Saturday, Oct. 2 at 10 a.m. — PLYMOUTH NOTCH — The President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site hosts the 6th annual Plymouth Notch Antique Apple Fest on Saturday, Oct. 2, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. This celebration of the harvest pays special tribute to the apple. Visit our heirloom apple orchard and sample vintage apple varieties.
The day begins at 10 a.m. with the third annual Coolidge 5K, a professionally timed road race that winds through and around the historic village. Prizes are available for overall top finishers and age-group winners. Non-runners are invited to participate in the “I Do Not Choose to Run” 1-Mile Walk at 11, honoring Coolidge’s famously short statement that he would not seek re-election for president in 1928.
Rob Mermin presents “Silents Are Golden: A Celebration of Silent Cinema” at 1:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council’s Speakers Bureau, this entertaining and educational lecture is lavishly illustrated with clips from 100 silent film comedies and dramas from the 1920s. Mermin trained in Paris in 1969 with mentor Marcel Marceau, and founded Vermont’s award-winning youth circus company Circus Smirkus.
A variety of activities are scheduled throughout the day including cider pressing, wagon rides, sheep shearing, cheese sampling and self-guided tours at the Plymouth Cheese Factory. View the work of Vermont craftspeople, including spinning demonstrations by Fiber Arts in Vermont. Bring a picnic and listen to old-time tunes performed by the Stringfield Springers. Participate in period children’s games organized by the Vermont Historical Society.
The Antique Apple Fest is a great opportunity to explore Plymouth Notch, considered one of the best-preserved presidential sites in the country. Ten buildings are open to tour. At the Coolidge Museum & Education Center, view the temporary exhibit, The Roaring Twenties: Fashions, Fads, and All That Jazz!, which examines one of the most exciting and prosperous periods in American history. The exhibit was funded with generous support from the Alma Gibbs Donchian Foundation. Also investigate the nationally award-winning permanent exhibition, More Than Two Words: The Life and Legacy of Calvin Coolidge.
For more information, visit coolidgefoundation.org/coolidge-5k/
