MARBLEHEAD – JUNE 2009 – Marblehead Museum Hosts July 4th Events Family Friendly Activities Include Open Houses and Ice Cream Social Families looking for “stay-cation” activities on the July 4th weekend might want to stick around and take in some local history, while enjoying an ice cream sundae.
The Marblehead Museum & Historical Society is bringing back the Ice Cream Social, while hosting open houses at all of its properties which include the Jeremiah Lee Mansion, located at 161 Washington St., The G.A.R. & Civil War Museum, located on the second floor of Marblehead’s Old Town House, and the Museum Galleries at 170 Washington Street.
Ice Cream Social Tradition Returns – Saturday, July 4, the Museum will join with the Marblehead Family Fund to host an old fashioned ice cream social and family fun day in the Lee Mansion Garden. The event will run from 12pm–3pm. Admission is $3 per person and $10 per family. All you can eat! Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Lisa Hoguet of the Marblehead Family Fund and Susan Gessner of the Marblehead Museum are co-chairs for the event. “The Independence Day weekend provides a wonderful opportunity to enjoy traditions of an earlier time, and what better place is there to step back in time than at the Lee Mansion?” said Susan Gessner, “We are happy to collaborate once again with the Marblehead Family fund, as we did last year on the Pumpkin Illumination and the Gingerbread Festival.” Hoguet adds, “We look forward to making this an annual event.”
“This is a sweet way to celebrate the centennial of the Lee Mansion’s purchase,” notes Pam Peterson Director of the Marblehead Museum.
Open Houses and Tours of Mansion and Museums – Also, on July 4, The Lee Mansion and all of the Marblehead Museum properties, will be open, free to the public, from 10am – 4pm.
The Jeremiah Lee Mansion is a magnificent colonial Georgian home built in 1768, when Lee was the wealthiest merchant and ship owner in Marblehead’s fishing trade. In 1909, the Marblehead Historical Society purchased the property and saved it from being torn down.
Visitors to the Museum Galleries can enjoy the Centennial exhibition, “Saving the Lee Mansion”, as well as the permanent collection of J.O.J. Frost Folk Art.
The G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) was a post-Civil War veterans organization founded to provide support for soldiers and their families. Marblehead’s G.A.R. Room is preserved exactly as it was when the last meeting was held in the 1930s, and is one of the few remaining meeting rooms in the United States. The Marblehead Museum’s award-winning DVD, “Marblehead and the Civil War” will be running throughout the day, and will be available for purchase.
For more information, please call the Marblehead Museum and Historical Society at: 781-631-1768.
The Marblehead Family Fund is a not-for-profit group of parent volunteers that supports the interests and needs of all kinds of kids from toddlers to teens. The group, founded in 1998, provides services that promote the health and well being of children and families, remain committed to functional public spaces, outdoor fun, and affordable family entertainment, and are dedicated to partnering with other community groups for the mutual benefit of all. Learn more at: www.marbleheadfamilyfund.com
The Marblehead Museum & Historical Society is supported by membership dues and contributions. The offices, research archives, exhibition galleries and J.O.J. Frost Folk Art Gallery at 170 Washington St. are open year round from Tuesday-Friday 10-4, and Saturdays following the Lee Mansion seasonal schedule. The Lee Mansion is open Tuesday- Saturday 10-4, June through October, and Christmas Walk weekend.
Visit the museum and gift shop on the web at: www.marbleheadmuseum.org