News
September Community Singing Events
Date: 8/31/10
The public is invited to a Hymn Sing at the historic Salford Schwenkfelder Meetinghouse, Fretz Road, Harleysville on Sunday, September 12 at 6:00 pm and a Workshop on Singing in Community at the Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville on September 19 and 26, 7:00 pm. Both the hymn sing and the workshop will be a time of enjoying traditional a cappella singing. The events are sponsored by the Mennonite Heritage Center.
The Salford Schwenkfelder Meetinghouse, site of the Hymn Sing on September 12, was built in 1869, and was last used in 1920 for Schwenkfelder worship services. The meetinghouse and adjoining cemetery encompass a rich history of the Schwenkfelder presence in Lower Salford and Towamencin townships. It is located on Fretz Road, Harleysville, between Wambold and Skippack Creek Roads. The Hymn Sing will be led by John Ruth, Hiram Hershey and others. Life Songs #2 hymnals will be provided.
The Workshop on Singing in Community will be held at the Mennonite Heritage Center on September 19 and 26, 7:00 p.m. Song leader and pastor Michael Bishop will lead singing and provide insight into the foundations of community/congregational song. In these sessions, the practice of building community voice will be explored. Questions such as “Why do we sing in church?” and “Why do Mennonites often sing a cappella?” will be addressed. The bulk of the sessions will be spent in singing together in a room with great acoustics. Come to one or both sessions, and bring friends! All people can sing and all are welcome; ability to read music not required.
Admission to both the hymn sing and workshop is by donation; no reservations needed. For more information, call 215-256-3020 or email info@mhep.org.
MHEP Founders Event Aug. 28-29
Date: 7/28/10
The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville, invites the public to special events on Saturday, August 28 and Sunday, August 29, 2010 that will highlight the twentieth anniversary of the center. Enjoy a local heritage bus tour, a Pennsylvania Dutch dinner followed by a program at Salford Mennonite Church and an open house and dedication reception at the Mennonite Heritage Center.
The bus tour on August 28 from 1 to 5 pm features favorite local sites of historians John Ruth and Mary Jane Lederach Hershey and includes the Lower Skippack Mennonite Cemetery (Christopher Dock grave), Mensch family sites, the John Clemens Homestead and the Salford Mennonite Meetinghouse and cemetery. Tour leaders are John Ruth and Mary Jane Lederach Hershey with the tour coordinated by Joel Alderfer.
The Pennsylvania Dutch dinner on August 28 at 6 pm features old fashioned roast beef with gravy and chicken pot pie, vegetables, sweets and sours along with cheese pie and peach pie for dessert. Reservations are required for the meal which will be held at Salford Mennonite Church, 480 Groff’s Mill Road, Harleysville. A visual presentation of the early years of the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania will run during the dinner.
The public is also invited to the program that follows the dinner at 7:30 pm at Salford Mennonite Church. The program includes Dr. James Juhnke, Professor Emeritus of History at Bethel College, as the keynote speaker, and a panel of former board members and staff will discuss highlights of the organization’s early years. The evening will end with an auction of a reproduction quilt from a vintage quilt design in the MHC collection and an original fraktur by Roma Ruth. No reservations are required for the program and admission is by donation.
Then on Sunday, August 29 from 2 to 5 pm, all are invited to an Open House at the Mennonite Heritage Center. Mary Jane Lederach Hershey and John Ruth will give informal talks in the fraktur gallery and the historical library. From 3 to 4 pm, dedication of the John L Ruth Historical Library and the Mary Jane Lederach Hershey Fraktur Gallery will take place. Light refreshments will be served.
Used Book Sale
Date: 7/1/10
The Annual Used Book Sale at the Mennonite Heritage Center on July 22-24 is a treasure trove of books and LP albums along with CDs, puzzles and videos. Pick up great summer reading at bargain prices and, if you own a turntable, hunt through choice classical, choral and popular music LPs. Books are organized by category and include fiction, nonfiction, biographies, children’s’ books, Christian nonfiction, Mennonite interest, cookbooks and more.
The sale is outdoors under at tent on the lawn of the Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville, on Thursday, July 22 and Friday July 23 from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Saturday, July 24 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Heritage Center.
The Mennonite Heritage Center is open to the public and tells the local Mennonite story through video and exhibits. In addition, the Center houses a Historical Library and Archives, and a gift shop with unique folk-culture gifts. For information about events and exhibits, check the Mennonite Heritage Center web site: www.mhep.org, email: info@mhep.org, or call 215-256-3020. Admission to exhibits by donation.
