Special Grey Towers Tours End Dec. 30

The great hall at Grey Towers features two elk trophies.

This is the only time of the year when visitor’s can see second-floor bedrooms used by Teddy Roosevelt and General William Tecumseh Sherman.

A Flemish oak chest from the 1500s is carved with unusual faces.

MILFORD – Consider taking a post-Christmas one-hour tour of the Grey Towers mansion if you’re entertaining out-of-town visitors or just looking for a break from the holiday rush.

This is the only time of the year when all three floors – 43 rooms with 23 fireplaces – are open to the public. The second floor features the bedroom of Gifford Pinchot, two-term governor of Pennsylvania and founder of American forestry. Two famous men – Teddy Roosevelt and General William Tecumseh Sherman – were such frequent guests that they each had their own bedroom, which are included in the holiday tour.

Members of the Milford Garden Club have decorated the mansion for the holidays even though it was only used by Gifford Pinchot’s family as a summer residence. The home is filled with antiques, artwork, taxidermy, family photos and Pinchot’s collection of more than 1,000 books.

Tours will be offered Sunday through Wednesday, December 27-30 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Cost is $4 per person.

Celebrate Halloween With Poe Readings

MILFORD – Tickets for a Halloween dramatic reading of selected works of Edgar Allen Poe at Grey Towers National Historic Site, 122 Old Owego Turnpike, Milford, are now on sale.

The Grey Towers Heritage Association and the US Forest Service at Grey Towers are hosting the American Readers Theatre Company as they present “Forevermore,” adaptations of four works of Poe on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 6 p.m. in the Great Hall of Grey Towers. An 8 p.m. reading will be added once the 6 p.m. programs sells out.

The program is appropriate for high school age and older. Tickets are $15 per person and can be purchased at Grey Towers or on-line at www.greytowers.org or by mail with a check written to the Grey Towers Heritage Association, PO Box 188, Milford, PA, 18337. Enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. For more information, call 570-296-9630 or visit the website at www.greytowers.org.

Dramatic readings were a common form of entertainment for 19^th century families. The US Forest Service re-creates this at Grey Towers, ancestral home of the Pinchot family, as part of its Conservation and the Arts program. The US Forest Service provides these programs also as a way to carry on the family’s tradition of community hospitality. The American Readers Theatre (ART) is a nonprofit performing arts organization dedicated to promoting literacy through the art of dramatic readings.

Selected works of Edgar Allen Poe were included in the Pinchots’ personal library collection. This year’s Halloween reading is in response to public request. “Forevermore” continues the Grey Towers tradition of providing a community event with a Halloween theme.

Grey Towers Free Open House, Ice Cream Social Sept. 24

Gov. Gifford Pinchot treats a young visitor to ice cream at one of his popular ice cream socials at Grey Towers in the 1930s.

MILFORD – A free open house and a re-creation of Gov. Gifford Pinchot’s community ice cream socials at his home, Grey Towers, will mark the anniversary of public ownership of the National Historic Site on Saturday, September 26.

Free Open House of the 19th century French chateauesque mansion, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., also commemorates National Public Lands Day. And a special video presentation of President John F. Kennedy’s Sept. 24, 1963, dedication of Grey Towers will be shown throughout the day.

The Ice Cream Social, sponsored by the Grey Towers Heritage Association, will be held from 2-4 pm and is free and open to the public. “The Ice Cream Social is just one of the many ways we are trying to re-create how the Pinchots welcomed the community to their private home at Grey Towers,” said Barbara Buchanan, president of the Grey Towers Heritage Association. “Strengthening the community connection is key to our mission at Grey Towers, and it’s so appropriate to offer this on National Public Lands Day.”

In lieu of a fee, the GTHA is requesting the donation of a non-perishable food item which will be given to a local food pantry.

The U.S. Forest Service will open all three floors of the mansion to visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at no charge.

For more information, contact Grey Towers at (570) 296-9630 or on the Web at www.greytowers.org or www.fs.fed.us/gt.

Architecture Tour of Grey Towers Sept. 24

MILFORD – What do the base of the Statue of Liberty and Grey Towers National Historic Site have in common? You can find out this and more on a special tour planned for Thursday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m.

Led by Ken Sandri, assistant director for preservation and resource management at Grey Towers, the tour will focus on the unique architectural details of the mansion, built by James Pinchot in 1886. The French-chatequesque stone mansion features more than 40 rooms and three distinctive turrets, or towers, and served as the home of Gov. Gifford Pinchot.

Regular tour fees apply. Wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather as this program is held outdoors rain or shine.

Special tours and walks have been added to the regular Grey Towers tour schedule in response to requests for specialized and more in-depth programs in such areas as the Pinchot family history and the unique architecture of the estate.

