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There's no place like Cooperstown,
NY, for the holidays
The Farmers' Museum Candlelight
Evening puts the holiday season in proper perspective -- a time
of friendship and peace on earth in one of America's most beautiful
communities
 Photos by Alan Lincourt, courtesy
of Farmers' Museum
Article by Eric
H.
No matter how cold it gets as
Cooperstown, N.Y., approaches winter, the Candelight Evening
at the Farmer's Museum is sure to warm the soul.
Proving that Cooperstown is just
as special in the winter as it is in the revered baseball-fueled
summer, Candlelight Evening taps into the true meaning of the
holiday season. Hundreds of illuminated candles and holiday greenery
provide the setting for a close community to come together for
caroling, sleigh rides, winter games, and wassail. Santa seems
to be in his glory at the event, dressed in his 1840s costume,
greeting visitors, telling wonderful stories as well as riding
through this enchanted village on a vintage sled. This year,
according to the Farmer's Museum Web Site, Saint Nick will read
Christmas Times, the poem written by Dr. Clement C. Moore
in 1822 and known today as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.
What makes the Candelight Evening
so special is that locals and visitors celebrate together as
friends, many times exchanging phone numbers, handshakes and
hugs whether it be over a warm chili (how's that for an oxymoron?),
pleasant conversation, or just warming up by the bonfire. The
honest, soul warming caroling from local singers from community
church choirs, girl scouts, boy scouts, and 4H groups warm up
the priceless, memorable bonfire scene only that much more.
Candlight Evening brings together
the best elements of the holiday season in one of America's great
communities. It is, by far, the greatest holiday celebration
we've visited, sure to give you goose bumps all over -- at the
event or long after when thinking about how you spent your holiday
in the most authentic, feel-good holiday setting imaginable.
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About The Farmers' Museum:
As one of the oldest rural life museums in the country, The Farmers'
Museum in Cooperstown, New York, provides visitors with a unique
opportunity to experience 19th-century rural and village life
first-hand through authentic demonstrations and interpretative
exhibits. The museum, founded in 1944, comprises a Colonial Revival
stone barn listed on the National Registrar for Historic Places,
a recreated historic village circa 1845, and a working farmstead.
Through its 19th-century village and farm, the museum preserves
important examples of upstate New York architecture, early agricultural
tools and equipment, and heritage livestock. The Farmers' Museum's
outstanding collection of more than 23,000 items encompasses
significant historic objects ranging from butter molds to carriages,
hand planes to plows. The museum also presents a broad range
of interactive educational programs for school groups, families,
and adults that explore and preserve the rich agricultural history
of the region, including barnyard activities for children; cheese-making,
blacksmithing, and quilt-making workshops for families and adults;
and technical workshops for farmers, both professional and amateur.
The museum is located on Lake
Road, Route 80, in Cooperstown, across the street from Fenimore
Art Museum. Museum admission is $11 for adults, $9.50 for visitors
age 65 and over, and $5 for children age 7 to 12; children 6
and under and members are admitted free. Reduced price combination
admission tickets that include the Fenimore Art Museum and The
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are also available.
The museum is open to the public daily from April through October,
with special events throughout the year. For museum hours or
general information, please call 1-888-547-1450 or visit www.farmersmuseum.org.
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