Behold! New Lebanon, the living museum of contemporary rural American life, has announced its Rural Guide schedule for Saturday, August 29, the ninth week of its inaugural summer programming. The new museum without walls celebrates the rich historical and cultural heritage of New Lebanon.
[private]Unlike any other museum in the country, BEHOLD! New Lebanon offers a variety of tours by locals –Rural Guides, not costumed docents. These guides welcome visitors to their places of work, avocation, or enjoyment, introducing museum goers to their own roles in today’s rural America.
The August 29 programs include:
10 to 11:30 am: The Printed Word
Sharon Koomer and Jerry Grant take visitors on a fascinating tour, complete with a hands-on demonstration of old-time printing presses. Leave with hand-printed cards and a new appreciation of what it took to get the word out and exercise the hard-fought right to freedom of speech — not too long ago. Indoors
1:30 to 2:30 pm: Elm Tree Mill
The Elm Tree Mill helped make New Lebanon famous. When President Theodore Roosevelt lived in the White House, he insisted that his pancakes be prepared only from Elm Tree Mill. buckwheat. A tour conducted by Fionna Lally and Joe Ogilvie, the family that now lives in the mill, offers an unprecedented opportunity to look inside and look back to the 18th century.
2 to 3:50 pm: Gemstones Demystified, Pearls Renewed
Master jeweler and jewelry designer Heather (Van Oort) Naventi busts myths about jewelry and gemstones, demonstrating how to distinguish fake from real, and showing you how to detect flaws in diamonds. For anyone who brings a piece of broken jewelry, she’ll walk through the simple repairs so it can be worn again. A fascinating workshop with a practical side.
4:30 to 5:30 pm: Working Dogs
Visitors to the Johnson Family Homestead witness an age-old system of family farming, where everything is interconnected. Walk in the family’s garden, pick ripe vegetables and pick weeds to feed to the poultry. Thanks to training that builds on their instincts, the Johnson Family’s Border Collies help keep livestock safe. Visitors learn how herding breeds of farm dogs are trained and worked. Young visitors will be encouraged to participate and everyone who might like to own a farm dog of any breed will be given pointers. All ages welcome. Outdoors; dress for walking in woods and fields with heavy shoes or boots and a hat. Sunscreen and bug repellent are advised.
With 60 different tour programs over the course of the summer, Rural Guides greet visitors at their farms, studios and workspaces, where they practice cooking, farming, cattle raising, automobile racing and mechanics, wood-working, foraging and much more. These presenters are not costumed actors or docents recalling old-world skills; they are the real townspeople of today, whose lives and work challenge the quaint myths about country life.
Tour shuttle buses depart from the new Behold! Station and Store, which serves as a gateway and launch spot for museum tours and other activities, in a picturesque Victorian house located at 438 State Rte. 20. The shuttle generally boards a half-hour before the tour starts, check web site or box office for further information.
Advance ticket purchase is recommended for all programs, which are priced at $15 per program. Family discounts are available; ages 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. More information, including full descriptions of all programs and the online box office can be found at www.beholdnewlebanon.org, 518-720-7265, or by emailing info@beholdnewlebanon.org.[/private]