Grey Towers, ancestral home of the Pinchot family, has a long-standing tradition of welcoming the public to the estate. Now managed by the US Forest Service with numerous partners, Grey Towers is an active conservation, education and leadership development center that offers interpretive tours and special programs that continue the family’s legacy.

For more information contact Grey Towers at (570) 296-9630 or info@fs.fed.us/gt. Or visit www.greytowers.org or www.fs.fed.us/gt.

Special Grey Towers Tour of Family Heirlooms

Gifford Pinchot’s desk will be on display during the tour.

MILFORD – Visitors to Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford will get an in-depth look at some original artifacts in their collection during a special Artifact Tour planned for Saturday, Sept. 5, beginning at 1:30 PM.

Designed in response to a growing interest in the artifacts and family heirlooms that furnish the first floor of the 1886 mansion, the Artifact Tour will feature explanations of many of the original items either left in the home or loaned by the family after they donated the estate to the US Forest Service in 1963.

Pieces in the museum spaces of the home date from the 7^th or 8^th century to the 20^th century and illustrate the lifestyles of several different generations who lived in the home.

Grey Towers, former home of Cornelia and Gifford Pinchot, two-term governor of Pennsylvania and founder and first chief of the USDA Forest Service, was donated to the Forest Service by the Pinchot family in 1963. Today the estate is a model for historic preservation and stewardship for the Forest Service, an educational resource and a center for natural resource leadership development. Public programs such as this Artifact Tour enable the Forest Service to continue the Pinchot legacy, which includes a tradition of inviting the community into the home.

Reservations for the Artifact Tour are recommended and space is limited. Please call 570-296-9630 or email greytowers@fs.fed.us. Regular tour fees apply.

The mantle holds various heirlooms from the Pinchot family.

Walk Back in Time with Forestry Hike

MILFORD – A guided hike along the Forestry Trail at Grey Towers National Historic Site, 122 Old Owego Turnpike, Milford, will introduce participants to the history of forestry in America on Saturday, August 22, 2009.

The moderate hike, which begins at 1:30 PM, is less than one mile and includes a steep incline. Regular tour fees apply and participants can tour the Grey Towers mansion for half price when tickets are purchased together.

In the early 1900s, when forestry was just a seed of an idea in America, the Pinchot family endowed the Yale School of Forestry and hosted its summer school field experience on the grounds of the family home, Grey Towers. The Forest Service at Grey Towers offers public programs that illustrate the significance of this era and the role that the Pinchot family and Grey Towers played in conservation in America.

In addition to the introduction to forestry history, the program will address some of today’s forest management challenges, such as invasive plants, deer overpopulation and insect infestations.

Participants should meet at Grey Towers and dress for the weather and wear appropriate shoes for steep and uneven terrain.

For more information and to register for the program, please call 570-296-9671 or email greytowers@fs.fed.us.

Grey Towers Celebrates Wood

The Chain Saw Masters of America sponsored an ongoing demonstration of chain saw carvings. The finished, painted products were available for sale.

By Ryan Balton

Photos by Dustin Balton

MILFORD – Thousands of people came together last weekend to celebrate an appreciation for wood at the birthplace of American forest conservation. The fifth annual Festival of Wood provided arts and education at Grey Towers.

“It’s supposed to be a fun festival, but the whole focus is educational, to teach people about how much we use wood in our everyday lives, and how we can do it sustainably,” said Lori McKean, assistant director at Grey Towers.

Grey Towers is a National Historic Site today, but it was the estate of Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, from 1905 to 1910. By combining the arts with education, McKean said the Festival of Wood is much like the events Pinchot used to host at his home.

McKean estimated 3,500 people attended the festival, which ran on Saturday and Sunday. Hundreds of cars filled the Grey Towers parking lots and the Ponds Meadow field behind Apple Valley on Old Owego Turnpike. Last year, just under 3,000 people attended.

“It’s growing every year,” McKean said. “Every year, we incrementally add new events or activities, and the feedback from people has just been great, some people coming back year after year, a lot of new people coming.”

This year’s events included vendors selling handmade wood crafts, educational exhibits from local nonprofit organizations, and children’s activities sponsored by the Pocono Environmental Education Center, or PEEC. Smokey Bear was on hand, and the Pike County Builders Association brought Pike’s “Bob the Builder” to the festival as well.

Musical groups performed with acoustic wooden instruments throughout the weekend at the amphitheatre on the grounds, through a partnership with the Pocono Arts Council. Various film screenings and lectures happened, along with live demonstrations of chainsaw carving and of a portable sawmill.

Grey Towers has two big events up in September, McKean said. They’re planning a musical event with the Port Jervis Arts Council, and a fee-free day with an ice cream social at the end of September. The event will try to recreate the same kind of ice cream social that Pinchot used to have in the ’20s and ’30s, she said.

