Woodsmen's Festival at Hanford Mills Museum

The Woodsmen’s Festival will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2013, from 10 am – 5 pm. The Festival features demonstrations of lumberjack skills by the SUNY Cobleskill Woodsmen’s Team, a variety of woodworking exhibitors, tree walks, kids’ activities, food and more.  Check out the complete schedule below.

Visitors can watch the sawdust fly as logs are sawn in the Museum’s sawmill, powered by a 1926 Fitz overshot waterwheel. At the box shop, Mill workers will use the vintage woodworking machines to turn Mill-sawn lumber into useful wood products, like boxes, crates and tub covers. Historic cooking demonstrations will be taking place in the John Hanford Farmhouse, where visitors also can learn more about home life in the 1920s.

New this year is an expanded list of woodworking exhibitors, including carving and traditional hand woodworking by members of the Northeastern Woodworkers Association; timber frame building by Hanford Mills staff; coopering by Bob Allers; and creating a shoulder yoke with an adz and crooked knife by Barry Keegan. Bernd Krause will be demonstrating and talking about his replica of a 17th century lathe, its use at the time, and how it was built.

The men and women of the SUNY Cobleskill Woodsmen’s Team, who participate in intercollegiate competitions and practice five nights a week, will demonstrate cross-cut sawing, overhand and underhand chop, ax throwing, and other lumberjack skills at 11:30 am and 2 pm.

The Catskill Regional Invasive Species Partnership (CRISP) will lead “Alien Invader” tree walks throughout the day, identifying trees and talking about the invasive forest pest that threaten them, including the emerald ash borer, the Asian long-horned beetle, and the hemlock wooly adelgid. Bovina Brown Bats will have an exhibit about bats and the impact of White Nose Syndrome and offer bat houses, wooden folk art and wooden toys for sale. The Hobart Book Village will have a selection of books and paper gift items for sale. Eagle Ridge BBQ will be selling barbeque pork, burgers, fresh-cut fries, chili, hotdogs and beverages.The Museum’s gift shop will be open, offering Mill-made crafts, traditional toys, sweets, books and local products.

The Woodsmen’s Festival is included with Museum admission. Admission is $8.50 for adults and teens, $6.50 for seniors, and always free for children 12 and under. Museum members also receive free admission.

Schedule for the Festival

• 10 am Timber Framing Demonstration (near Pavillion)
• 11 am Alien Invaders (Tree/Invasive Species Walk) with Catskill Regional Invasive Species Partnership (meet outside Feed Mill)
• 11:30 am Sawmill Demonstration (Sawmill)
• 12 pm Timber Framing Demonstration (near Pavillion)
• 12:30 pm Lumberjack Skills Demonstration by SUNY Cobleskill Woodsmen’s Team (Mill Yard)
• 1 pm Alien Invaders (Tree/Invasive Species Walk) with Catskill Regional Invasive Species Partnership (meet outside Feed Mill)
• 1:30 pm Sawmill Demonstration (Sawmill)
• 2 pm Lumberjack Skills Demonstration by SUNY Cobleskill Woodsmen’s Team (Mill Yard)
• 2:30 pm Timber Framing Demonstration (near Pavillion)
• 3 pm Alien Invaders (Tree/Invasive Species Walk) with Catskill Regional Invasive Species Partnership (meet outside Feed Mill)

Going on all day

•  11 am – 4 pm: Games and children’s activities (near and in Pavillion)
•  Coopering demonstrations by Robert Allers (Between Pavillion and Ice House)
•  Barry Keegan making shoulder yokes with adz and crooked knife (Between Pavillion and Ice House)
•  Traditional hand woodworking and woodcarving demonstrations by Northeastern Woodworkers
Association
•  Springpole treadle lathe demonstrations by Bernd Krause (Between Pavillion and Ice House)
•  Bat homes and brown bat information by Bovina Brown Bats (Pavillion)
•  Historic cooking demonstrations in the John Hanford House
•  Hobart Book Village book sale (Retirement Office)
•  Grilled food for sale by Eagle Ridge BBQ
•  Italian Ice for sale
•  CROP Program Photography exhibit(Museum Shop/Post Office Building)
•  Local and Mill-made products for sale at the Museum Shop

Hanford Mills Museum, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2013, operates an authentic water- and steam-powered historic site. The mission of Hanford Mills Museum is to inspire audiences of all ages to explore connections among energy, technology, natural resources, and entrepreneurship in rural communities, with a focus on sustainable choices. Its significance as one of the last nineteenth century mills to survive intact earned it a place on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.