Woodstock Vermont Film Series: Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003) did not just live in the twentieth century, he strode across it: a colossus of ideas and a man of deeds. He was a seminal public intellectual and sociologist, policy specialist, ambassador and long serving senator. Moynihan was a moralist in a political world where morality – the urge to do good – is often overcome by the desire to do well.
Over the years, Moynihan’s work has frequently been misinterpreted by political partisans. In Moynihan, figures including Ta-Nehisi Coates and Henry Kissinger – give insight into this “connoisseur of statistics” who served four presidents. The film offers a timely perspective on today’s debates over issues that Moynihan began tackling 50 years ago.
HOURS
HOURS
Open Daily 10 ~ 5
Baby Farm Animal Celebration
Baby Farm Animal Celebration
April 10 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Meet the farm’s lambs, chicks, piglets, and calves.
Opening Day!
Come celebrate with us! It’s our 38th season of sharing and caring for the farm!
Explore the farm and museum and enjoy a variety of activities and programs for every age. Meet our Jersey cows and all of our award winning animals. Come and experience life in 1890! Visitors receive free ice cream.
Happy Easter! Make Naturally Dyed Eggs
Happy Easter! Make Naturally Dyed Eggs
Use ingredients in your kitchen to make beautiful, naturally dyed Easter eggs.
Marti DelNevo of Williston, Vermont
Marti started quilting over 30 years ago when she wanted to make a quilt for her older son who she was expecting at the time. She became a prolific quilt maker around 2003 when she was able to travel less for work and her two sons were growing up.
After retiring from a 39 year career at IBM as a programmer and project manager, she found her dream job working at Yankee Pride Quilts in Essex Junction. She loves helping people select fabric and work through design questions they may have. After having volunteered for many years, Marti joined the Vermont Quilt Festival board as the Contest chair. She is now the chair of Vermont Quilt Festival. Marti loves that she is able to devote so much more time to quilting.
Her late husband bought a long arm for her in 2012–he was probably tired of hearing her ooooh and aaaaah over all the machines when she would come home from a quilt show. Having her own machine, she could long arm her own work and have a small business long arming and making quilts on commission for others. Marti doesn’t focus on any one quilt genre and enjoys designing her own patterns. She loves thread painting, paper piecing, and making quilts with many small pieces. “Maybe that’s the programmer in me that still loves the challenge of putting something intricate together,” Marti remarks.
A Family Halloween at Billings Farm & Museum
A Spooktacular, Physically Distanced Event!
WOODSTOCK, VERMONT… Billings Farm & Museum will host A Family Halloween on Sunday, October 25, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Children in costume receive free admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult.
Children are invited to march in a costume parade. Parades will be held at 11:30 & 1:30 p.m., and all children will receive a ribbon. Costumed children can enter to win a drawing for a $10 gift certificate to the Museum Shop. Drawings will be held following each costume parade. Families can also enjoy a hayride around the farm, offered from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Activities for all ages include pumpkin bowling, making spider web necklaces, plus family-friendly Halloween story readings. Families can venture through the “not too spooky” Farm Life Exhibits while searching for the hidden pumpkins. Children are invited to trick-or-treat safely from 12:00 – 3:00 p.m. at candy stations located around the farm.
Don’t fear the annual pumpkin carving contest! Guests vote for their favorite in the ‘spooktastic” display of decorated pumpkins created by our staff! See the roasted pumpkin seed display and take home the Billings Farm recipe.
Visit the Dairy Bar for a special fall treat – cider and doughnuts! Also available: pumpkin ice cream and Billings Farm cheese.
Note that as of July 1, the Billings Farm & Museum site is limited to a maximum capacity of 225 people at one time, per State of Vermont guidance, and face coverings must be worn by all guests over the age of 2 everywhere on the site, including the outdoors. For more about visiting Billings Farm safely, updates on our site capacity, and to learn which spaces are open, visit billingsfarm.org/safety/.
The Farm & Museum is open Thursdays-Tuesdays, from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm through Oct. 31, November – February weekends and vacation weeks or online anytime at billingsfarm.org/billings-farm-at-home/.
