JUNE IS BUSTIN' OUT ALL OVER!

It's FINALLY Spring in Hunterdon County and June's ticket reservations are up and blooming!  Here's a look at what's growing in OUR garden:

A field of Blue and Gray?  That would be the History of the Civil War in Hunterdon lecture given by County Historian and Author of the book by the same title, John Kuhl on June 3rd.  John's stories are haunting, like the faces of those battle weary or battle lost.  This lecture precedes the Lambertville Civil War Living History weekend at Holcombe-Jimison Farm where young and old alike can spend the day watching battle re-enactments with real artillery, listening to fife and drum music, viewing Civil War exhibits, or walking through the farm museum, all for one low price:  Children under 12 are free, and with our ticket, you get half price admission at the gate -- just $5 for the day!  Free parking, too!  One ticket per person, but NO limits!

A huge bed of red, white and blue shows up on Flag Day, June 14th for a special lecture on the History of the United States flag and our special challenge to flag expert and author, Richard Pierce, the origin of our county flag!  Some mud brown and gold in that garden bed!

And another special feature this month:  some milky white appears in honor of National Dairy Month with a lecture on the Lost Dairy Industry of our county and a special feature about dairy cows.  MOOve over you shepherds and goat herders for this talk!  John Force and Bernie Beatty join forces for an UDDERly interesting double feature!

On June 11th our garden grows with some wildflowers -- chickory and thistle?  those would be Stangl patterns!!!  No celebration of the history of Hunterdon County would be complete without a talk on Stangl and Fulper potteries -- important to both the industry of ceramics as well as tourism to our County and County Seat.  Lambertville's own Tom Rago steps away from Antiques Road Show to give us his wonderful perspective.

Talk about taking a walk on the wild side:  If you want to walk out of the garden and into the woods and see what's blooming there we can give you that opportunity.  We have a Talk and Walk on Wild Food Foraging scheduled for June 8th.  Expert mycologist Robert Peabody will do the talking -- about what the people of our county would have found to eat during that famous Revolutionary War period of the Forage Wars as well as other times; and then expert Hunter/Gatherer and chef Bob Hosh will take you walking outside to see what's good to eat!  Space is limited for this event.

The rest of our June includes a bouquet of lectures:  a talk on the role of women in Hunterdon's history as well as historical women given by County Historian (a woman who has made history herself!) Stephanie Stevens on June 4th; another talk and walk -- this one given by Author and Historian Linda Barth about and literally on the D&R Canal on June 28th; a anecdotal history of the importance of having a will by Surrogate Susan Hoffman who will use fascinating stories about historical wills and often disastrous situations to illustrate why we should all have one on 25th; and we are also ticketing for the June 21st walking tour of Three Bridges with Three Bridges' biggest fan and native son, John Kuhl.

And for our sprouts and buds:  Art teacher extraordinaire is offering another Childrens' Historical Craft Project in the morning of June 21st where 25 lucky kids ages 6 to 14 will make and artwork WITH MOVABLE PARTS (how COOL!) based on vintage movable picture books!

If that isn't a big enough field of events, check out those of our special partners!  We have the Young Eagles coming on the morning of June 14th offering free airplane flights for the youth of Hunterdon; walking tours in Lambertville and Mountainville; a garden tour Tewksbury Township; a special Community Day sponsored by the Hunterdon Chamber of Commerce; Califon's Nellie Hoffman House open to the public; the Delaware River Mill Society's historic photographs of Stockton and much more!  Check out all of the details and our full calendar on our website.  Please note that some of our special partners do have a fee for their events.

One more thing:  May 17th -- is a very, very busy day in Hunterdon County's 300th year, so clear your calendars and pick one or two of the following to attend:  there are still tickets available for Raritan Township Historical Society's ALL INCLUSIVE visit to Old Philadelphia which includes a luxury coach bus ride, a fabulous lunch at the legendary City Tavern and entry tickets to various sites and building on the Mall in Philly including Independence Hall, Carpenter's Hall, Eldreth's Alley, Christ Church plus more! (check out our homepage for ticket information); also, Hampton Historical Society's free Leni Lenape and Hampton History day is also on our homepage; a special historic bike tour of South Hunterdon for those of you who want to exercise while learning about the history of our county!; our special Tricentennial Partner, Holcombe-Jimison Farm is hosting a Herb Sale fundraising event down at the farmstead from 10 am to 4 pm where the Delaware Vallley Unit of the Herb Society of America maintains an herb garden (betcha didn't know that!).  And check this out:  Over 2,000 varieties of plants will be for sale!!!; the Hunterdon Watercolor Society's beautiful exhibit continues its display of the Beauty of Hunterdon; and if you have any energy left, the Raritan River Music Concert Series' concert celebrating 300 years of music with the music of 1914 -- the third of four concerts separated by a century of music.

One other thing:   We still have some seats left for our last two Migration Pattern Series Lectures:  May 13 (Dutch) and May 20 (River Communities) so reserve your seat now!

ODDS AND ENDS

STUFF THAT WE NEED TO BRAIN DUMP THAT WE HAVE BEEN MEANING TO TELL YOU:

PIANO PLAYER NEEDED: and we mean a piano player --- NOT a pianist!  Get a free meal at the Stockton Inn at our next Tavern Tour on May 10th at noon plus 2 historical talks to boot... all you have to do is play a little background music (for about 45 minutes or less) out of the Great American Songbook -- Ability to play "There's a Small Hotel" a requisite!  And you may be accompanying a singer who can do more than hum a few bars....

LINDBERGH ONE MAN SHOW TICKETS:  HERE TODAY -- GONE FOR THE REST OF OUR LIFETIMES?  There are still tickets to both the Saturday evening and Sunday matinee performances of "Charles Lindbergh: The Lone Eagle" on May 3 and May 4.  This show is amazing when performed in a regular theatre -- it will be a once in a lifetime experience performed at the Hunterdon Historic Courthouse which has been restored by the County to its "Period of Significance" -- the Lindbergh Kidnapping Trial of Bruno Hauptmann in 1934; the County still has and USES the original Jury Box chairs as well as some used by the defense and plaintiff legal teams, and the Witness Chair on which both Charles Lindbergh and Bruno Hauptmann sat!  Actor Steve Carroll has created a special Tricentennial version of the show just for us and for the venue!  Tickets available at the County North and Main Branch Libraries, the County Clerk (weekdays only), the Flemington Choir School (Saturday only) and at the door before the performances. $10 for adults; $5 for children/students; $15 for Jury Box Sunday only (sorry, Saturday Jury seats sold out).

MOTHER'S DAY -- THE PERFECT GIFT:  Now In Stock:  Autographed "Hunterdon In My Heart" beautiful coffee table books.  Why get Mom flowers that will only last a few days when you can get her a book filled with flowers, farms, woodlands, old friends and faces that will last a lifetime?  Walter Choroszewski's extraordinary photography captures the heart of Hunterdon and will make a lovely addition to your Mom's living room or library.  Every time she thumbs through it she'll think of you!  Available autographed at the Flemington Choir School, 3 Chorister Place, Flemington on Saturdays between 10 am and 2 pm for $50 -- longer lasting and less expensive than a dozen roses!

AWARD WINNING MAP PROJECT:  If you've noticed the map on our homepage and thought it interesting but nothing special, take a new look! Roll your cursor over it and click and it will take you to the timeline of Hunterdon's changing municipalities and geographic lines.  It is a lot of fun to play with and educational!  Show it to your kids or grandkids and we guarantee they'll be fascinated by it.  This map was created by Hunterdon County Geographic Information Systems Coordinator Patty Leidner.  Recently, Patty took 2nd Place in the Statewide Mapping Contest in the category of Historic Boundaries Application.  Congratulations, Patty!  The contest is for hard maps only so she had to come up with a concept that would have the feel of the interactive map she designed in honor of the 300th.  Patty designed this interactive map for the Hunterdon Tricentennial.  The 1714 and 2014 map appears on all of our programs and on the County's Municipal Directory.  We are also selling framed copies that show the last 300 years of how the map and municipal lines changed for $50 available at the Flemington Choir School during our hours on Saturdays.

JUNE TICKETS:  Look for June tickets around Mother's Day.... you'll be hearing from us with a preview of the month's best events!