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Austerlitz celebrates an old-fashioned autumn
  
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Paul Crossman
AUSTERLITZ — The Austerlitz Historical Society held their 13th annual Autumn in Austerlitz Festival on Sunday, and throughout the day hundreds of people showed up to eat homemade soups, watch sheepdog trials, and walk through some of the historical houses.
“We come every year,” said Chatham resident Marlene Castricato about her entire family. “It’s one of our favorite events. It’s an indication the seasons are changing, and there are animals and demonstrations.” She also added that the silent auction was a personal favorite of hers, saying with a smile that it was “one of her little vices.”
Other crowd favorites seemed to be the sheepdog demonstrations, the blacksmith, and of course, the live band.
During the sheepdog trials, three local sheepdogs herded ducks through a miniature course, and the crowd listened fascinated while they were told that the dogs normally herd sheep, but this location was too small and close to the road to be feasible, so they used ducks instead.
Bob Engel from Stuyvesant ran the old-fashioned blacksmith demonstration, where throughout the day he made assorted small pieces from iron rods, like an ornate herb hook for a Cape Cod Kitchen. According to Engel, he has been working with iron for 35 years, starting after he needed some iron bent and realized it might be fun, leading to his taking several classes at Shaker Village, and eventually volunteering to help out the Historical Society with demonstrations like the one today.
There were also demonstrations and displays of quilts and quilt making, as well as weaving with a loom.
“I started out years ago,” said Margy Quinn, a local quilter who as won the people’s choice award in the Chatham Fair for seven years running. “I was sick and couldn’t do anything else, so I started quilting and really liked it. I enjoy doing it, it’s my passion.”
Margy works both from her home in Austerlitz and part-time at the Foofsique Quilting Emporium in Chatham, and went on to say that she was thrilled to be helping out the Historical Society with an event like this, and was glad to have the chance to show her quilts.
“I belong to the Historical Society,” she said, “And I was born and raised here in Austerlitz. I think it’s wonderful.”
Judith J. Choate from Three Saints Fibres was demonstrating weaving on an old fashioned loom for a group of people inside one of the historic buildings, and continued to work on a piece of cloth while explaining the basics of weaving to onlookers, saying that even the modern automatic looms used today don’t really vary much in design from classic ones like hers.
When people weren’t busy watching demonstrations or sheepdog trials, they could stop by several different booths with choices ranging from hot-dogs and hamburgers to benefit the local fire department, to a huge selection of homemade soups. If they were so inclined, they could then take their food the short distance to a series of picnic tables and listen to live music from the band Ampersand, which played traditional early American tunes.
All in all, everyone from the society and the vast majority of those who chose to visit felt the event to be a success, and after 13 years, Phil Palladino says they plan to continue holding the event well into the future.
“(Autumn in Austerlitz) originally started as the only fund raiser for the society,” Palladino told the Register-Star just before he was set to lead the children’s parade, “But now we have a couple, including the blueberry festival. We do this every year for several reasons, we want the community to get together, and we want to keep people in touch with their early American roots.”
All benefits from the event (except for the food sold by the local fire department) went towards the Austerlitz Historical Society in order to help them maintain, collect, and preserve the great historical artifacts which abound in the Town of Austerlitz. The society itself is a not-for-profit organization which maintains the museum of Old Austerlitz, and one of their main goals is to help stimulate a keener interest and appreciation of heritage in the residents of the town and the community.
If you would like to donate, volunteer, or join the Historical Society, you can call 518-392-0062, or visit their Web site at www.oldausterlitz.org. The society can also be reached by e-mail at oldausterlitz@fairpoint.net.
To reach reporter Paul Crossman call 518-828-1616, ext. 2266, or e-mail pcrossman@registerstar.com.
AUSTERLITZ — The Austerlitz Historical Society held their 13th annual Autumn in Austerlitz Festival on Sunday, and throughout the day hundreds of people showed up to eat homemade soups, watch sheepdog trials, and walk through some of the historical houses.
“We come every year,” said Chatham resident Marlene Castricato about her entire family. “It’s one of our favorite events. It’s an indication the seasons are changing, and there are animals and demonstrations.” She also added that the silent auction was a personal favorite of hers, saying with a smile that it was “one of her little vices.”
Other crowd favorites seemed to be the sheepdog demonstrations, the blacksmith, and of course, the live band.
During the sheepdog trials, three local sheepdogs herded ducks through a miniature course, and the crowd listened fascinated while they were told that the dogs normally herd sheep, but this location was too small and close to the road to be feasible, so they used ducks instead.
Bob Engel from Stuyvesant ran the old-fashioned blacksmith demonstration, where throughout the day he made assorted small pieces from iron rods, like an ornate herb hook for a Cape Cod Kitchen. According to Engel, he has been working with iron for 35 years, starting after he needed some iron bent and realized it might be fun, leading to his taking several classes at Shaker Village, and eventually volunteering to help out the Historical Society with demonstrations like the one today.
There were also demonstrations and displays of quilts and quilt making, as well as weaving with a loom.
“I started out years ago,” said Margy Quinn, a local quilter who as won the people’s choice award in the Chatham Fair for seven years running. “I was sick and couldn’t do anything else, so I started quilting and really liked it. I enjoy doing it, it’s my passion.”
Margy works both from her home in Austerlitz and part-time at the Foofsique Quilting Emporium in Chatham, and went on to say that she was thrilled to be helping out the Historical Society with an event like this, and was glad to have the chance to show her quilts.
“I belong to the Historical Society,” she said, “And I was born and raised here in Austerlitz. I think it’s wonderful.”
Judith J. Choate from Three Saints Fibres was demonstrating weaving on an old fashioned loom for a group of people inside one of the historic buildings, and continued to work on a piece of cloth while explaining the basics of weaving to onlookers, saying that even the modern automatic looms used today don’t really vary much in design from classic ones like hers.
When people weren’t busy watching demonstrations or sheepdog trials, they could stop by several different booths with choices ranging from hot-dogs and hamburgers to benefit the local fire department, to a huge selection of homemade soups. If they were so inclined, they could then take their food the short distance to a series of picnic tables and listen to live music from the band Ampersand, which played traditional early American tunes.
All in all, everyone from the society and the vast majority of those who chose to visit felt the event to be a success, and after 13 years, Phil Palladino says they plan to continue holding the event well into the future.
“(Autumn in Austerlitz) originally started as the only fund raiser for the society,” Palladino told the Register-Star just before he was set to lead the children’s parade, “But now we have a couple, including the blueberry festival. We do this every year for several reasons, we want the community to get together, and we want to keep people in touch with their early American roots.”
All benefits from the event (except for the food sold by the local fire department) went towards the Austerlitz Historical Society in order to help them maintain, collect, and preserve the great historical artifacts which abound in the Town of Austerlitz. The society itself is a not-for-profit organization which maintains the museum of Old Austerlitz, and one of their main goals is to help stimulate a keener interest and appreciation of heritage in the residents of the town and the community.
If you would like to donate, volunteer, or join the Historical Society, you can call 518-392-0062, or visit their Web site at www.oldausterlitz.org. The society can also be reached by e-mail at oldausterlitz@fairpoint.net.
To reach reporter Paul Crossman call 518-828-1616, ext. 2266, or e-mail pcrossman@registerstar.com.
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