Shaker Village Spring Work Day and Friends Weekend

Announcing a Special Springtime Gathering! Two Programs Combined!
Work Day and Friends’ Weekend Together in a Modified Format

Saturday

Hands to Work! We will spend the first half of the day in the Spring Work Day tradition, performing various helpful and needed tasks around the households, herb department, barn, farm, and gardens. Time spent working together with the Shakers and friends from around the country promises good times, laughter, and a satisfying sense of accomplishment that always lifts spirits, hearts, and bodies.

There will be a check-in table located on the central lawn and a chore list to choose from at sign-in. There will be options for all levels: indoor/seated/non-physical work to outdoor/very active work — everything in between!

All tools will be supplied but if you have a favorite pair of work gloves, feel free to wear them!

After a noon meal and fellowship, we will gather in the Dwelling House Chapel for the Friends of the Shakers’ Annual Meeting before we hear Brother Arnold and others share accounts of the Shakers’ journey from England, including graphic accounts of trans-Atlantic seafaring never heard before in the context of the Shakers. We will revisit and review the 1974 Bicentennial Celebration of the Shakers’ Arrival that gave rise to the Friends of the Shakers organization the following year, and we will also review a brief history of Shaker Study Groups, including the Boston Area Shaker Studies Group who will be our special guests for the gathering. We are very pleased to welcome them on such an important anniversary.

After supper, we will raise our voices through music and sing familiar and new Shaker songs with Brother Arnold.

8:30-9am check in

9-12 Hands to Work volunteering

12-1 dinner in Dwelling/tent

1-2 Friends of the Shakers Annual Meeting

2-3:30 Crossing the Atlantic with Mother Ann

3:30-5 Shopping & socializing (BASSG Annual Meeting)

5:30-6:30 Supper under tent

6:30-7:30 Sing along in the Chapel

Adjourn

Sunday

Hearts to God!  Join us on this great, auspicious day when, in 1774, the ship carrying Mother Ann Lee and 8 followers left Liverpool, England.  All are welcome to attend Meeting on Sunday, which begins promptly at 10am.  Visitors may enter the brick Dwelling House through the front door, observing the separation of genders, with females on the left and males on the right, to find seating in the Chapel.  Visitors, friends, and guests may participate in song and testimony according to the Shakers’ customs.

10-11 Shaker Meeting
11-1 Fellowship & Noon Meal