2004 Event Calendar
| Thurday,
February 26, 9:30 am Smithfield Guild Meeting. Featured speaker is Reverend Jim Price on "Meet the Preston's Neighbors, the Price Family". |
| Tuesday,
March 30 Smithfield Guild Trip to Charlotte, NC. Cost includes transportation, lunch, and tours of the Charlotte Museum of History and Hezekiah Alexander House (1774), Mint Museum of Art, and Historic Latta Place Plantation (ca. 1800). |
| Thursday,
April 1 from 1
to 5 pm Historic Smithfield opens for the 2004 season. |
| Thursday, April
1 from 7:30 to 8:45pm Civil War Years in Blacksburg. The first of a lecture series sponsored by the Blacksburg Museum and Historic Smithfield Plantation. Dr. James I Robertson, Alumni Distinguished Professor, Virginia Tech, and Director of Virginia Center for Civil War Studies will speak in the Blacksburg Town Council Chambers. Reception with light refreshments in the lobby to follow. |
| Saturday,
April 3 from 1
to 5 pm Opening Day Celebration. Join us for a celebration on the Opening Weekend of our 40th anniversary season! Dancing, spinning, and weaving demonstrations and an archaelogical dig at the Preston family cemetery. Admission is $1. |
| Saturday, April
17 from 9am to 12:30pm Spring Work Day. Come help us get things ready for spring. We will be working on edging the gravel paths, some fence work, lots of picking up sticks and debris on the grounds, and other small jobs. Come on out and join us for as long as you can. Bring garden rakes, hoes, and gloves. If it rains, we will reschedule for a later date. |
| Saturday
and Sunday, April 17 - 18 from 1 to 5 pm Garden Club Show. Juried Flower Show with nationally accredited Flower Show judges presented by the Southside Garden Club, members of the National Council of Garden Clubs, Inc. and Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs. |
| Tuesday, May 4
from 4:00 to 5:15pm Preserving Old Photos: Museum Techniques and How to Apply Them to Your Family's Treasures. For the Annual APVA Montgomery County Branch Meeting, Catherine E. Dean, Curator of Collections, APVA Preservation Virginia will speak in the Blacksburg Town Council Chambers. This lecture is in conjunction with Celebrating Presevation Week. Reception to follow in the lobby of the Municipal Building. We will hold election for APVA Branch officers at this meeting. |
| Wednesday,
May 5 at 9am Informal Coffee with APVA Staff Members. We will have an informal discussion time over coffee with four of the newest APVA staff members from the Richmond office. All are welcome! This is a great opportunity for us to show APVA what we are accomplishing, and for them to come up with ideas of how we might better be served by "headquarters." So, please come with your ideas! The new staff members who will be visiting are: Catherine Dean, Curator of Collections; Tonia Rock, Educational Coordinator; Tara Olive, Membership Coordinator; and Benjamin Knowles, Information Systems Coordinator. |
 Saturday, May 8 from 1 to 5 pm Children's Games Day. Learn and play colonial games, dancing, and crafts. Admission is free to the games. The house will be open for tours at regular prices. |
| Thursday,
May 13 at 9:30am Smithfield Guild Meeting. Featured speaker is volunteer, Karen Finch, on "Holding a Wolf by the Ears", the laws and development of slavery in early colonial Virginia. |
 Saturday,
June 5 from 9am to 3pm Heirloom Plant Sale. Learn about colonial plant materials that were indigenous to the area, and purchase heirloom plants for your own garden. This year, |
| Thursday,
June 10 at 9:30am Smithfield Guild Meeting. "Thinking Regionally About Our Colonial Ancestors". Featured speaker is volunteer, Ellen Apperson Brown, director of Radford's Glencoe Museum and a descendent of notable colonial Virginian, Mary Draper Ingles, will discuss her family heritage and the complementary missions of the Glencoe and Smithfield museums. |
| Tuesday,
