Old Stone House Day kicks off August 8: The Year of Local History Through Art

BROWNINGTON — Old Stone House Day has brought people from all over New England and beyond to Historic Brownington Village for almost a century.

Last year, the day was virtual. This year, it will kick off in-person at 10 a.m. Sunday, August 8 with live music by Michael Hahn Quartet, master harpist Bill Tobin & The Highland Way Trio, and dulcimer-player Vicki Moore & Friends.

There will be the traditional kettle coffee and roasted corn—as there has been many of the past hundred.

Pies can be entered and bid upon during a live pie auction for the region’s best bakers.

And, of course, heritage arts and crafts, food, vendors, free museum open house tours and activities for families with children including horse-drawn wagon rides to Prospect Hill.

Early bird tickets are on sale now for $4 for all those over age 12 but cost $5 the day of the event.

Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village members are invited to enter free, with an Annual Meeting held 2:00-4:00 p.m. in the Orleans County Grammar School.

To enter a pie in our auction, contact: [email protected].

“We’re celebrating local history through art,” Molly Veysey, museum Executive Director, said of this year’s celebration. “We invite families and folks of all ages to join us for the fun, all are welcome.”

Art plays a central role in the work of the museum this year in more ways than one.

Keynote speaker, Middlebury artist Katie Runde, has been commissioned to paint a portrait of African American Alexander Lucius Twilight that will grace the Vermont State House.

Teaching artists are encouraged to apply for up to $12,500 in stipends to engage the community and animate the museum’s Alexander Twilight Educational Trail thanks to a $33,200 Northern Forest Destination Development Initiative grant.

This funding was made possible by the Northeastern Vermont Development Association, Northern Forest Center, and Northern Border Regional Commission.

Finally, Pawlet artists Eve O. Schaub and Stephen Schaub created art and a documentary film that depicted Mr. Twilight in their work, The Home Of My Choice, an official selection of the 2021 Queens Underground International Black and Brown History Month Film Festival.

Mr. Twilight indelibly shaped Brownington, a place he called “the home of my choice,” and was recognized at the museum with a state day last year on his 225th birthday.

He will again be celebrated this coming September 26 with the museum’s Alexander Twilight Day Apple and Cheese Festival.

Purchase a museum membership between now and Old Stone House Day and the museum will give you a free ticket to its 2021 summer raffle.

Schedule of Events:

All Day: Heritage arts and crafts fair with locally made jam, baskets, jewelry, and more. Plus kids games, kettle coffee, and roasted corn.

10 AM-1 PM: Music from the Michael Hahn Quartet

11 AM-1 PM: Museum open house

11 AM-2 PM: Lunch from the Brownington Ladies Aid Society

11 AM-4 PM: Music from Vicki Moore & Friends (Porch Style old-time tunes on the dulcimer and fiddle)

1 PM-2 PM: Silent auction with pie and more.

1:45 PM-4 PM: Music from the Highland Way Trio (Bill Tobin on Harp, Gerardine Tobin on Violin and Art Hammon on Flute)

2 PM-2:30 PM: Keynote speech from Katie Runde, painter of the Alexander Lucius Twilight statehouse portrait

2:30 PM-4 PM: Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village Annual Meeting (Members Only)

Click here to get your early bird ticket.