The Farmers’ Museum brings ‘lantern tours’ back for another December

By Ted Potrikus • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

Holiday Lantern Tours return this December to The Farmers’ Museum — evening events guiding visitors through museum grounds by lantern light with talks on the history of December holidays, including Christmas, and how they were celebrated in Upstate New York in years past.

Deb Anderson, Museum interpreter and assistant to the director of education, said the hour-long tours “give visitors a real picture of what people in this part of New York State would do to celebrate the season every December.”

“In the 1840s, Christmas celebrations specifically were just coming into vogue,” she said. “We walk people through the traditional Yule and Winter Solstice of the era, the first Christmas card, the music, the introduction of the Christmas tree. We try to touch on all of the things that made the festivities of December so special in our region.”