Saturday, Dec. 1, 10 a.m.—PLYMOUTH NOTCH— Step back in time to celebrate the traditions of the season at the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site. The Coolidge Holiday Open House has been recognized as a 2018-2019 “Top 10 Winter Event” by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. The event is free, open to the public, ADA accessible, and features activities for the entire family. This year, the event will be held Saturday, Dec. 1, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Stroll through the historic village and visit the Homestead where President Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as president of the United States. Experience the Coolidge Birthplace decorated as it would have been in 1872, the year the future president was born. Enjoy holiday organ and piano music performed throughout the day by Steve Morse of Montpelier.
Special guest Willem Lange will read “Favor Johnson: A Christmas Story” at 11 a.m. Lange is a commentator on Vermont Public Radio and received an Emmy as host of the award-winning “Windows to the Wild” on New Hampshire Public Television. His story about Favor Johnson and the mysterious delivery of homemade fruit cakes on Christmas Eve is a Vermont classic. Copies of Lange’s CDs and books will be available for purchase and signing.
Cider tasting with Champlain Orchards will be from 1-3:30 p.m. at the Plymouth Cheese Factory and caroling in the church begins at 1:30 p.m.
Other activities include: sleigh and wagon rides; Coolidge Homestead tours at 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.; traditional gifts, treats, and samples of award-winning cheeses at the Plymouth Cheese Factory; homemade chocolate sampling with The Chocolatorium; learn how a Clear Lake Furniture Coolidge Rocker is made using sugar maple tap wood; create a tiny diary just like young Cal’s or a paper lantern made from an early Plymouth photo; wreath-making and pre-made wreath sales to benefit the Coolidge Historic Site’s garden fund; make elegant paper ornaments and paper-quilled snowflakes to take home; special holiday postal cancellation at the historic Plymouth post office (the newest design in the John Lutz series) from 1-4 p.m.
Lunch will be served at the Wilder House Restaurant by Tyson Ladies Aid. The Coolidge Holiday Open House is the last chance to see 2018 exhibit, Presidential Holiday: The Coolidge Summer Retreats, 1924-1928, which features the spectacular eagle-feather headdress presented to the president when he was made leader of the Sioux nation.
The site is located at 3780 Route 100A, Plymouth. For more information, visit historicsites.vermont.gov.
Photo by Jim Eaton
Visit the birthplace of Calvin Coolidge at the state historic site in Plymouth during an open house, Dec. 1
