“…at Mrs. Kearney's tavern”
Bringing a 19th-century Hudson River tavern back to life at the Kearney House …
“Punch & Pie…”th-century tavern fun...An evening of 19
Below: Mr. MacGregor.
“Shad Bake…”
elebrating an ancient rite of spring in the Hudson River Valley...C
Inside the tavern, Mr. Thaddeus MacGregor, the tavern musician, performs a
number with his “wee friend Jim,” a “limberjack,” as Todd Braisted and
John Muller relax a bit. Below, Nancy Slowik of
Greenbrook Sanctuary
prepares a “spring tonic” at the hearth.
Native-American skills expert Barry Keegan of
Hawk Circle demonstrates some
ancient tools and lore, above; below, Jennifer Kleinbaum of
Tenafly Nature Center discusses marine ecology with guests.
& “On the Ebb of a Tide”See also “Of Times and Tides”
“Behind the Times…”
Stepping back in time to a very particular date…
New program added summer 2008: Visitors and staff
participate in “Behind the Times at Mrs. Kearney’s Tavern,”
during which historic newspapers and other materials are used to
recreate a specific moment in history, in this case the summer of 1858—one
hundred and fifty years ago…
“British Encampment…”
Stepping back in time to the 18th century…*
British soldiers
occupy Mrs. Kearney’s tavern on the Friday evening before the annual
“The
Times that Try Men’s Souls” event at
Fort Lee Historic Park,
commemorating the Continental Army’s retreat from Fort Lee in the face of the
British Army’s invasion of the Jerseys.
* This being part of the annual Retreat Weekend commemorating the fall of Fort Lee, we allow ourselves to stretch our timeline a bit: In reality, Mrs. Kearney wasn’t even born yet in 1776… For more on matters of chronology and the like, see “On His Lordship’s Mysterious Ascent.”
Below: As part of Closter’s 300th Anniversary Celebration in spring 2010, re-enactors spent an evening at the Kearney House, memorializing the infamous Loyalist raid of May 1779 …
Photos courtesy of Curt Schlenker. (To view more photos of this event, please click here.)
“Thanksgiving Time…”
Celebrating the end of a fruitful year…
Our after-the-holiday present to our friends & visitors, old & new alike: An “open-house” afternoon with music, refreshment, warmth, and mirth…held on the Saturday & Sunday immediately after Thanksgiving. Photos courtesy of Laurie Kaplan.
Click on the play arrow w to view a 5-minute video, “A Traditional Kearney House Thanksgiving with Thaddeus MacGregor.” (Video: R. J. Bogumil.)
“Yuletide”…
Above, Mr. Thaddeus MacGregor regales young and old alike (with a little help from “Wee Jim” the Limberjack) while, below, with “stockings hung by the chimney with care,” Lindsey Foschini reads from “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”
Marking the centuries…
During “River Day” in June 2009, as a flotilla of historic vessels sailed up the river to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage in 1609 (the 46-star flag is from 1909—and was flown in New York City during that year’s “Hudson–Fulton” event; see “’o9”)
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On a rain-swept Sunday in September 2009, the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Palisades Interstate Park was commemorated at the Kearney House. Above: “At eleven o’clock in the forenoon” park visitors joined local mayors and other dignitaries in front of the house; Kearney House director Eric Nelsen (in nineteenth-century attire) presented opening remarks; Alpine Mayor Paul Tomasko and NJ Section Assistant Superintendent Chris Szeglin addressed the gathering. Below: Kearney House interpreter Lindsey Foschini and NJ Section trail crew supervisor Christina Fehre, dressed in early-twentieth-century outfits that they crafted for the event, greeted guests inside the house, as musician Thaddeus MacGregor played; the women were joined on the porch of the house by Fort Lee Historic Park interpreter Jenny Despotakis, wearing eighteenth-century garb; the dedication ceremony a hundred years earlier (see “Beyond the Reach of Devastation”).
07/21/2010
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2010 Area Information & Fee Schedule (.pdf file, 4 pages)
