Hildene’s 2026 Holiday Raffle!
Purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win an original oil painting by Dorset, Vermont, artist Patti Campbell!
Patti has beautifully captured Hildene in winter, featuring the Lincoln Family Home nestled in a snowy holiday scene.
Raffle tickets are $50 each, and you may purchase as many as you like!
The beautifully framed painting measures 22.5" x 18.75". Patti’s artwork can be found in corporate offices, restaurants, professional buildings, and private collections throughout Vermont, Florida, New Jersey, and other parts of the United States and Europe.
Retail value: $1,900
Raffle ticket sales begin Thursday, December 3, and end Monday, December 14, at 8:00 p.m.
The winner will be notified by phone and email on Tuesday, December 15.
Domestic shipping is available.
November Bird Walk
Saturday, November 14th
9:00 am – 10:30 am
Please register. Appropriate for teens and adults.
Join local birders to gather long-term data on the presence and abundance of birds and changes in their populations.
Meet at the Welcome Center parking lot. The walk travels over uneven terrain along forest and meadow trails and around the main house. Appropriate for birders of all skill levels. Dress warmly with good walking shoes or boots. A limited number of binoculars will be available. Please register. Email Programming@hildene.org with questions.
November Bird Note: Snow Geese
Each year, thousands of Snow Geese migrate from their northern breeding grounds to wintering ponds in the south and central United States. Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area in Addison, VT, lies along their flyway. These white masses of birds feed in cornfields and wetlands; in flight, they create an impressive spectacle of swirling, honking birds—large and white with black wing tips. Snow Geese mate for life.
Overpopulation has led to severe habitat destruction on their Arctic breeding grounds. Snow Geese eat all parts of plants, sometimes ripping them out of the ground, which also reduces food resources for many shorebird species that nest in the Arctic. Goose hunting helps reduce the population and provides an economic boost (as well as a food source) in areas where it is allowed. While they may not be present on the bird walk, the bird walk is always informative and fun.
Painting with Wool: A Three-Week Landscape Needle-Felting Workshop
Sundays, November 29, December 6 & 13, 2026
1:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Greenhouse at Hildene Farm in the dene
Advance registration required. Adults only. Registration includes all three sessions.
Discover the art of “painting” with wool in this three-week workshop led by local artist Bryan Richheimer.
Working from a shared landscape photograph, participants will learn fundamental needle-felting techniques to create depth, perspective, texture, and focal points through the layering and blending of colorful wool fibers.
With step-by-step instruction, Bryan will demonstrate how to translate a two-dimensional image into a richly textured wool landscape, exploring composition, light, shadow, and the subtle details that bring a scene to life.
Over three sessions, participants will develop their skills and create their own interpretation of the landscape, leaving with a finished piece of fiber art and a foundation for continued exploration of needle felting.
All skill levels are welcome. A basic needle-felting kit, including the tools and supplies needed for the workshop, is included in the registration fee.
About the Instructor: Bryan Richheimer
Bryan is a multidisciplinary artist and craftsman whose lifelong passion for working with natural materials has evolved into a love of wool needle felting. With a background in woodworking, building, and sculpture, his work draws inspiration from the textures, colors, and landscapes of New England.
His artistic journey began with bird sculptures incorporating clay, bark, hand-carved elements, and reclaimed driftwood. While exploring ways to complement these pieces, he discovered the rich colors and textures of wool needle felting, which quickly became an artistic pursuit of its own.
Bryan's work has been exhibited at the Trask Museum in Saratoga, New York, and the Southern Vermont Arts Center. His sculptures and needle-felted artwork are currently featured at EPOCH Artisans Gallery in Manchester Center, Vermont.
Members' Sip & Shop
Friday, December 4th
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Join us for a festive evening of holiday shopping at The Museum Store and enjoy 20% off your entire purchase of store merchandise. Find a unique gift for your loved ones and yourself while supporting our nonprofit. Members and their friends are welcome!
Members, if you'd like to come back and shop some more—or if you can’t make it on Friday evening—the 20% off will be available through Sunday, December 6th! Just show your Hildene Member card.
December Bird Walk
Saturday, December 5th
9:00 am – 10:30 am
Please register. Appropriate for teens and adults.
Join local birders to gather long-term data on the presence and abundance of birds and changes in their populations.
Meet at the Welcome Center parking lot. The walk includes uneven terrain along forest and meadow trails and around the main house. Dress warmly with good shoes or boots for walking. Appropriate for birders of all skill levels. A limited number of binoculars will be available. Please register. Email Programming@hildene.org with any questions.
December Bird Note: Pileated Woodpecker
Winter shows clues left by the birds living in our habitat: tracks in the snow, such as those of the turkey; an impression of spread wings from a hawk landing on fresh snow; a nest secured on a tree limb; or perhaps elongated holes in a tree trunk made by a Pileated Woodpecker. With their powerful, chiseling bills and long, reverse-barbed tongues, the woodpecker excavates and scrapes carpenter ants and other insects living in a tree's heartwood.
The Pileated is the largest of the five woodpeckers common in Vermont. (Only the Northern Flicker is not a year-round resident.) The Pileated is a large, mostly black bird with white stripes around the head and a bold red crest. The male has a red stripe from the base of its bill; the female’s stripe is black. The undulating woodpecker flight pattern and size is as distinctive as its loud rattling call. The male Pileated excavates a cavity for his lady, but she may add finishing touches from the inside. The entrance hole is an elongated oval.
New this December: Community Holiday Parties
For the first time, Hildene is opening Lincoln Hall for two shared holiday parties built for Manchester's small businesses. An office of six or a shop of ten can host a proper party without all the planning that typically goes into one.
- Saturday, December 12: for businesses that work Monday through Friday
- Monday, December 14: for restaurants, inns and hospitality teams who work weekend
Each evening includes a DJ, a photo booth, a cash bar, and food from Nick at Pangaea. "You just pay for the table and we're done," Theresa says. "You walk in the door and enjoy your time. We clean up. We do everything else."
"There's a ton of small businesses in town, eight or ten people, maybe fewer," Carmine says. "Buy a table, come and have fun, network with others, and it's one and done."
