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The 2nd weekend of June is always a heavy weight weekend when it comes to events.  Two big event headline the card this weekend and the under card is stuffed as well.  Ok, enough boxing puns for this post.  There is a full schedule of events going on this weekend, and here are some best best for family fun.
1. Saturday and Sunday features the 21st annual Boxing Hall of Fame Induction Weekend in Canastota.  Boxing’s greatest names are on hand for a weekend of tributes to the sport & its champions. Museum tours by celebrities, ringside lectures, celebrity boxing, golf tournament Banquet, parade at 1pm on Sunday followed by the induction ceremony.
2. It is a busy weekend in Peterboro as it is the annual Civil War Weekend.  There are activities at the Gerrit Smith National Historic Landmark, the National Abolition Hall of Fame and on the village green.  Step back in time with encampments, skirmishes, period music and demonstrations, children's games, and an authentic General Store. This is a fund raiser for the preservation of Peterboro's historic buildings. Saturday, 10 am ~ 5 pm, Sunday, 10 am ~ 4 pm, Adults $7, Children 6-12 $3, Under 6 yrs free
3. The Skyway Festival takes to Hooks Wiltse field in the village of Hamilton bringing a large variety music to the village.  After the bands are finished playing several will be jamming at local night spots in the village.
4. Farmer's markets can be found in Hamilton, Cazenovia, Oneida and Canastota this weekend on Saturday, buy fresh, buy local.
5. The 15th annual Nate Race/Titletown Run in Canastota begins early Saturday morning.  It is one of the many thrilling events during the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend. Race starts at 8:30am. Start line is near the Canastota Recreation park, on North Main St., Canastota, NY. The course is flat and fast, come ready to run! For complete information and race entry form call 315-697-35-17 or email doug_r_holdrdige@adp.com
 
 
On my way in to work from Chittenango, I usually drive through Peterboro.  There wasn't much going on this morning, but you could tell the village is all gussied up for their annual Civil War Weekend.  There were soliders camping on the green, fences up for crowd control and tents from one end of the green to the other.  I shot a few pictures and they are below.  For a full schedule of this weekend's Civil War Weekend check out their website.
 
 
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Every year at the Civil War Weekend in Peterboro they have a ball or concert.  This year's concert features the world famous 77th NY Regimental Balladeers and Irish Volunteers.  They will perform a concert that honors the service and remembers the sacrifice of those who fought in the Civil War and were of Irish descent.  The performance is Saturday June 12th at 8pm in the auditorium of the Smithfield Community Center. Tickets will be available at the door and cost $5.  For more information visit the Civil War Weekend on the web.
Concert Poster
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Martha Swan, founding director of John Brown Lives! Lake Placid NY will bring reports from the North Country to the Smithfield Community Center in Peterboro on Saturday, June 12 at 12:00 noon. During her program The World that Made John Brown---and The World Yet To Be Made, Swan will review the many activities held throughout 2009 commemorating John Brown and Harpers Ferry, as well as the John Brown Day 2010 to be held at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site on Saturday, May 8 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Swan will give an overview of the political and social backdrop of the United States during the fifty-nine years of John Brown’s life, from 1800-1859, that led to Brown’s formation as an abolitionist and man of action.  She will also reissue the call reminiscent of our abolitionist forebears that was first issued last December for 100 Anti-Slavery Conventions to galvanize New Yorkers to commit to the unfinished task of abolishing slavery and achieving racial justice in our world today.  She will report on the efforts to restore state funding for the John Brown Farm, a state historic site since the 1890s, and provide an update on its status. The program is free and open to the public.
 
 
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In honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and Black History, the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark will display a replica of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation given to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro by the New York State Library in Albany. The exhibit will be at the Visitor Center at the Gerrit Smith Estate Saturday and Sunday, February 13 and 14 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.One of the nation's greatest documentary treasures, the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, has been part of the New York State Library's collection since 1865. “The unassuming appearance of this four page declaration in Lincoln's hand tends to mask the significance of what one source declared to be the ‘most important and far-reaching document ever issued since the formulation of this government.’ …Though Lincoln had always found slavery morally repugnant, he consistently stated that the Civil War was being fought solely for the purpose of restoring the Union. … Besides, as Lincoln knew, simple justice and moral imperative demanded it.The partial Union victory at the terrible Battle of Antietam in September 1862 provided an opportunity for Lincoln to issue his epoch-making decree. It had taken nearly a century, many years of abolitionist agitation and two years of America's bloodiest war to begin to apply the meaning of the Declaration of Independence to the nation's black population.” (NYS Library)

“Lincoln read this document to his Cabinet on September 22 and told them that he firmly believed in its principles, though he would accept minor changes of wording. Secretary of State William H. Seward, a former Governor of New York and lifelong abolitionist, suggested certain additions which strengthened it and then actually wrote in his revisions. Except for these revisions and the formal beginning and ending written by the Chief Clerk, the document is otherwise entirely in Lincoln's hand. The next day the nation's newspapers gave prominent attention to the Proclamation, beginning a discussion of its importance which culminated three months later.” (NYS Library)