June 15 at 7pm Archaeological Investigations of the Preston Cemetery of Historic Smithfield. Laura Wedin, volunteer and Executive Board member at Historic Smithfield Plantation and president of the Roanoke Area Chapter and active member of the New River Valley Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia will speak at the Carroll County Public Library in Hillsville at the quarterly meeting of the Blue Ridge Area Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia. The Preston Cemetery of Historic Smithfield in Montgomery County, has been in use since 1782 as a burying ground for six generations of Prestons. Among those buried there is the builder of Smithfield and Revolutionary War veteran, William Preston, his son James Patton Preston who served as Governor of Virginia from 1816-1819, seven Confederate veterans as well as a plantation overseer's family, and slave or former slaves associated with the plantation. The program will discuss the history of the cemetery, style and form of this Scots-Irish American cemetery through old and current photographs, maps, family and court records, and archaeological investigation that has been conducted in the summer of 2003 and spring of 2004. Discussion will also highlight a unique 18th century landscape feature - the "ha-ha," - which was a ditch built around the cemetery to serve as a type of underground fence. The program will feature a powerpoint format that will bring the presentation to life with lots of photographs (old and new), maps and other illustrations. Anyone with an interest in cemeteries, archaeology, regional history, and historic preservation will enjoy the program. |
| Thursday, June
24 from 7:30 to 8:45pm The Diaries of James Armistead Otey. A lecture in the series sponsored by the Blacksburg Museum and Historic Smithfield Plantation. Dr. James Otey Hoge, Professor of English, Virginia Tech will speak in the Blacksburg Town Council Chambers. James Armistead Otey was a gentleman farmer and grandson of the founder of Kentland, James Randal Kent. He was born at Walnut Spring in 1862 and died there in 1942. Walnut Spring sits on current day Glade Road about one mile west of the Town limits. He was married to the sister of James Hoge Tyler, Governor of Virginia from 1898-1902. The diaries give a daily recounting of events from the moment of waking in the morning to bed time in the evening. This meticulous recounting gives a realistic glimpse into the life of a gentleman farmer in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The diaries were kept between 1889 and 1926. Events at Virginia Tech and events within the Town are focused on as well. Mr. Otey's social circle included both the "upper crust" of Town citizens as well as high ranking administrators at the college. Former presidents of Virginia Tech such as McBryde, Eggleston, and Barringer are frequently mentioned. Dr. James O. Hoge is the great nephew of James Armistead Otey and currently lives at Walnut Spring. Reception with light refreshments in the lobby to follow. |
| Tuesday,
June 29 at 7pm Sixteenth-century Spanish Saltville, Virginia. Dr. James Glanville, Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech will speak at the Blacksburg Public Library, 400 Draper Road. The first-ever recorded battle on Virginia soil took place in May 1567 when a party of Spaniards attacked native-American fortifications at Saltville. Around this time an Indian woman from Saltville married a Spanish solider and became the "first Virginian." The archeological and documentary evidence for these surprising conclusions will be described. Dr. Glanville's article, "Conquistadors at Saltville in 1567?" was published in the 2004 Volume 8 of the Smithfield Review. Sponsored by the New River Valley Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia. |
 July 12 to August 6 from 9am to noon
Smithfield History Camps are offered in 4, week-long sessions, Monday through Friday for children ages 8 to 12. Children will explore 18th century frontier culture and 19th century culture through history, art, and science activities. The registration form is available as an Adobe PDF file.
