Vaughan Woods & Historic Homestead

Guests at Homestead community events this year mingled with friends and neighbors while enjoying music in the garden, wine in the barn, and dancing in the pavilion. In hands-on learning programs for local schools, ninth through eleventh graders laughed and joked as they worked together to make candles and books the old fashioned way, seventh graders practiced team work while clearing leaves and dirt from the high arch bridge, and third graders joined forces to lift a bucket of water with a pulley in the barn for a lesson in simple machines. Children in our after school play group worked together to gather the chickens into the coop. Neighbors helped one another drill holes and make measurements in a cigar box guitar making workshop. Volunteer docents shared stories and knowledge as they collaborated on research about the Homestead.  Staff and volunteer hands lifted and moved new timbers for the restoration of the front porch. And children taught younger children how to make campfire donuts at our fall gathering. Visitors to the Woods, as always, explored nature, played, and exercised with family and friends. This is what I love most about what we do at Vaughan Woods & Historic Homestead – cultivating life-long learning and building community through simple and joyful shared experiences, meaningful work, and the opportunity to be together in the natural world.