“The proclamation declared that all slaves in states which were still in rebellion on January 1, 1863 ‘shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.’ ” (NYS Library)

In February and March of 1864, the Army Relief Bazaar was held to raise money for the U.S. Sanitary Commission, an agency that helped provide medical care for Union soldiers. To assist the Bazaar in its fund drive, Lincoln donated the Preliminary Proclamation, sending it to Emily Weed Barnes through Frederick W. Seward, son of the Secretary of State. On the very last day of the Bazaar, the manuscript was won in a lottery by well-known abolitionist Gerrit Smith. Smith generously gave the proclamation to the U.S. Sanitary Commission to be sold to raise more money. Said Smith, “My purpose when I purchased the tickets…was to let it go to the individual or association, who should pay the largest price for it…As I believe the putting down of this infernal Rebellion to be our highest and holiest work, so I recognize no other claim upon my possessions to be as strong as that of the Soldiers, who are prosecuting this work.” (Letter, Gerrit Smith to William Barnes, March 12, 1864)

Three days after Lincoln's funeral train passed through Albany on April 25, 1865, the New York State Legislature purchased the proclamation for the New York State Library.

The Chicago Historical Society acquired the manuscript copy of the final proclamation. Unfortunately, it was lost when the Society's building was burned during the great Chicago fire of 1871. However, the New York State Library's collection includes 19th century photographs of the final proclamation.

At the Visitor Center on Sunday, February 14 at 2 pm, Norman K. Dann, Ph.D. will present a program on Lincoln as “The Great Emancipator,” the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation’s ties to Peterboro, and describe the Central New York origins of “Lincoln’s party.” Dr. Dann is the author of the 2009 biography of Smith, Practical Dreamer: Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for Social Reform. 

For both days of the exhibit the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) invites participation in “Linking Lincoln.” A paper chain of 2010 red, white, and blue links with the names of donators of currency with Lincoln’s image will be featured at a ribbon cutting October 24, 2010 to celebrate the Heritage NY Underground Railroad project.

The two day February exhibit is hosted by the Chair of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark Lodge Squad, Jody Jones, a Morrisville State College Resort and Recreation Management Technology Intern. The program is part of a series of programs provided by the Stewards of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark through a PACE grant to the Smithfield Community Association from the Central New York Community Foundation. The Estate is on the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, and the Heritage NY Underground Railroad Trail as part of the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. The Visitor Center is open during the summer on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 – 5 p.m. and by appointment. Programs and tours are $2 per person, $5 for a season pass, and free to children, stewards, and residents of Smithfield with season passes from The Lodge. For more information mail@sca-peterboro.org or 315-684-3262.

 
 

The 17th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend announces the programs for the weekend event on June 13 & 14. At 11:30 both days Jack Baylis and his grand daughter Jessica, portraying Abraham Lincoln and Grace Bedell, will tell the story of why President Lincoln had a beard. Both Saturday and Sunday include presentations on Civil War medical technology with Bill Mayers at the Union medical tent, and an 1860 fashion show in Terry Jordan’s Barrancas Mercantile. There is a walking tour of Historic Peterboro with Donna Burdick, the Town of Smithfield Historian, and Beth Spokowsky, the President of the Peterboro Area Museum and the Chair of the Civil War Weekend Committee
On Saturday at noon  Dr. Milton C. Sernett will present ”John Brown’s Civil War” at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum at the Smithfield Community Center. At 1 and 3 p.m. the 77th New York Regimental Balladeers will play the first of afternoon concerts and an evening concert at the Community Center at 8 p.m. On Sunday Tim McNamara, as a reenactor minister of the U.S. Christian Commission, will lead a church service. Later in the afternoon the Irish Volunteers will play foot stomping Civil War music at 1 and 3 o’clock. 
Throughout the weekend the Civil War Heritage Foundation will have rows of tents with military and civilian portrayals of generals, officers, enlisted men, politicians, musicians, doctors, nurses, and children. The Civil War Heritage Foundation (CWHF) is dedicated to preserving the mid 19th Century history of our nation by way of first person impressions, formal and informal talks, presentations, and encampments. The CWHF also provides the learning stations for the fifth grade Living History Day on Friday, June 12th.  All day long demonstrations at the annual event show how soldiers lived in camp and prepared for battle. A skirmish is held both days at 2 p.m. Ladies of the camps will demonstrate the tasks of daily life in the mid 19th Century.  Daughters of the Union Veterans, Sons of the Union Veterans, and Revolutionary War reenactors are among the groups that will set up for the weekend. Ghost Seekers of CNY joins the activities for this first time this year.  Especially for children, there are period games in a tent all weekend, and military activities on the green at 12:30 both days lead by reenactors Tim Rawlins and Ross Whitford.  The United States Postal Service brings commemorative cachet covers with special event cancellations both days. Period craft demonstrations include chair caners Harold and Lisa Gardinier, and spinner Robin Suarez. The Peterboro Conservation Club and the Onondaga County Civil War Round Table will set up on the green again.

