See Historic Homes in a New Light

White Chamber, Moffatt-Ladd House, at Twilight (courtesy photo)

PORTSMOUTH -

For just one evening every two years, Portsmouth’ most beautiful historic house museums show off their interiors during the twilight hours.  This rare opportunity to see the homes and gardens by “candlelight” will take place on Friday August 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. To make the evening extra special, this year the tours will be augmented at each house with brief talks on collection objects, dramatizations of historic events, and period music as well as light refreshments.  Travel through the eighteenth and early nineteenth century throughout the evening. At the 1718 Warner House, learn about Archibald McPhaedris and the Mohawk chiefs. At the 1758 John Paul Jones House enjoy talks about John  Paul Jones and the French officers, and take a special look at the museum’s outstanding collection of Portsmouth samplers.  The 1763 Moffatt-Ladd House will come alive with two dramatic presentations at 5:30 and 6:45 pm: “Polly Moffatt and the French Officers’ Ball,” while at Strawbery Banke visitors will enjoy the music of the American Revolution with Richard Spicer on the harpsichord at Pitt Tavern, and a tour the 1762 Chase House.  At the 1784 Gov. John Langdon House, Historic New England Associate Curator Laura Johnson will share a newly acquired silhouette of John Langdon with visitors and at the 1807 Rundlet-May House, collection manager Nicole Chalfant will describe favorite items from the house's collection. Other houses open for this special evening include the 1750 Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, the 1760 Wentworth Gardner House, and the  ca. 1740 Tobias Lear House.    

Adult Tickets are $18 in advance, and $20 the evening of the tour.   Tickets for Children 12 and under are $9 in advance, and $10 the evening of the tour.  If you are unable to visit all of the houses on the evening of the tour and wish to return, Twilight Tour tickets will be good for regular admission to the houses through the end of the 2012 season.

Proceeds of the tour benefit the member sites of the Portsmouth Historic House Associates, Inc. (PHHA), and PHHA joint programming.  Founded in 1946, PHHA is a consortium of local historic house museums that includes Historic New England (Jackson House, Gov. John Langdon House and the Rundlet-May House), the Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden, the Portsmouth Historical Society at the John Paul Jones House, Strawbery Banke Museum, the Warner House Association, the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, and the Wentworth Lear Association.  PHHA is dedicated to fostering communication among Portsmouth's independent historic house museums to bring to a wider audience the history of Portsmouth, its architecture, its gardens, and its people.  Learn more about PHHA and its activities, and find contact information for each of the houses at www.portsmouthhistorichouses.org.  For more information or to reserve tickets for the Twilight Tour, please call 603-436-8433.  Tickets may be purchased at the Discover Portsmouth Center at 10 Middle Street, at any of the member sites, or online at portsmouthhistory.org.

Making Better Decisions in 4-H

Students in 4-H Judging Contest (courtesy photo)

 

DOVER –

Taking a critical look at the quality of items is just the beginning for those 4-H youth at this year’s  Stratham Fair who took up the Consumer Home Economics 4-H Judging Contest challenge held in the Lynn Garland  4-H Exhibit Building. Many classes required not only making the decision of ranking a class of four similar items but also writing reasons explaining the decisions for their placement classes.  In other classes, there were knowledge quizzes based on 4-H project manuals.

This year the placement classes featured: sewn vet tech shirts for the Clothing and Textiles Project area; Chewy Chocolate Chip Bars for Foods and Nutrition; knitted dishcloths and decorated pens for Arts and Crafts; Lupine Festival and 4-H’ers showing Cows at Stratham Fair for the Photography and Sun Room designs for the Home Improvement section.  In addition there were seventeen toys that had to be scrutinized for safety and age appropriateness if you were babysitting an almost 5-year-old girl.  Another class featured a situation analyzing ten different ads for a bedding set for a full-size bed within a given budget.

