Sunday, May 1st was a perfect day for the opening. The sky was blue, the sun shone, and a cool breeze kept most of the black flies, the New Hampshire State Bird, away from our faces.
A variety of activities and events were presented during the Celebrate the Earth Festival. Joan O’Connor of Henniker, owner of Joan’s Famous Composting Worms delivered an interesting and entertaining talk about red wrigglers and how they can be used to turn kitchen food waste into rich compost all year round. Joan also had a tent on the museum grounds where she had worms on display and for sale.
Two guided tours of the Medicine Woods Trail were offered to enthusiastic attendees, and the cover was put on the tipi that stands in our field. Liz Charlebois demonstrated the art of ash splint basket making while Denise Pouliot taught guests how to weave small fish, using ash splints. Once the fish were completed, they were put on a string and hung from a fishing pole. John Crawford and Steve Pitman, our accomplished chefs, had buffalo burgers for sale, while Nicole Stratton ran the Kids’ Crafts Table.
The May Second Sunday Speaker actually spoke on the first Sunday this month because the topic was a perfect tie-in to our new exhibit, Along the Basket Trail. In her presentation, Abenaki Women: Basket Making and Cultural Survival, Sherry Gould talked about the role women have played in keeping Abenaki Culture alive through basket making. Sherry’s presentation provided an understanding of how traditional values, philosophies, history, and other aspects of the culture of a people are kept alive both by the basket makers of the past and the contemporary basket makers who continue to work with ash to produce baskets that tell the story of Abenaki people in New Hampshire.
To see pictures of the Celebrate the Earth Festival, visit our album on Facebook.
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