Historical shopping is provided by large sutler tents filled with merchandise that the merchants following the troops would have provided. Sutlers include John Hogan’s Ahwaga Sutlery, Terry Jordan’s Barrancas Mercantile, Bob Knowlton’s Woodworking, David MacLean’s Winterbourne Crossing Forge and Craft, and the event’s own General Store, which is open its two days of the year with souvenirs, home baked goods, and CDs to reserve of the event. Patrick Schroeder, historian at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, and owner of Schroeder Publishing, will be at the store with an assortment of Civil War books for sale. 
The Peterboro Area Museum is open both days on the east side of the green. The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark will be open both days featuring Journey to the North: New York’s Freedom Trail, an exhibition developed for the NYS Historical Association by students in the Cooperstown Graduate Program in History Museum studies. Denise and Rod Richer will hold an antique tool display in The Barn on the estate. The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum open house at the Smithfield  Community Center is from 12 – 4 on Saturday with banners on abolition inductees, displays on slavery, and refreshments.

The Peterboro United Methodist Church will be grilling hamburgers, hot dogs, and sausage again and Howards’ Creamery will be hand dipping ice cream. The Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department Chicken Barbeque begins at noon on Saturday. Ma & Pa’s Kettle Corn will also be opening The Spud Shack.
Peterboro Civil War Weekend is an educational and fundraising event sponsored by the Town of Smithfield, the Smithfield Community Association, and private donors. Proceeds from the event support the preservation and promotion of the heritage of the Town of Smithfield. During the event Peterboro relives the period of the mid 1800s when the hamlet held national recognition because of Gerrit Smith’s Underground Railroad station, the visitations of famous abolitionists, and the connection with John Brown that sparked the War Between the States. Peterboro sites are on the Heritage NY Underground Railroad Trail and on the National Park Service Network to Freedom National Underground Railroad Trail. Saturday June 13 hours for the event are 10 am – 5 pm, and Sunday June 14 from 10 am to 4 pm.  Admission is $7 for adults, $3 for ages 6 – 12, and free for children under 6. Five dollar admission for the 8 p.m. concert on Saturday are available at the door.  Parking is free. For more information: 315-684-9022, and www.sca-peterboro.org

 
 

A great weekend of weather for the 16th annual Civil War Weekend in Peterboro.  This video was posted to You Tube over the weekend and it gives a great synopsis of the whole weekend including a nice video of the skirmish.  Thanks to You Tube user Valey0421 for posting it.

 
 

We are already half way through the month of June and while the start of catch and keep Bass season on the lakes and rivers of Madison County is still a week away you can catch and release fish with your dad and have just as much fun.  Fishing is just one of the great things you can do with dad this weekend.  Here are a few of the best bets for a fun time:
1. Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Muesum Canal Fest:  This annual father's day event features a chicken BBQ, canal exhibits, activities for the kids and so much more.  Here is a complete list of their event this Sunday.
2. 16th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend:  This annual event celebrates the abolitionist history of the hamlet of Peterboro and is a great educational event on the Civil War and life in general during the mid 1800's.  Peterboro is home to the Abolitionist Hall of Fame and was the home of famed abolitionist Gerrit Smith.  Activities are scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday.
3. Farmer's Markets in Cazenovia and Hamilton will be open.  Head on out and purchase some nice steaks from a local farmer and take them home to grill up for father's day.  The farmer's markets are on Saturday.
4. The 7th annual DeRuyter Auto and Engine Show and Flea Market.  This show will be held at the fairgrounds on Mechanic Street, rain or shine, 9am - 5pm.
5. Limestone Creek Hunt Trail Ride: Starts 10am-noon at Crosswinds Farm, Peth Road, Cazenovia---riders grouped according to ability/speed they wish to go. $20 per rider. All breeds/tack welcome, approved helmets for riders, coggins/rabies for horses.
Find out more about great events this weekend and make a day of it with dinner at one of the county's outstanding restaurants.  Happy Father's Day everyone.

 
 

Well, not really war, more of a skirmish or two.  It is time for the annual Civil War Weekend in Peterboro and a quick drive through the village this morning found people sweating away getting the village ready for the thousands who will descend upon it this weekend.  There is a full schedule of events planned for both days this weekend including skirmishes between the North and the South both afternoons.  It is the perfect event for the entire family and it is only 30 minutes from both Utica and Syracuse so it won't cost much at all to get there.  Hope to see you there!

 
 

Mark your calendars June 14th and 15th for the annual Civil War Weekend in Peterboro.  Here is your complete schedule of events.