The taste of a traditional Thanksgiving

Monroe — Museum Village invites the community to sit and share a taste of the past from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 17 and 18. Despite its history as a colonial holiday, Thanksgiving wasn’t entrenched until the nineteenth century. In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving Day, to bolster the Union’s morale. The weekend before the great feast join the museum to learn how nineteenth century Americans celebrated this holiday. Watch as women prepare the meal on the open hearth with tools from the period. Visitors are invited to sample all the dishes. The museum will be fully staffed, offering the entire family an opportunity to enjoy history in an interactive and exciting manner. The grounds include an array of buildings staffed by knowledgeable, costumed interpreters who demonstrate unique artifacts and describe the day-to-day chores and tasks performed in the period home. Thanksgiving feast cook Kathy Cayton, a Goshen resident, has prepared traditional Thanksgiving dishes over an open-hearth fire at Museum Village for years. She discusses the historical significance of each dish. This year’s menu includes dishes from both Pilgrim and Victorian Thanksgiving traditions, including a variety of squashes and venison stew. Discount tickets are available online at www.museumvillage.org. Admission at the door is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and children. Children four and under are free. Event is rain or shine.