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Heritage Harvest Festival is Saturday, Oct. 5 M
By Peggy Werner idway Village Museum will celebrate fall traditions from the past and present during Heritage Harvest Festival. The event, formally called the Scarecrow Harvest Festival, will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, on the grounds of the museum’s Victorian Village. Queen Victoria ruled from 1837 to 1901. Special Events Coordinator Alyssa McGhghy says the name change better describes the theme of the festival. “The event celebrates the fall harvest through games, crafts and demonstrations. Visitors will learn about the different ways the Victorians celebrated this season,” she says. The event is being held this year in collaboration with Paulson Agriculture Museum of Argyle, which will have farm
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Smart Living Weekly
equipment on display. The Midway Village Museum farming group will also be on site to demonstrate farming equipment. Lonna Converso, director of marketing and social media at Midway Village, says the festival is a way to celebrate the bountiful fall harvest season while experiencing life on a farm during the turn of the century. “It’s such a beautiful time of year because the leaves will be at peak color and the fall ambiance is just everywhere to be felt and enjoyed,” she says. In addition to the antique farm equipment demonstrations, highlights will include opportunities to make your own scarecrow, paint your own locally grown pumpkin (limited supply), and other fall activities and crafts for kids to enjoy. Paulson’s Chairman of the Board
Oct. 2
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Gene Wheeler says several early farming tools will be on display. These include a double-row hand corn planter from the 1850s patented in Rockford; a plow that would be pulled by horses; a butter churn, corn sheller and more, all manufactured in the Rockford area. “These are pieces you would find people using on any farm in the 1800s and beyond,” says Wheeler. “We’re hoping people will get an appreciation for how mechanization has evolved to make farm life easier and more productive.” Wheeler and his wife, Carolyn, have deep connections with Midway Village. In the 1960s, Wheeler milked cows in the barn that is on the Midway Village Museum grounds. His wife’s parents lived in the Pepper House and her grandparents lived in the Marsh House, both part of the village.