|
| Wednesday, July
14 from 9am to 1pm Work Day. In preparation for the Celebration 2004 event in August, we will work on repairing the Virginia Rail fence around the property perimeter (needs replacement and re-stacking of rails) and on redistributing the gravel in the parking lot. Tools to bring: gloves, heavy bars for lifting the fence rails, wheelbarrows and shovels. |
 Sunday,
July 18 from 1 to 5pmIce Cream Social and Community Band Concert. Join us for an afternoon of patriotic fun. The Blacksburg Community Band will perform, we will offer cemetery tours, and lots of ice cream. (Admission fee.) |
| Saturday, July
24 from 9am to 1pm Work Day. In preparation for the Celebration 2004 event in August, we will work on completing the fence repair, and will clear a 6 foot swath behind the fence line of heavy brush and undergrowth. Tools to bring: gloves, heavy bars for lifting the fence rails, brushwhackers, chainsaws, brush clippers. |
| Sunday,
August 15 Celebration 2004: The Preston Family Reunion. Held once every four years, the reunion brings together members of the Preston family, supporters of the Smithfield-Preston Foundation, representatives of APVA-Preservation Virginia, members of the Smithfield Guild, and representatives of Virginia Tech as well as the Blacksburg and Montgomery County areas. Since this year's celebration will focus on the 40th Anniversary of the Smithfield House Museum, the plans for the day are appropriately festive. They will include a luncheon, special exhibits, and guest speakers. The future growth and direction of the museum will be on the agenda as well. Arrangements are not finalized, but we hope they may also include musical entertainment appropriate to the period and other outdoor activities. Please contact Administrative Director, Terry Nicholson at 540.231.3947 for more information on reservations and lodging. |
| Thursday,
September 16, 9:30am Smithfield Guild Meeting. Featured speaker is Administrative Director, Terry Nicholson on "The Architecture of Smithfield - These Walls Can Talk." |
| Thursday,
September 23 from 7:30 to 8:45pm Alexander Black House Architecture and Restoration. A lecture in the series sponsored by the Blacksburg Museum and Historic Smithfield Plantation. William R. Green, Associate Professor of Architecture, Virginia Tech will speak in the Blacksburg Town Council Chambers. Reception with light refreshments in the lobby to follow. |
| Thursday,
October 14, 9:30am Smithfield Guild Meeting. Featured speaker is Hendrika "Henny" Schuster on "A Visit With Sarah Campbell Preston of Abingdon, Virginia". |
| Thursday,
November 4, from 7:30 to 8:45pm Blacksburgs Odd Fellows Hall. A lecture in the series sponsored by the Blacksburg Museum and Historic Smithfield Plantation. Members of Blacksburg's African American community will share their stories and memories of times at the Odd Fellows Hall in the Blacksburg Town Council Chambers. Reception with light refreshments in the lobby to follow. |
| Thursday,
November
11, 9:30am Smithfield Guild Meeting. Featured speaker is Jennifer Jessie, Political Science major at Virginia Tech, on "Susanna's Roles at Smithfield: Wife, Mother, and Manager". |
| Through Monday,
November 15 Holiday Greenery Sale. Support Historic Smithfield Plantation while decorating your home for the holidays! Order poinsettias, pine roping, and wreaths from Smithfield through November 15 for pick up on November 30th and December 1st. For more information, download the Holiday Greenery Sale Order Form as an Adobe PDF file or contact Susanna Kibler at 540.951.4504. |
| November 30
from 11am to 2pm and December 1 from 3 to 5:30 pm Holiday Greenery Pick Up. For those who pre-ordered holiday greenery, pick up is available on Smithfield's back porch. For more information, please contact Susanna Kibler at 540.951.4504. |
 December 2 through 5 from 1 to 5pm  The Holidays at Smithfield are an 18th century holiday celebration. Come tour the house decorated for the holidays in Colonial style, and have savories, sweets, and a leisurely cup of tea in Susanna’s Tea Room. Music, dancing, children's activities, an antique toy exhibit, and more! Presale tickets ($12 for adults and $6 for children 12 years and under) are available from Smithfield Guild members until November 30. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for children at the door. Don't forget to shop the Smithfield Museum Store for elegant and unique holiday gifts, pewter, jewelry, brass, pottery, and children's gifts! |
| December
5 at 5pm Historic Smithfield Closes for the season. School and group tours can be arranged year round by calling 540.231.3947. |
 Saturday,
December 11 from 9am to noon Colonial Decorating Workshop. Make your own decorations in colonial style to use in your own home. Pre-paid admission fee of $35 includes instruction by Donna Ludwig and all of the natural materials needed to make a beautiful wreath centerpiece and a door swag for your own home. Space is limited to 25 people so register early! Call 231.3947. |
| Saturday,
December 11 from 9am to 1pm Wrapping Up Smithfield. One last chance before the holidays to shop in the Smithfield Museum Store. The house will not be open for tours. |
| Saturday,
April 1, 2004 from 1pm to 5pm Opening Day 2005. The house opens for regular tours in the 2005 season. |
1000 Smithfield Plantation Road
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060
