Calendar

December 5 - 30.

Step back in time and enjoy Christmas at Hildene! Throughout the month, the home will be decorated to evoke Christmas Eve 1912—one of a handful of years that the Lincoln Family spent the holidays in residence at their Vermont home. 

On weekends, the festive ambience of Hildene will be elevated with holiday music by talented artists playing on the Lincolns’ Steinway piano and Aeolian organ while you tour the home. Please scroll down to see scheduled performances. 

For more information, contact Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email.

Keeping the holiday spirit going, Judy Cyr will delight all playing  the Lincolns’ Steinway piano and Aeolian organ. Rob Ellis returns in the afternoon to play on the Lincolns’ Steinway piano.

Saturday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm: Judy Cyr is the music director and pianist/organist at the Peru Congregational Church in Peru, VT.  She also provides music at Bromley Manor. Previously she has been the pianist at St. Vincent's Church in Naugatuck, CT, and has participated in music programs for Neighbor to Neighbor and Equinox Terrace.

Saturday, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Rob Ellis has been performing and singing since the age of 5. He spent ten years performing on cruise ships and has worked as a ballet accompanist for over 50 companies. Rob will play the Lincolns’ Steinway piano.

Enjoy the sounds of Christmas while you tour the home.

Sunday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm: Joanne Beck is a musician in private social work practice in Manchester.  She will play the Lincolns’ Steinway piano.

Sunday, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Gene Marie Callahan is the organist and choir director at the Old First Church of Bennington. She is the artistic director of the Battenkill Chorale and is a lecturer in Creative Arts at Siena College where she directs the Chorus and teaches Basics of Singing. Ms. Callahan will play the Lincolns’ Aeolian organ and the Steinway piano.

Saturday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm and 2:00  - 4:00 pm

Kirk B. Hartung plays the Lincolns' Aeolian organ. He served most recently as full-time Director of Music and Organist at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Norwood, MA, directing multiple choirs and playing over 500 services each year. Now semi-retired, he plays at Mount St. Vincent in Wellesley, MA, and substitutes at various churches in the greater Boston area. He received his Master of Sacred Music (MSM) degree from Boston University School of Theology.

Saturday, 9:00 to 10:30 am, At Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home. Free 

Avian vagabonds from the North sometimes drift south because of cold temperatures and/or a poor cone/seed crops. Pine Grosbeaks, Red Crossbills, and Northern Shrikes are less common than other northern visitors – Common Redpolls, Pine Siskins, and Evening Grosbeaks. 

The black and white, masked Northern Shrike is often called the “Butcher Bird.” It kills its prey by severing a vertebra and then impaling the victim on a thorny tree or barbed wire or wedges it into the fork of a tree for eating or storage. The Northern Shrike breeds in taiga and tundra and winters in southern Canada and the northern U.S.
Major irruptions of shrikes in the eastern U. S. occurred in the fall and winter of 1995-96 and 1999-2000. A shrike has not yet been recorded at Hildene.  Look for this striking bird out in the open perched on a telephone wire or branch.
 

Join local birders to gather long-term data on the presence of birds, their abundance, and changes in populations. Meet in the Welcome Center parking lot. Appropriate for birders of all skill levels, the walks run along uneven terrain on forest and meadow trails and around the main house. No registration required. Questions? Contact Stephanie at (802) 367-7960 or click to email.