The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Shaker Museum │ Mount Lebanon To Open June 17 With New Tour, Spaces, And Exhibit

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Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon opens its doors for the summer season at 10 am on Friday, June 17 at the North Family historic site. Hours are 10 am to 4 pm, Friday through Monday, through October 10. Guided tours will depart from the Wash House every two hours beginning at 10:30 am. [private]New this season is a walking tour at 12:30 pm to the North Family’s Cemetery & Community Memorial, which explores the lives of those buried there and the Shaker approach to the afterlife.
The site will also feature a new orientation gallery in the Wash House and a learning space for children in the Poultry House.
During opening weekend, all visitors will receive a 10% discount in the Museum Store, housed in the historic 1854 Wash House. The Store features a curated selection of items for sale, including new and used books, locally-made gifts, and products from the living Shakers of Sabbathday Lake, Maine.
On Saturday, June 25, Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon will hold a cocktail reception and a community picnic to celebrate the opening of the 2016 season and the summer exhibition entitled “Wash: There is no dirt in heaven.” The exhibition tells the story of the day to day work of Shaker women and men as they carried out the chore of weekly communal laundry. It looks at the Shakers’ waterpower systems, including dams, ponds, and aqueducts that ran the mechanical aspects of the laundry and explores how the Shakers invented and manufactured laundry soap and a commercial washer to the public.
The cocktail reception begins at 4:30 pm and the picnic begins at 5:30. Tickets to the reception are $25 / $15 for members and tickets to the picnic are $10. Children under eight eat free at the picnic. All are welcome, but space is limited, so tickets should be purchased well in advance.
Jonathan Dixon, chef and author of Beaten, Seared and Sauced: On Becoming a Chef at the Culinary Institute of America, will be cooking up pulled pork sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and various other accompaniments for the picnic.
A silent pie auction will help raise money for the museum. Bid on pies from Blueberry Hill Café, Bucky’s Bagels, and Wild Soul Mama Gluten-Free Kitchen, along with confections from Doris Cassar, winner of various Columbia County baking awards; woodworker Boyd Hutchison; and other surprise bakers.
Everyone who comes will have access to “Wash: There is no dirt in heaven.” A newly opened Shaker Kidspace will provide a place for young people to learn about the Shakers. Staff will also lead informal tours of the Brethren’s Workshop and the Museum Store will be open.
Purchase tickets to the picnic and / or the cocktail reception online on the Museum’s website at http://bit.ly/1TUb8Ku or by calling (518) 794-9100 x220. Tickets are also for sale at the New Lebanon Library and the Town Clerk’s office.
Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon, located in New Lebanon and Old Chatham, Columbia County, New York, is dedicated to engaging and inspiring local, national, and global audiences by telling the story of the American Shakers. The Museum’s collection of over 56,000 Shaker items is the most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world. The Museum also stewards the North Family historic site at Mount Lebanon Shaker Village. The Museum is open seasonally at the site from June to October, and offers programs year-round.  Please visit www.shakerml.org for more information.[/private]