An engraved plaque is presented by Stratham Fair to the highest scoring individual in each of the 4-H age groupings.  This year’s highest scoring individuals were Nathan James, 10, from Exeter, for the Novice Class for 4-H youth ages 8-13 who were new to the judging  program. Capturing top honors in the Junior Division for youth ages 9-10 was Muriel Bennett, 10, from Epping.  Turner Jennings won the Intermediate Division for 11-13 year olds and Brandie Rice, 18, Fremont, topped the senior division for those 14-18 years old.

Other 4-H’ers taking part in the Novice Division where youth had to judge three different project classes in the competition were: AJ Robidas, 13, Barrington; Chris Garcia, 13, Strafford; Patrick Marcoux, 10, Brentwood; Samantha Marcoux, 9, Brentwood; and Joe Garcia, 10, Strafford.

Participants in the Intermediate Division, who had to judge five different project classes,  were Emily Gibson, 13, Lee; Jolene Levesque, 13, Fremont; Ryan Crouch, 13, Lee; Sammy Merrill, 12, Stratham; Jacob Scruton, 13, Farmington; Cole Atherton, 12, Lee; and Riley Johnson, 11, East Kingston.

Involved in the Senior Division with having to place two classes in four different project groupings were Gillian Robidas, 15, Barrington; Deanna Scruton, 16, Farmington; Justin Frones, 18, Madbury; Chris St. Pierre, 16, Lee; Jenny Elwell, 15, Stratham; Christine La More, 15, Newmarket; Tristan Baker, 15, Exeter; Mary Claire Attisano, 14, Lee; and Zander Allen 14, Rochester.

4-H youth at the fairs have the projects they create judged by volunteers but in the consumer judging program youth become the judges and have to look closely at items to determine what they feel is the best, second best, third best and bottom of each placement class.  All knowledge quizzes are corrected and returned to the 4-H’ers to help them continue to learn by doing through their 4-H experiences too.

For information on participating in 4-H programs that help youth develop skills, knowledge and confidence should contact the Rockingham County 4-H program in Brentwood at 679-5616 or the Strafford County 4-H program in Dover at 749-4445.  4-H is the youth development program of UNH Cooperative Extension, an equal opportunity employer and educator.  For more information, check out the Extension website at www.extension.unh.edu.

American Independence Museum Celebrates Purple Heart Day, Honors Military

(courtesy photo)

 

EXETER –

On Wednesday, August 8, the American Independence Museum celebrated the anniversary of the Badge of Military Merit, also known as the “Purple Heart” by offering free tours to all active and retired military personnel.

General George Washington issued an order on August 7, 1782 to acknowledge the meritorious actions of enlisted men.  The badge was to be “the figure of a heart in purple cloth or silk…to be worn on the left breast.”  Three men were known to have received the honor at that time, but there is no surviving written record of others who were honored with the badge. 

The museum displayed two Purple Hearts that are in their collection, along with other medals and military ephemera.  One of the badges is of faded purple cloth and was acquired by Society of the Cincinnati member William Willey from a barn in Deerfield, NH in the 1920s; the name of the recipient is not known.  The piece was recently conserved by Deborah Bede, and its age was authenticated by textile expert Jane Nylander. The badge and piece of wool uniform to which it is sewn were then placed in a new display case. The World War II medal on display belonged to J. Phillip Webber and was donated by his widow, Mrs. Alice Webber.

All active and retired military personnel were invited to take a free tour.

A Purple Heart craft activity was available for children.  For more information or directions, please visit www.independencemuseum.org or call 603-772-2622. 

The American Independence Museum is a not-for-profit organization in Exeter, New Hampshire with a mission to connect America’s Revolutionary past with the present through its tours, programs, and special events.  The museum is also participating in the National Endowment for the Arts Blue Star Museums program, which offers free tours to active military personnel until Labor Day.  Over 1,800 museums across the country are involved in this annual summer program.  For more information, visit http://www.arts.gov/national/bluestarmuseums.