2010 Gardens in Bloom Tour
Date: 6/6/10
Enjoy beautiful gardens on the annual Gardens in Bloom Tour on Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 9 am to 3 pm. The tour of five private gardens will delight gardening enthusiasts with the variety of landscaping features - from beautiful perennial borders to a spectacular water fall with a natural swimming pool. Tour participants can also visit a specialty plant nursery with hundreds of varieties of daylilies and hosta on the day of the tour.
Tickets with an accompanying garden map can be purchased for $15 in advance from the Mennonite Heritage Center at 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville on Tuesday-Friday 10 am to 5 pm, Saturday 10 am to 2 pm. You can also purchase tickets online at www.mhep.org or send $15 per ticket and a self addressed stamped envelope to the Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Rd., Harleysville, PA 19438. Tickets may be purchased the day of the tour for $18 each from 9 am-2 pm at the Heritage Center.
One tour site has been developed by the gardener over the past twenty years. The gardens at the site include a koi pond with a cascading waterfalls, a patio and pergola for entertaining along with a new herb garden that has a wide variety of perennial herbs. You are welcome to tour the barn and relax in the sitting areas on the front porch and around the fire pit or the patio, all joined by pathways of perennials.
Another site features colorful container gardens and water gardens with borders of mixed perennials and annuals. You will enjoy the mid summer beauty of a thriving vegetable garden. A third landscape features many mature specimen trees and open garden areas which lend to friendly gatherings. The flourishing gardens are lush with evergreen and flowering shrubs as well as numerous varieties of perennials. Walking paths weave between plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. As you tour the site, you’ll note the weeping Japanese Maple and conifer cultivars that include Dragon’s Eye Pine, Blue Atlas Cedar, Cryptomeria trees and Dawn Redwood.
A unique feature of a fourth tour spot is a natural swimming pool with water fall. The design incorporates flowing water, bog plants and fish to maintain the ecological balance to keep the pool healthy. Natural boulders and flagstone were carefully placed to provide underwater seating. A hidden cave was created with a uniquely shaped boulder so swimmers can pop their head up for air and still be concealed. At the pool’s pump house, water is drawn into the shallow skimming area then filtered through the planted bog area on the opposite side of the pool. The filtered water goes up to the bio-fall spillway at the top of the garden. The garden expands the natural experience around the pool. Perennials and bulbs provide a continuous show of color all year.
Enjoy the eclectic, rambling mix of perennial beds, annuals, containers, and a backyard that extends into fields and woods of another garden site. It is an attractive habitat for birds with the native cedars and junipers scattered amongst the yard filled with various birdhouses, birdbaths and feeders. Several shade gardens feature hosta, heuchera, and ferns, while the sunny gardens host an informal collection of ornamental grasses, daylilies, spring bulbs, perennials and annuals. There is also a fenced, raised bed vegetable garden, as well as fruit trees, berries, and a favorite hammock area for relaxing after gardening.
Also highlighted on the Gardens in Bloom Tour is the specialty nursery of Teich and McColgan Daylilies and Hostas. The nursery has over 450 varieties of daylilies and 300 varieties of hosta along with many perennials. They offer both field-grown and potted plants in various sizes for your landscaping needs.
Proceeds from this event benefit the Mennonite Heritage Center. For information or questions, call the Mennonite Heritage Center at 215-256-3020, email info@mhep.org.
WHACK & ROLL Croquet Tournament
Date: 5/4/10
The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville, invites you to join the fun of the second annual “Whack & Roll Croquet Tournament” on June 4 and 5, 2010. The tournament features cash prizes, friendly competition and great food. Register your team now for the Seniors Tournament (age 65 and older) on Friday, June 4 or place a team in the Amateurs and All-Comers (professional and upper level) competition on Saturday, June 5. To enter your two person team, go to www.mhep.org; email: info@mhep.org or call 215-256-3020. Bergey’s Inc. and Harleysville Savings Bank are the Presenting Sponsors for the tournament.
If you don’t play croquet, you can still have a great time. The Friday evening “Reception on the Lawn” on June 4 will feature a full roast pork dinner supplied by Hatfield Meats and Landis Supermarket. Entertainment will be provided by Bellaccord, an all male a cappella musical group from Eastern Mennonite University. Seating is limited and advance tickets are necessary.
On Saturday, June 5, spectators and players can enjoy fresh sticky buns and light breakfast fare and a full salad bar lunch from Isabelle’s Kitchen. Spectators are welcome to bring a lawn chair and watch the croquet games being played out on several dozen croquet courts on the campus of the Mennonite Heritage Center.
