Leffingwell House Museum Event

Afternoon in Colonial New England

Knot Tying

A Craft Demonstration and Education Program Report:
Saturday, August 19, 2006

The publicity we have been receiving has been paying off. Saturday was another busy day at the museum. We had visitors from the time the door opened to the time the door closed.

Genevieve Calcasola and her husband brought their tent to have a cool place for refreshments that they also generously provided and they played host and hostess to Herma Kluck, the knot tier from the Mystic Seaport On the road program and the 10 program attendees. Herma demonstrated and held a workshop featuring the Figure 8, Bowline, Clove Hitch, and Crown Sennit.

Everyone got to be proficient in knot tying. Some of the knots could be made into bracelets and necklaces - they look like macram'lant holders of the 70's. Others were rescue knots for instance the bow line could help if you get stranded on the roof of your house and a helicopter with a cute pilot had to rescue you. He would ask you to tie a bow line (or tie it for you) and carry you away to safety.

Jay Deming and Beryl Fishbone set up Sandy Brindamour's outdoor tent and I lost track of who to thank for setting up the tables and chairs. I do know that both Jay and Gen brought card tables so that there would be plenty of table space. We can all be very proud that we have had need of extra tables and chairs for these workshops.

If you haven't been to see the electric fires please stop by as they are looking better and better. Now we are setting the scene and need 2 or 3 sandwich size bags of ashes from a wood fire to sprinkle lightly beneath the fires for a tiny bit of stage presence.

The large cheese basket in the kitchen is sporting a new piece of cheese cloth. Several large spiders were relocated. An on the spot consensus of opinion was they weren't paying any rent so they needed to be evicted immediately while they could still find suitable places to spin their webs.

Frank and Sue Ewing of Noank toured the Inn with Beryl Fishbone. Frank and Sue are both members of the Lebanon Militia re-enactment group. Frank portrays an Innkeeper and Sue is working on her portrayal of Sarah Knight.

Frank is very interested in the summer kitchen and improving the displays. He also spoke with Ann Cannon about a fundraiser with the Lebanon Militia.

If you haven't been to the museum recently please stop by on September 2nd for our end of the season festival. Take a brief tour of the Inn to view the changes and then participate in any of the games and contests that will be occurring. We can really use your help if you would like to help out. Everyone will be invited to dunk for apples, check their pitching accuracy with balls and bottles, test their keen eyesight with a game of marbles. Are you in shape? If we have enough people there will be a tug-of-war. And if you're hungry there will be a pie contest too! Come and see the changes!

Submitted by, Beryl Fishbone