Heritage Weekend To Feature Re-enactors, Book Signing, Fiddlers
MILFORD—In celebration of America250, the Greater Milford Historical Association is hosting a three-day “Milford Heritage Weekend” at the organization’s Sayre House Museum and grounds at 81 North Main Street in Milford. The event is free and open to the public, with parking available in the field adjacent to the Milford Cemetery.
Funded by the support of the Community Foundation of Otsego County, Otsego County America 250 and other generous donors, the weekend is filled with activities that will appeal to all ages, organizers said in a press release.
“The organization is especially proud to showcase the new cedar shake roof of the Sayre House, which was completed this summer through a major grant and other donors,” officials said.
The weekend begins on Friday, September 18 as a group of re-enactors will be setting up an “encampment” near the woods behind the Sayre House and Cultural Center, depicting how soldiers might live in the late 18th century. They will be there through early Sunday to provide talks and demonstrations.
A full day of educational programs designed for a field trip being offered to some students at Milford Central School from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday will also be open to the public. At 10 a.m. in the Main Tent, a Haudenosaunee peacekeeper and educator, Glenn Bentz, will be speaking and demonstrating objects from the indigenous people who occupied this land in that time period. He will be dressed in authentic clothing of the time and provide the history of the Iroquois nation. From 12:45-2: 30 p.m., there will be ongoing tours of the historic Sayre House, the Milford cemetery and burial ground of Revolutionary War soldiers, the encampment and history of Milford residents who served during this time period.
Friday events continue with author Deidre Sinnott talking about her newest historic novel, “The Loyalist’s Wife,” at the Sayre House from 4-6 p.m. Tea will be served and books will be available for purchase and signing. Warm, custom-made dinner pizzas, desserts, and beverages will be available on site as the evening concludes with the Fall Fiddlers Frolic, a candlelit musical session open to all acoustic musicians and the public.
The encampment and events on Saturday will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with historic house tours at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. There will be a talk in the Main Tent on Joseph Brandt by Milford Town Historian Frank Antonucci at 1 p.m. Susan Heiland of the Cemetery Association will give a tour of the Milford Cemetery at 2 p.m., and an off-site tour of the Milford Center Cemetery will be offered at 4 p.m. at its location off Bob Wilson Road near State Route 28 in the Milford Center hamlet.
Throughout the day there will be blacksmithing demonstrations, readings, music, a historic poster display of maps and Milford families in the 18th century, pan bread making and tasting, the Milford Bi-Centennial Quilt Display, and several crafts for children. Most of the same events and activities will be offered on Sunday, September 20 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with historic Sayre House tours at noon and 2 p.m., and a Milford Cemetery tour at 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome to come anytime throughout the weekend and learn more about the deep history of the Milford area and enjoy this historic site, organizers said.
