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News from Garfield Farm |
Reservations are due June 19 for the Saturday
June 26th Pastoral Summer Picnic Dinner and Sunset Contra Dance to be
held at 6 pm at Garfield Farm Museum. Funds raised will go towards the
restoration of the museum‚s oldest building, the 1842 hay and
grain barn. Work is underway to complete the restoration of the
barn‚s roof, damaged by lightening in 2005.
From the Atwell Burr House courtyard
overlooking the green, rolling fields of Garfield Farm Museum, a summer
picnic dinner will be served. After dinner, the Scantlin‚ Reunion
will play traditional 19th century American music on fiddle, hammer and
mountain dulcimers, guitar and penny whistle, as Donna Benkert calls
and instructs the dances the Illinois settlers knew. With the sun
gradually setting in the west, contra dances will be featured that
involve two lines of dancers facing each other. Opposing pairs of
dancers gradually move to the head of the line and back again with
calls of right hand star, dive for the oyster, duck for the clam, and
other colorful names for the dance figures.
These dances were the most popular forms of
entertainment before recorded music. Whole communities would be brought
together for an evening of celebration that in days gone by would last
until dawn. Often the men were introduced to the ladies by the managers
of the dance as it was not proper for a gentleman to speak to a lady
without a formal introduction. As the dancers constantly danced with
adjacent dancers as they moved through the figures, everyone knew
everyone before the night was over.
Proceeds for the evening will go towards the
restoration of the 1842 barn roof. Carpentry work begins this month and
the roof should be finished by mid-summer. Recent studies indicate the
original roof consisted of stout 1 3/4 inch thick and 3 inch wide oak
roof boards set 10 inches apart covered by 30 inch long white oak sawn
shingles. In later years, a 6 inch wide roof board was added to
the 10 inch space as wood became too valuable to use long shingles. As
early as 1849, as seen in the museum‚s restored horse barn,
shingles were only 16 inches long. Such was the rapid depletion of
natural resources in less than 15 years of settlement.
This fundraiser is $75 per person and
reservations must be made by June 19th by calling 630 584-8485 or
mailing a check or credit card payment to Garfield Farm Museum Box 403
LaFox, IL 60147. Or contact the museum at info@garfieldfarm.org.