Tag - featured

On Friday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. the Sky Blue Boys, Banjo Dan and Willy Lindner, will be on the Old Firehouse  Stage in Tinmouth.

The boys have revived the tradition of old-time brothers duos such as The Monroe Brothers and the Louvin Brothers. They have built up a large repertoire of wonderful old ballads, parlor songs, heart songs, and sacred numbers. They have expanded the instrumentation to include a variety of acoustic instruments and added some newer songs including their own compositions.

Playing together for decades, they formed the celebrated Vermont bluegrass band Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys in 1972. Its rousing songs celebrated rural Vermont instead of the Southern Appalachians. But never far from their hearts were the sounds they learned to love long ago – the simple moving sounds of the early “brothers duets”.

The Old Firehouse is located at 7 Mountain View Road near its intersection of Vermont Route 140 in Tinmouth Center. Doors open at 7 p.m.; a donation of $10 is encouraged. Tinmouth groups supply tasty refreshments as fund-raisers for their activities.

For more information, contact Jo Reynolds at 446-3457 or [email protected]; or visit Tinmouth Old Firehouse Concerts on Facebook.

Alpacas and rabbits and sheep – oh my! The local landscape will be especially warm and fuzzy on Saturday and Sunday, April 26 and 27, when the 22^nd Annual Washington County Fiber Tour takes place at 15 farms around the county.

The free, explore-it-yourself tour takes place rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Guests are welcome to visit farms that raise luxury and exquisite fibers such as wool from Merino and Cormo sheep, fibers from Cashmere and Angora goats, soft fleeces from alpacas and fluffy fiber Angora rabbits. Six of the farms raise Romney sheep, dual-purpose breed known for its silky long wool. The tour also includes five farms that raise friendly alpacas, a breed known for its soft and valuable fleece.

While on the tour, make a reservation for lunch at the Dance Ewe’s sheep dairy farm. Visitors won’t want to miss fun activities such as goat driving at St. Mary’s on the Hill Cashmere, and sheep shearing at Ensign Brook Farm.

Also open for touring is the Battenkill Carding and Spinning Mill on Route 40 in Greenwich, where you can see local fibers being processed. The mill will offer hands-on fiber processing activities for kids.

Some of the farms will offer yarn for sale, as well as finished products such as hats, gloves and scarfs.

For a complete list of participating farms, visit www.washingtoncountyfibertour.com.

Join Merck Forest’s staff for an afternoon of farm fun with “Farm Chores.” Family-Fun Farm Chores is a great way to for families to experience part of Merck Forest and Farmland Center’s working landscape. From 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, April 19 through June 14, visitors are welcome to come up to MFFC’s beautiful hilltop farm for the farm chores program. You’ll help water and feed the animals, collect and wash eggs, and move animals to new pasture – all the while learning about life on the farm.

Spring Farm Chores cost $2 per individual. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Sign-up beforehand by calling 802-394-7836, as groups are limited to 20 people.

Merck Forest and Farmland Center is an education non-profit in the Taconic Mountains of Southern Vermont that strives to teach, demonstrate, and sustain a working landscape. MFFC is located at 3270 Route 315, Rupert, VT 05768. Call 802-394-7836 or visit www.merckforest.org for more information.