In it’s 29th year, the annual Hanford Mills Museum’s Ice Harvest Festival attracted hundreds of local families to East Meredith Saturday, eager to participate in the old fashioned ice harvest. Pictured above, Josh Coleman, 8, Windsor, helped cut ice blocks from the pond, pushed the blocks up a ramp on the bank, and pulled them on a sled to the ice house. Helping Josh in the photo is Milford resident Marvin Zachow. Besides the ice harvest, guests could observe ice sculptures, ride on a horse drawn wagon, and watch a live blacksmith demonstration. When guests got cold, Lori Solenstein, Milford, pictured at right, and many other volunteers were ready to serve soup which had been donated by many different local businesses. (Parker Fish/AllOTSEGO.com)
ICE HARVEST FESTIVAL – 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Participate in a traditional ice harvest using tools from the 19th century. Includes ice carving demos, hot soup buffet, horse-drawn sleigh rides, local vendors, an a snowman village. Hanford Mills Museum, 51 Co. Hwy. 12, East Meredith. Call (607)278-5744 or e-mail info@hanfordmills.org or visit www.hanfordmills.org
HARVEST FESTIVAL – 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Celebrate the fall harvest with food, music, and activities for all. The Farmers Museum, Cooperstown. www.farmersmuseum.org/Harvest-Festival
LUMBERFEST – 9 a.m.-5 p.m. See timbersports, enjoy activities with Hanford Mills, go on a train ride, do a project, see a demonstration, more. Free, open to public. Co. Rt. 35a, Portlandville. Visit WightmanLumber.com
PARADE – 11 a.m. Celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence at the 103rd Springfield 4th of July parade. Followed by a party with live music, Brooks chicken bbq, 4th of July Quilt Show, a Revolutionary War display by the Fort Plain Museum, the Utica Zoomobile, a bounce house, games, raffles, and more. Free parking. Springfield Community Center, 137 Co. Rt. 29A, Springfield Center. wskg.org/event/springfield-4th-of-july-parade-and-celebration-2/
FREEDOM – Noon. Listen to Frederick Douglas’ famous “History is a Weapon” speech about what freedom means to a slave as performed by one of the Templeton Players. Followed by a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the Tavern Green at 1 p.m. The Farmers Museum, Cooperstown. www.farmersmuseum.org/Independence-Day-July-4th-Celebration
The Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith may have drawn a record crowd to today’s annual Ice Harvest. Visitors to the mill could cut and haul ice, sample soups and drinks from the area, ice fish and take a sleigh ride courtesy of Seth Finch and his two Pecherons, Roxy and Cheyenne, above. At right, Juliana Patterson and her brothers Nathan and Adrian Johnson help haul a sled of ice blocks with their grandfather Paul Patterson, Oneonta, who they were visiting from Albany. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
FUN IN THE SNOW! Final day of the 50th anniversary Cooperstown Winter Carnival features snowman building, soup’n’ chili, soccer slushing in Pioneer Park, the “Fatty Bumppo” bike race ghost tours, wine tasting, a chicken wing competition, the Fire & Ice Bar at The Otesaga, Annie & The Hedonists concert, and the carnival closer. For full schedule of events, see www.cooperstownwintercarnival.com/event-schedule
There was no snow on the ground, but the recent cold snap meant there was plenty of ice for harvesting the Hanford Mills Ice Harvest Festival today in East Meredith. Here, Freddy Cargill, Ella Gerster and Amber Cargill, Davenport, pull a freshly cut block of ice from the pond to the ice house in the East Meredith mill’s annual celebration of winter farmtime fun. The fun continues until 4 p.m. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