The Billings Farm & Museum is owned and operated by The Woodstock Foundation Inc., a charitable non-profit institution. Billings Farm & Museum is committed to providing educational opportunities and experiences to our visitors, whether here in Woodstock, Vermont or at home wherever you are through our online resources at Billings Farm at Home. Admission rates, hours, and a schedule of events and activities can be found by visiting billingsfarm.org.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BILLINGS FARM & MUSEUM
Boston.com: The best places in New England to visit around Thanksgiving
Check out a traditional 1800s Thanksgiving in Woodstock, Vermont
You can explore the “charming” downtown of Woodstock and visit the historic Billings Farm and Museum, established in 1871, where guests can view displays of a traditional 1800s Thanksgiving celebration, according to the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing. Before you go, read the museum’s COVID-19 safety guidelines and Vermont’s COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The Keene Sentinel: December to Remember
Billings Set to Host Annual Christmas at the Farm
Do you hear what I hear? Sleighbells jingling… reindeer hooves clacking… Santa Claus. All the sounds of the season are coming to Billings Farm & Museum beginning this weekend.
The holiday traditions of 19th century New England will engulf the farm in Woodstock, Vt. with Christmas at the Farm celebrations and themed activities to be held on weekends throughout December (Dec. 5, 6, 11, 12 and 13), and then daily from Dec. 19 to Jan. 3, 2021 (excluding Christmas Day), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
An authentically decorated farmhouse parlor will transport visitors to Victorian times, where they can enjoy holiday stories. Candle-dipping and cooking demonstrations of various holiday foods and gingerbread offer a full traditional experience.
Visitors are encouraged to bundle up and take to the farm fields, too, with snowshoes. It’s a traditional pastime, and one that is perfectly suited for the region. Bring your own snowshoes or borrow some from Billings. Later, warm up with a cup of wassail (hot mulled cider) and homemade cider donuts.
Billings’ holiday celebrations will feature online components this year, including a baking/cooking demonstration and workshop with Chef Emery. On Dec. 5 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), learn how to make holiday cookies and teas. Chef Emery will make two different types of each, using local dried herbs and fruits as well as local jams.
The Woodstock Vermont Film Series is streaming several documentaries online: “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band” (Dec. 3 to 6); “The Last Ice” (Dec. 17 to 20); and “The Woman Who Loves Giraffes” (Dec. 31 to Jan. 3, 2021). Travel the world with these films, all without leaving your living room.
December will also be a time for some additional education, courtesy of Billings Farm. Owned and operated by the nonprofit Woodstock Foundation Inc., Billings offers a lot of educational opportunities at the farm and now online.
Family Wednesdays target students who are learning remotely. Each week throughout the month will focus on a different farm theme. Learn more about the animals, see objects from the museum’s various collections, learn some crafts at home, hear stories read aloud and more. Chickens will be the focus on Dec. 2; Draft Animal Power on Dec. 9; and Giddy Goats on Dec. 16.
Community Report: ‘Thinking Like A Farmer’ Introduces Students To STEAM Fields
This school year, Billings Farm in Woodstock is offering young home-schoolers and remote learners a course that challenges them to “Think Like A Farmer.”
Billings Farm is an operating Jersey dairy farm with a museum of Vermont’s rural past, and VPR spoke with interpretation and education coordinator Christine Scales about the four-week class.
The curriculum is set up to give 7- to 12-year-olds a prompt, like ‘design a way to water your plants,’ or ‘create an invention to feed certain animals on the farm,’ and then to have them problem-solve in ways that farmers have been doing for hundreds and even thousands of years.
“Farmers really have to be mechanics. They have to be engineers,” Scales said. “They have to understand how weather works. They have to understand physics.”
She added that the students will be asked to create contraptions, perhaps using inspiration from the old tools and technologies on display in the Billings exhibit. She also said it’s an opportuniy to introduce kids to the STEAM fields: science, technology, engineering, art and math.
The farm offers classes for older learners, too, in its Billings Backyard series.
You can listen to the recording on the VPR.org website: click here