The “Whack & Roll Croquet Tournament” is rain or shine and is professionally managed by Croquet Your Way, LLC and sanctioned by the United States Croquet Association. Proceeds from the event benefit the Mennonite Heritage Center.
Farmhouses of Bucks County
Date: 3/31/10
The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville, invites the public to a presentation by noted historian and author Jeff Marshall on his new book “Bucks County Farmhouses” on Thursday, April 22 at 7 pm. This illustrated presentation will feature photographs of the Bucks County stone farmhouses that are an integral part of the region’s scenic beauty and history. He will also discuss the few remaining Bucks County log houses that were more common in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century that previously thought.
Mr. Marshall is Vice President of Resource Protection at the Heritage Conservancy in Doylestown, PA and has been involved in historic preservation for 30 years. He has documented and photographed over 10,000 old buildings and is the co-author of “Barns of Bucks County”. He is a recognized expert in southeastern Pennsylvania historic architecture and has taught courses on local history and preservation at the Bucks County Community College. Mr. Marshall has been a presenter at the National Trust for Historic Preservation annual conference and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Barn Alliance and Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of Pennsylvania.
After his presentation, Mr. Marshall will be available to sign copies of “Barns of Bucks County” and “Bucks County Farmhouses”. Both books will be available for purchase that evening. No registration is necessary. Admission is by donation. For information email: info@mhep.org or call 215-256-3020 or check the Mennonite Heritage Center website: www.mhep.org.
Hymn Sing
Date: 3/24/10
The Mennonite Heritage Center invites you to a Hymn Sing on Sunday, March 28 from 6:30 to 8 pm at Salford Mennonite Church, 480 Groff’s Mill Rd., Harleysville. Hiram Hershey, John Ruth and others will lead the congregation in singing selections of favorite hymns. Come and join in good community singing. An offering will be taken to support the work of the Heritage Center. For info: 215-256-3020 and www.mhep.org.
Intro to Traditional Rug Hooking
Date: 3/16/10
The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville announces a workshop: “Introduction to Traditional Rug Hooking Using Recycled Wool” for Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 9 am to 3 pm. At the end of this class, participants will leave with the skills needed to pursue this newly popular textile art. Our instructors, Mary Jo and Karl Gimber, will teach you how to hook a log cabin mat. Class fee is $55 ($50 member) plus $25 for the all wool rug hooking kit that includes hoop, hook, pattern on backing and recycled wool. Participants should bring a pair of small sharp scissors.
Rug hooking began in North America in the mid nineteeth century when women hooked strips of scrap wool into burlap to create beautiful and long lasting floor coverings. Karl and Mary Jo Gimber continue this tradition by buying wool clothing at thrift stores and cutting the fabric into strips for their rug hooking projects. They draw their inspiration from historic fraktur and trade and hotel signs to create their original rug designs. Their work is currently featured in an exhibit at the Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center, Pennsburg. They are members of the Hunterdon County Rug Artisans Guild.
This workshop will be a fun introduction to a wonderful creative pursuit. Enthusiasts can participate in this craft on various levels. Shops and vendors have great rug hooking designs and precut wool in kit form or rug hookers can create their own designs and dye their wool fabric for the desired color combinations. Rug hooking designs range from a primitive folk art style to formal traditional design to colorful abstract patterns. Projects vary from small table runners to large scale floor coverings. You can create your own family heirlooms. Artisans can enjoy the camaraderie of fellow rug hookers through guilds, workshops and rug hooking camps.
Registration is required because participation is limited. To register, contact the Mennonite Heritage Center via email info@mhep.org, call 215-256-3020 or check the website www.mhep.org.
Fraktur Presentation
Date: 3/4/10
The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville, invites the public to an illustrated program on Fraktur presented by Lisa Minardi on Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 2 pm. Fraktur is the colorful hand drawn “fractured” or broken lettering done by Pennsylvania Germans in the eighteenth through the mid nineteenth century. Fraktur lettering was often decorated with colorful drawings and symbols and is now considered a unique folk art. Ms. Minardi, assistant curator of furniture at Winterthur Museum, will trace the connection between European and American fraktur and also talk about her work with the fraktur collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Fraktur were drawn for numerous occasions, including birth and wedding records and as rewards for schoolchildren. Beautiful fraktur writing samples and alphabets were part of early Pennsylvania German education. These fraktur drawings were treasured and handed down through generations of families and today historical and art museums feature fraktur in their collections.
For the last two years, Lisa Minardi was one of the primary consultants on the re-cataloging of the Free Library of Philadelphia's significant fraktur collection. Their collection of over 1,000 pieces is considered to be one of the largest public collections and is now available as an online resource for studying the range of fraktur artists and styles.