“This Festival of Wood is really our big signature event,” McKean said. “We work with many, many partners to make it happen. There’s no way we could do this alone.”

For video of the event, click here.

Free Music, Unique Wood Crafts, Family Fun at Grey Towers Fifth Annual Festival of Wood

MILFORD, PA – “Goods From The Woods” is the focus of the Fifth Annual Festival of Wood at Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford, PA on Saturday, August 8 and Sunday, August 9.  This family-friendly and mostly free event offers a variety of activities and events that demonstrate the many ways we use and enjoy wood in our everyday lives.

Unique wood crafts, children’s activities with wood, chainsaw carvings, educational exhibits, wood in building, films and lectures about wood, wood demonstrations, music created with wood and much more will be presented on the grounds of the historic estate throughout the weekend. All are offered for free by the US Forest Service, the Grey Towers Heritage Association, the Pocono Arts Council and numerous partners, participants and collaborators.

• Craftsmen and artists from throughout the region will exhibit, sell and demonstrate their crafts, all made from wood. Some examples include: wood furniture, pipe boxes, Shaker boxes, sawdust folk art, wooden snowflakes, wooden bowls, wood turning, fretwork and hand-carved sculpture. Co-sponsored by the Pocono Arts Council, the crafts component will illustrate how beautiful objects that we use in our everyday lives are created from wood.
• Children’s activities include games and toys using wood and other craft activities. A Music and Storytelling program is planned for Saturday and a Magic and Puppet Show with an environmental twist will be featured on Sunday. The Gifford Pinchot Audubon Society will host a bluebird box building activity. Visits from Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl also are planned.
• Lectures on alternative forest products; forest land conservation; foods from the woods; films about wood and forestry; educational exhibits and informational handouts will be ongoing throughout the weekend.
• Free music with wood instruments will be provided each day, including Celtic music, recorders, fiddles, folk and Native American music.
• The Pike County Builders Association will exhibit and demonstrate Wood in Building.
• The Master Chain Saws of America will demonstrate chain saw carving three times a day, each day.
• PA Woodmizer will demonstrate “From Logs to Lumber” throughout the weekend.
• All three floors of the historic Grey Towers mansion are open for visitors both days; a $4 fee will be charged.

Visitors can pick up free materials and learn from exhibitors who will be sharing information about such things as reintroducing the American Chestnut Tree, private forest landowner information, tree identification and Forest Service wood technology initiatives.

A variety of refreshments will be available.

The Fifth annual Festival of Wood is “a celebration of our natural and cultural heritage of wood.” The activities, exhibits and programs are meant to heighten awareness of the many uses of wood in our everyday lives. The US Forest Service and numerous partners are hosting the event at Grey Towers, ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, who founded and served as first chief of the Forest Service from 1905-1910.

For a schedule of events or more information, call 570-296-9630 or email us at greytowers@fs.fed.us. A schedule of the Festival activities can be downloaded at www.greytowers.org.

Literary Arts Weekend at Grey Towers Has a Story to Tell

Photo by Ryan Balton. From left, story weavers Rivka Willick, Carol Titus and Ken Galipeau sing “if I was a tree” to a crowd on the pool terrace at Grey Towers on Saturday morning.

By Ryan Balton

MILFORD  – Young readers from as far as Utah listened to stories at Grey Towers National Historic Site on Saturday as part of Literary Arts Weekend. The storytelling program, called “If a tree falls in the forest, what story does it tell?”

“We are excited to perpetuate James Pinchot’s support of the arts through these and other arts programs,” Barbara Buchanan, president of the Grey Towers Heritage Association, said in a press release. “Dramatic readings, poetry and storytelling for children all promote literacy while fostering an appreciation for the arts.”

The free program, which attracted about 20 participants, was sponsored by The Grey Towers Heritage Association and the U.S. Forest Service at Grey Towers, which also sponsored the storytelling program and poetry reading on Sunday.

For more information visit on programs at Grey Towers, visit : http://www.greytowers.org.

Weekend Fun in and Around Pike County

Pike County Arts & Crafts – Meet the Artists Wine & Cheese Reception – in honor of the 59th Annual Arts & Craft Show. Friday, July 17, 7:00 PM – Borough Hall, Milford. All are welcome and encouraged to bring a dish to share at this huge annual community celebration. There is no cost, but donations are very appreciated.

Mary Todd Lincoln – A Woman on the Edge – Encore Performance -Waterwheel Café & Bakery, 150 Water St, Milford. Friday, July 17. Local actress Stacy Jane Case is the star of this one-woman show.  Tickets are $45 and include dinner and dessert.  Cash bar available.  Cocktails at 6:00, dinner at 7:00, show to follow.  Reserve early by calling 570-296-8126.