one day has been above freezing since January 7th. For you folks in Saskatchewan, that's unusual here). The ex-Herr House hens (and their new rooster -- or, well, maybe capon: we're not sure yet -- buddy Lightning) are managing in the barn at Brementown farm, but they get a lot of TLC (and most of the Curator's daughter's breakfasts). The horses seem to be managing, but I suspect the feed and hay bill is higher than the Herrs expected it to be.

Director Doug Nyce has been working much longer past the end of the tourist season than usual: two grants are pending, and he's already firming up many of the details of the Spring Frolicks.

The restoration of the roof is on hold due to the weather. I know I wouldn't want to be up there when the temperature is only in the teens and the wind is blowing at fifteen miles an hour.

The Curator has two or three jobs pending here, as well (including updating the website and getting the on-line giftshop, well, on-line. It's coming, folks, please try to be patient), but his "other" job as a college professor has kicked in for the semester. Now, as long as he doesn't get the labelling project mixed up with the notes for biology or psychology, everything will be fine....

Actually, the unique combination of weather and work schedules has given the Director and the Curator some unusual opportunities to work together on projects. Usually during the museum season, there is too much happening to sit back and reflect much. I suppose that's what Winter is for in the grand scheme of things.

Happy New Year -- and may you enjoy it in peace!

(Thursday 26 December 2002)

People in Lancaster County who ask for a white Christmas finally got their wish this year. Snow began, mixed with rain and sleet, on Christmas eve, and continued falling through Christmas Day. All told, we received about nine inches of heavy, wet snow.

The 1719 House itself was unaffected by the snow. Several of the trees on the Museum grounds suffered damage: three arborvitae lost limbs, and several of the oaks marked for removal lost old branches.

An unknown friend of the Museum came by on Christmas Day and plowed a narrow path through the parking lot. Christ and Dale Herr were here much of the afternoon today (Thursday the 26th), Christ using the snowblower to make pathways and Dale using the tractor to open the parking lot further. Thanks for your help, Christ and Dale!

(Monday 23 December 2002)

Well, even though technically the Museum is closed for the season, we still have plenty of work to do.

The Curator’s longstanding labeling project continues. The Curator has been in touch with several local institutions about help with this project, which has transformed into a three-part venture: first. To research objects on display in Faith and Furrow, second, to establish the accession information for those objects, and third, to prepare labels for those objects.

The Museum chickens (now down to only three hens) have retired to Brementown Farm, the home of the Museum educator and his family. This coming Spring an entirely new set of chicks will grace the Museum grounds.

The "Museum cat", Doppelganger, has returned to Julia and Nate Whitfield. We hope that he will visit us from time to time, but we are glad that he has, it seems, finally found a permanent home.

The Gift Shop manager is researching on-line ordering systems, and is in conversation with some noted artisans who produce reproduction glassware, copper, brass, and tin articles, blacksmithy goods, and redware. It is the hope of the Curator to more fully furnish the 1719 House with reproduction goods, and then offer duplicates of the reproductions for sale in the gift shop, but he hastens to add that it may be months before the Museum even begins this process.

The shingles for the roof restoration of the 1719 House were delivered recently and are in storage on the Museum property.