Lisa Minardi has also cataloged the fraktur collections of Ursinus College and the Winterthur Museum. She is currently working on a major exhibition and publication on the furniture of southeastern Pennsylvania for 2011 at Winterthur. A graduate of Ursinus College and the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, Lisa wrote her master's thesis on the Muhlenberg family of Pennsylvania.
No registration is required for the program. Admission is by donation. Visitors are also invited to tour the fraktur gallery at the Mennonite Heritage Center. For more information, see www.mhep.org, email: info@mhep.org or call 215-256-0320.
Scrapple & Sausage Making Workshop
Date: 2/16/10
The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville, announces a Scrapple and Sausage Making Workshop scheduled for Saturday, March 20, 2010 from 1 to 4 pm. This workshop is an opportunity to learn what really goes into scrapple! Participants will learn how to make the scrapple and sausage that were traditionally made and consumed in large quantities during winter butchering time. Pre-registration is required as the workshop is limited to twelve participants.
Winter butchering is becoming a distant memory for most but cooking scrapple and stuffing sausage were once part of butchering day. Scrapple is cooked from cooked and ground up scrap meat, grains and spices and is a favorite Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast food when fried to a crispy brown slice. Enthusiasts debate their favorite scrapple condiments – apple butter, horse radish, syrup or even ketchup! Sausage, which perhaps has wider appeal, is made from ground fresh meat and spices and is eaten fresh or smoked. Smoking meat allowed for longer storage in the days before modern refrigeration.
Workshop leaders are Paul Longacre and Jim King, both of whom have participated in and enjoyed a family tradition of scrapple cooking. The hands-on workshop includes grinding the cooked meat and then mixing the meat with the grains and spices. When the scrapple recipe is completed, participants will have the fun of stirring the scrapple in a scrapple cooker. The last step will be ladling the cooked scrapple into loaf pans to cool. Participants will also grind, mix and stuff sausage in sausage casings.
The workshop fee is $40 ($35 MHEP members) plus a materials fee of $10. Thank you to Blooming Glen Pork & Catering for providing support for this workshop. To register, contact the Mennonite Heritage Center via email info@mhep.org, call 215-256-3020 or check the website www.mhep.org.
Redware Pottery Workshop
Date: 1/8/10
The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville, announces a Redware Pottery Workshop scheduled for March 27, 2010 from 9 am to 3 pm.
The Redware Pottery Workshop will focus on the sgraffito technique used by area nineteenth century Pennsylvania German potters to make expressive designs in their folk art pottery. Sgraffito means to “scratch” and workshop participants will draw a design of their choosing in a damp clay coating on a redware plate. You can choose a traditional Pennsylvania German design or create your own design for a special occasion gift.
The class will be led by redware potter Denise Wilz, a professional potter who researches and draws her inspiration from traditional Pa German potters. She will provide molded 7” redware plates coated with the clay slip and the sgraffito tools. After the class, the plates will be glazed and fired at her pottery and returned to the Mennonite Heritage Center for participants to pick up. Class fee is $55 (50 members) plus a materials fee of $20 for one 7” redware plate and $28.00 for a 10” plate. Class participants can choose to sgraffito up to 3 plates (as time permits).
Enjoy learning this traditional craft in this one day workshop. Pre-registration is required and class size is limited. To register, contact the Mennonite Heritage Center via email info@mhep.org or call 215-256-3020.
Theorem Painting Workshop
Date: 1/7/10
The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Rd, Harleysville announces a Theorem Painting Workshop scheduled for Saturday, March 20, 2010 from 9 am to 3 pm. Theorem artist Sandra Coldren will teach participants the painting techniques for the 19th century form of stenciling known as theorem painting and paint the theorem design “Doves on a Branch”.
All skill levels will enjoy using pre-cut stencils and artist oil paints on acid-free paper, while learning the history of the art in America. Students will take home one completed theorem design on acid-free paper, along with one set of stencils and written instructions to create additional theorems of the same design at home. A demonstration on “antiquing” paper theorems will be offered and students may antique their theorem in class, if they choose to do so. The instructor will also bring along the extra supplies for sale to any participant wishing to paint additional theorems.
Instructor Sandra Coldren is a juried member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and was recently named to the prestigious 2009 Directory of Traditional American Crafts of Early American Life magazine. She has taught extensive decorative painting classes and demonstrated her art in historical events.
Class size is limited and preregistration is required. All materials for the class will be supplied. Class fee is $55 ($50 member) plus a materials fee of $30. To register, contact the Mennonite Heritage Center via email info@mhep.org, call 215-256-3020 or check the website www.mhep.org.