INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
- NEARBY TREASURES: A Journey to Olde Swansea's Martin House Farm
- FROM THE LIPPITT HOUSE MUSEUM: July Garden Party, House Tours, and Latest Blog Insights
- FROM DORCAS INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF RHODE ISLAND: A limited number of tickets to the 100th Centennial Celebration on Thurs, June 23 will be available to purchase that evening
- CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: The Wilbury Theatre Group is back at it with FringePVD – our annual festival of theatre, dance, music, visual arts, artisan markets, and everything in between – with over 300 artists from across the country and our own backyard!
NEARBY TREASURES
"Nearby Treasures” presents places that are easy to get to in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The January edition featured the Hornbine School in Rehoboth. This month the focus is on a historical house and farm in Swansea, MA.
A JOURNEY TO OLDE SWANSEA
Situated on a quiet, bucolic 51 acres at 22 Stoney Hill Road, the Martin House Farm, owned by the National Society of Colonial Dames of America operating in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is an example of a late eighteenth, early nineteenth century farmhouse. Unique in that members of the Martin family lived in it for over two hundred years, this property offers a means of understanding the changes that took place as society developed locally during this period.
The first Martin came to this country in 1635.
Martin House is a very early Colonial farmhouse. The original one-room house was built by John Martin (the younger) for his wife and eight children around 1728 on land that had been purchased in 1715. It was a very simple structure, consisting of only one room with a loft above it. The chimney was at one end of the house, and it had a pitched roof. The Martin family owned 63 acres of farmland around this house. Today 51 acres remain.
This house was lived in continuously by a member of the Martin family until the 1930s, when Susan Taber Martin Allien, an eighth generation Martin who visited here in the summers, donated the farm to the National Society of the Colonial Dames. She created the caretaker’s cottage.
Some of the artifacts discussed during the tour are the Martin family Bible, John Martin’s musket, a variety of samplers, spectacles developed by Benjamin Franklin, period furniture, a courting candle, the legend of the “King Philip’s Chair,” kitchen items, a walking wheel, and a working loom.
The Martin House Farm, 22 Stoney Hill Road, Swansea
MARTIN HOUSE DOCENTS
In 1999 the Massachusetts Colonial Dames established a unique program: training Swansea high school students to become docents who conduct tours for the fifth-grade students in Swansea. With the lessons that can be learned from studying the history of Martin House, this community service program functions to teach the young people of Swansea about their local history. This program continues today.
To receive community service credit for this program, a student from Joseph Case High School must complete ten hours of independent study in their first year, visiting the house and learning about the artifacts therein, its stories, and its history and an additional five hours during each successive year. Another part of the tour occurs at the nineteenth-century barn on the property. It consists of a talk about the structural elements, the purpose of a variety of farm implements, and the presentation of the writing segment of the program. The docents help the young students write a letter to a family member using a quill pen. The docents’ dedication to this experience reflects their love of Swansea, of preserving history, and of helping young students to appreciate them also. They also learn how to present themselves in a public setting and responsibility for a "job" beyond the classroom.
SCHEDULE FOR 2022
Martin House will open for tours on Sunday, July 10, 2022 and remain open on Sundays from 1-4 PM through September 25. Admission is $5.00. Admission is free for Swansea residents. In addition to the docent-led house tours offered every Sunday, many exciting activities are being scheduled.
July 10
Community Open House
July 31
Quill Penmanship, making pomanders (all docent-led in barn)
September 4
Loom demonstration
September 11
Sails and Tales, storytelling under trees with Carol Gafford from the Swansea Library
September 25
Cider Spencer Morris, Cider Works Demonstration
From the Lippitt House Museum
July Garden Party, House Tours, and Latest Blog Insights
Dress in Your Summer Best for a Vintage Inspired Garden Party
Lippitt House Museum Rosé Garden Party
Sunday, July 10
4:00 – 6:00 PM
Tickets available for Rosé Garden Party! At this one-of-a-kind garden party of the summer season, there will be rosé wines, live musical performances, lawn games including croquet, light bites, and a museum open house. The Museum's only fundraising event of the year, all proceeds benefit Lippitt House Museum. Tickets and more information are available at: https://www.preserveri.org/garden-party.
We hope you will join our host committee — Rebecca Bertrand, Anne Bozzi, Devne’t DeGrandmont, Mark Geist, Dennise Kowalczyk, Kristen Minsky, Alex Reynolds, Willian Ricci, and Sally Strachan — for a delightful afternoon.
Support for this event comes from sponsors: Greene and Sweeney, Chifferobe Atelier, Coastline Trust Company, Campus Fine Wines, Easy Entertaining, and Granny Squibb's Iced Tea.
Looking for a Special Outing with Your Significant Other?
Visit Lippitt House Museum!
June tour dates have been posted:
Friday, June 24th
Saturday, June 25th
Registration is required, but they will have a limited number of tickets available to purchase that evening.
To learn more about Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island’s work and services, please visit diiri.org.
Friends, the time is upon us...
The Wilbury Theatre Group is back at with our annual festival of theatre, dance, music, visual arts, artisan markets, and everything in between – our biggest, fringe-iest festival ever with over 300 artists from across the country and our own backyard!
FringePVD festivities take place July 17 to 30 at our new theatre and inside the WaterFire Arts Center, special sites within the ALCO campus, and across the Woony at The Steel Yard, Farm Fresh RI, Lost Valley Pizza, and Binch Press! Our friends at Troop will be slinging drinks and other tasty treats. And we’ve got few extra special events along the way with our friends at Haus of Codec and our friends along Sims Avenue.
With this swirl of activities, we want need *YOU* to be part of this massive extravaganza.
We are looking for Front of House support (house managers, info desk helpers, wayfinders) to make the festival fun and safe for everyone! These are all non-technical roles and are literally not a heavy lift.
- Volunteers will receive a FREE pass to the entire in-person festival to use on nights you’re not volunteering
- You’ll get a LIMITED EDITION FringePVD t-shirt designed by Wilbury resident artist Keri King (View her Instagram)
- We verify volunteer hours for those collecting for school or work (hint: this is a great opportunity for high school and college students to log their hours... and we write glowing letters)
- Our deepest gratitude for your time, good vibes, and support
Where else can you do good by playing an important role in our arts community, catch up with old friends and make some new ones, and enjoy a show or two? Maybe bring a friend or partner with you and we’ll make sure you’re paired up for your assignments!
The fine print: We’re hoping you can help for a minimum of two nights over the two week festival. We’ll need you to attend one of our training sessions so you know what to expect and where everything is located. And we’ll need you to abide by current safety and health guidance.
We’ll provide additional details and a schedule closer to the festival, though I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.
And if you know of anyone else or organizations who may be interested in helping at FringePVD, please share this link directly!
Renee S. Bessette
Volunteer Manager
The Wilbury Theatre Group
thewilburygroup.org | fringepvd.org
[email protected]
The Wilbury Theatre Group is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization.