Old Sturbridge Village set to host fife-and-drum corps

Date: 9/5/2010

STURBRIDGE -- Fife-and-drum companies from all over the northeast will converge on Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) on Sept. 11 for competitions, demonstrations, a uniform fashion show, and a combined parade of corps.

Visitors can learn about the importance of military songs and cadences and how fifers and drummers used specific tunes and rhythms to communicate with troops in battle. The event is free with museum admission, and OSV is also offering free stagecoach and riverboat rides through Sept. 30.

Also on Sept. 11, the museum will host a day long collectors' forum highlighting "ceramics in New England," featuring noted authors, artisans, and curators, pottery demon-strations, a redware pottery kiln firing, a one-day-only display of ceramics from the OSV collection, and a wine and cheese reception.

OSV collectors' forum speakers include Pat Halfpenny, recently retired from her position as director of museum collections at Winterthur Museum; Don Carpentier, master craftsman and founder and director of the Historic Eastfield Foundation of Nassau, N.Y.; and independent museum consultant Nan Wolverton, former OSV curator of decorative arts.

The collectors' forum, which includes the "evening at the kiln" pottery firing, is open to the public; cost is $80 per person; $60 for museum members.

Visitors may also attend the "evening at the kiln" event separately, at the OSV pottery shop, where potters will be stoking the Village's massive 24-foot-high brick kiln to 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit and will fire a year's worth of vintage-style redware pottery hand-crafted at the museum.

Guests can try their hand at throwing a piece of pottery on the potter's wheel, and can enjoy appetizers, drinks, and watch the sparks fly from the top of the kiln. Cost for "evening at the kiln" is $35 per person and $30 for OSV members.

OSV is one of the oldest and largest living history museums in the country and celebrates New England life from 1790 - 1840. The museum is open daily 9:30 a.m. 5 p.m.

Daytime admission is $20, $18 for seniors $7 for children ages 3 - 17, and children under three years old are free. Parking is free, and admission includes a free return visit within 10 days. For information, visit www.osv.org or call 800-733-1830.