Despite having to postpone a week due to bad weather, Heritage Fest carried the day for another year. Luckily, the majority of our demonstrators were still able to participate on the rescheduled date. Our volunteers, board members, and staff welcomed over 300 guests to explore hands-on demonstrations of farm life of the 1930s and '40s, crafts, old-fashioned yard games, samples from food exhibits, and enjoy music from Spare Time Bluegrass Band. There's always plenty to do for the entire family.

Many thanks go out to all the volunteers and demonstrators that contribute to this event's charm every year. A special thank you to Mike Spahn for bringing out his antique steam engine and cooking corn on the cob. Always a popular treat and always so well done.

A few new activities this year were the blacksmith demonstration by Darold Reindollar, an aluminum casting pour by Alisa Toninato of FeLion Studios, and a rainfall simulation exhibit provided by Dane County Land & Water Resources Department.

Major sponsors for this event were the Town of Westport, the Village of Waunakee and Wisconsin Kenworth.

With lessons learned from last year's unexpected huge crowds, Halloween 2022 was a true success and had amazing energy! The board and staff worked hard to make this year's event bigger and more organized - and all the hard work paid off. With an evening of perfect weather, we welcomed a record number of about 1,400 guests to the park to celebrate Halloween.

Wagon rides, face-painting, balloon making, a witch house, story-telling, fortune tellers, a magician, and lots of kids' games kept everyone entertained. A fun new feature this year in the witch house was the bat exhibit provided by Jennifer Redell of the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources. 

In addition, the Friends also collaborated with Create Waunakee to host the Waunakee Artisan Market in early October. This event is organized and led by artists, Natasha Lutes and Rona Neri. A diverse number of local artists from surrounding communities are invited to share their talents and a number of scholarships are also offered for student artisans to attend. This was the 2nd year for the Waunakee Artisan Market (WAM) and we were honored to be the backdrop to display such amazing work.

Have you ever dissected an owl pellet to look for mouse bones? Made butter from scratch? Or built a pollinator hotel? Kids and their families learned to do all this plus more through our Farm Explorers program in collaboration with Waunakee Village Center. Through a series of six-weekend sessions, 42 children participated in fun, hands-on activities to learn about nature and life on the farm. For many of the kids (and some parents!), it was their first time using binoculars to identify birds, trying their hand at woodworking, or collecting prairie seeds. Check the Village Center's course catalog in early 2023 for the Farm Explorers calendar for next summer.

We were thrilled to be a host site for the promotional documentary for Jerry App's new cookbook, "Jerry Apps Food & Memories". A film crew from PBS recently came to use the kitchen in the historic farmhouse as the setting for their video discussion with Jerry Apps. The air date is set for November 28th at 7:00 pm on PBS Wisconsin. Tune in for good memories, stories and well-preserved recipes.

For the Q&A interview about the project, go to this link from PBS Interviews, Short Previews.

Thank you to our volunteers, Steve Keip and Barb Johanningmeier, for serving as the farmhouse guides, helping to coordinate the video crew's schedule and providing information and additional props. They were indispensable in the correspondence and making sure everything went smoothly.

Surprise Donation: An Ironrite model 55 mangle ironing machine made a surprise appearance

at the Center for Rural History in November. If anyone knows where this machine came from,

please get in touch with us at 608-849-4559 or email at info@schumacherfarm park.org. Artifact records and historical use are kept on all our donations.

John Zimm, a member of the Historical Committee, proposed creating a GPS self-guided walking tour of Schumacher Farm Park using the free app, PocketSights LLC, available in your app store. It will be developed based on the site buildings with some additional points of interest.

The tour can be read on your phone or a narrator will read it for you. The guided tour will contain additional information that is not available on the individual building signage. Watch for

future updates.

After a two year hiatus, we look forward to welcoming guests back to our Annual Christmas Teas event in the historic farmhouse. This year we will have two seatings on Saturday, December 3rd: 11 am and 3 pm. Each seating lasts approximately 2 hours and includes tea, a light holiday meal, historical information, live piano music, and caroling. Tickets are selling fast, so get yours today!

There are a number of ways to contribute. Donate online, become a member, or sponsor a special event or program. And thank you!

Tree and Brush Removal Work Day with Dane County Parks is scheduled for two days this year; Tues., Dec 3rd and Fri., Dec. 6th

The other most popularly requested item of Santa from that era was candy and nuts. Simpler times, indeed! Hope your holiday is full of simple pleasures.

-Amy Jo Dusick, Park Administrator