The Fourth of July was celebrated at The Farmers' Museum with gusto this year. The weather was lovely, and lots of happy families came to share in the fun. It was my pleasure to bring the efforts of many talented folks together to make a memorable day for our guests. Like many of our special event days, this fun was made possible by a cadre of volunteers who willingly shared their time and talents.
Visitors were greeted at the Country Fair by Martha Duke and Katie Curran taking registrations for the Apple Pie Eating Contest, sponsored by the Fly Creek Cider Mill, who donated the pies and the prize of a $50 gift certificate. Folks could also sign up for an iron skillet throwing contest and a quoit pitch.
Next, our guests found a fabulous puppet show titled "Rabble Rousing" in the blue and white fair tent. Performed five times by Jai and Nancy, the story was about the colonists rebelling against the British government after one tax after another was levied on them.
The ladies researched and wrote the show, made and clothed the eleven puppets and even created the scenery! Nance teaches puppetry in the Theater Arts program at Utica College and generously shared her expertise.
Volunteers John LaDuke, Hannah Blystra and Michaela LaChance ran old fashioned contests like sack races, egg races and wheelbarrow races all day on the green between the Empire State Carousel and Todd's General Store for the delight of young and old alike.
Ted Shuart marshaled the (truly volunteer) militia on the Bump Tavern Green and led the musket salute as Tom Heitz read the Declaration of Independence from the tavern's upper porch. Katie Boardman entertained with her varied repertoire of patriotic songs played on the lower porch for the enjoyment of all.
Guests could quench their appetite and thirst at the new Crossroads Café housed in the William’s Carriage Shed next to the Tavern. Zeb pulled the ride wagon as Farmer Rick and Ray took turns driving and Doodle Grubb gave his time as the wagon rider.
A highlight came in the afternoon when
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| Gage Olmstead and his mother, who were present for the announcement of Cooper the Colt. |
Filling in as Lulu, Max’s sister and fellow traveler in Wild Times, Nicky created all the drawings for the Naturalist Notebook – an interactive feature in the exhibition that details the natural habitats & habits of the New York animals we explore in the exhibition. It’s been fun for her to ‘channel’ Lulu and imagine how a fellow teen might illustrate his or her trip across the state. Trips to the 
With the help of my computer I was able to take Nicky’s drawings and translate them into the flip panel notebook interactive for our exhibit. It’s been great fun for us to collaborate as a mother daughter team on this part of exhibit. 
I love this new group! Not only does it add to the activity in the More House, but I’m learning new things every week about bandboxes and how they’re made. It’s also fun to see even more colorful wallpaper than already covers the walls in the house (more on the More House wallpaper in a future post).
Bandboxes originally were made in England and served to store men’s detachable neck bands (collars). By the nineteenth century, Americans had adapted bandboxes to store a wide variety of hats, accessories, and other trinkets; women also used them as luggage while traveling.
If you are interested in volunteering on this project, please contact our Volunteer Administrator at volunteers@nysha.org. The bandboxes are also available for sale at Todd’s General Store.
