Spring Brings Renewal to Ruthmere

The Ruthmere Foundation, Inc. • 302 E. Beardsley Avenue • Elkhart, Indiana 46514
Spring 2007
Spring Brings Renewal to Ruthmere
L aurel Spencer Forsythe
Board of Directors
President
Robert B. Beardsley
Vice-President & Treasurer
George E. Freese
Secretary
Dorinda Miles Smith
Assistant Treasurer
Susan C.S. Edwards
Arthur Decio
Robert Deputy
Alice A. Martin
Joan Beardsley Norris
Museum Staff:
Executive Director
Laurel Spencer Forsythe
Archivist/Librarian
Marilou Ritchie
Accounting Manager
Bob Frey
Registrar/Docent Coordinator
Kathy Sponseller
Building and Grounds Staff
Ronald Wolschlager, Manager
Desco Glass
Amos Enane
Pam McIntire, Horticulturalist
Carla Riley
Collections Care Coordinator
Joy Olsen
Curator of the Clock Collection
Hosea Jump
Docents
Laura Funk
Patricia Klockow
Rusty Heckaman
Recently I had the privilege to hear a
lively lecture by Tuck Langland, internationally recognized sculptor, retired IU-SB professor, and skilled raconteur. Tuck’s address at
Ruthmere stressed the importance of art, and
creativity in general, in daily life. He pointed
out the surprising fact that we spend a mere
15% of our lifetime at work and some 3035% sleeping. At least some of the remaining
Teens from an area youth group enjoyed tea and ballroom
50% is ours to spend in creative pursuit of
dancing at February’s Sweetheart Tea Dance
some kind. Art creates life creates art.
small topiary trees in anticipation of spring.
At Ruthmere, I am fortunate to spend
Our terrific team of docent volunteers is back
much of my work life surrounded by wonderin training, preparing for re-opening.
ful works of art. I need only open a door and
Ruthmere reopens for the year with a
look down the hall from my office to view a
Free Family Day on Sunday, April 1 at 1:00
one-of-a-kind limestone sculpture by Rodin
p.m. We’ll start our season with our first ever
poised beneath a unique and beautiful stained
flowering bulb show and sale. The greenhouse
glass skylight. I’d like for others to have
will be in bloom with a host of spring bulbs,
greater access to Ruthmere’s nationally signifiand the grounds have been planted with more
cant collections and architecture. We’ll keep
bulbs than ever before. Stop by between April
putting the word out in the community that,
1 and April 7 and take home a terra cotta pot
now that the weather looks promising, it’s just
planted with tulips or hyacinths. Flowering
about time to come and delight in our garden,
bulbs will be available for purchase between
museum and library. We’ll also continue to
10 am and 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday,
create programs that make a visit to Ruthmere
and from 1:00 to 4:00 on Sunday.
an experience in history, culture and architecThe second annual Spring Lecture Series
ture that everyone can enjoy.
follows soon after, with a talk by Dean Porter
This winter has been a cold one, but the
launching the series on Monday, April 9 at 4
days have still flown by. The staff has been
p.m. This year’s series is supported by a City
busy with the Havilah Beardsley House resof Elkhart Genesis Grant. See the full schedtoration project, along with the typical winter
ule in this newsletter for a list of this season’s
housekeeping and collections care. You can
presenters—it promises, like spring itself, to
read more in this issue of the Record about
be refreshing and enlivening.
the exciting developments in our project
to restore and interpret the 1848 Havilah
I hope that your pursuit of creativity and
Beardsley house, home of Elkhart’s founder.
beauty brings you to Ruthmere soon!
We also found the time to host a Sweetheart
Tea Dance and to conduct a class on creating
Notes From an Oaken Aerie...
Marilou R itchie, Archivist/Librarian
As spring 2007 approaches there is
so much to be excited about at Ruthmere
that we can hardly contain ourselves.
Foremost is the monumental addition
of the Havilah Beardsley House and the
ensuing plans for decorating the house
and planting gardens as well as the development of educational programs with
Elkhart Community Schools. At the same
time we anticipate the bulb show in the
greenhouse, Pam McIntire’s spring garden
series, the second annual Monday lectures
as well as the new gardens we are planting
at Ruthmere.
So what’s a librarian to do? Actually a
great deal. To begin with we found books
in the Arts Reference Library to show
wallpapers from different historic periods. Wallpaper by Brenda Greysmith and
Wallpapers for Historic Buildings by Richard C. Nylander stood out among the
several books we have on the subject, and
The Old House Catalog gave us a good
start on sources. We haven’t been asked
to find fabrics yet, but we have Fabrics for
Historic Buildings by Jane C. Nylander
whenever anyone wants it.
We also have a new book for gardeners called Gardens of the Arts and Crafts
Movement by Judith B. Tankard. The
Arts and Crafts Movement, which covered the end of the 19th and the beginning
of the 20th centuries, rebelled against the
ornamentation and artificiality of the
Victorian age. In the garden that meant
more simplicity and a return to nature,
the garden complementing the house so
that the two became an integrated whole.
Tankard’s book, with a wealth of watercolors, paintings, and photographs as well
as garden plans, is an invaluable resource
for arts and crafts gardeners.
Plan to visit Ruthmere this spring,
and plan a visit to the library as well. A
librarian is present on Wednesday and
on Thursday afternoon, but visits can be
arranged at other times as well. We look
forward to seeing you.
Ruthmere’s Second A nnual Spring Lecture Series Begins on A pril 9
Thanks to a generous grant from the
Genesis Fund, this year’s lecture series
will be expanded to six lectures from
last year’s four. The first guest lecturer
will be Dean Porter, former director of
Notre Dame’s Snite Museum of Art and
former member of Ruthmere’s Board
of Trustees, who will take as his subject
“From Chicago to Taos: Ufer, Higgins,
and Hennings.” Mr. Porter will
explore whether this trio of Midwestern
artists achieved greater success due
to the inspiration they drew from the
Southwestern landscape. This lecture will
take place on April 9 at 4 pm.
The following Monday, April 16,
will find Warren Brown, Illinois living
history scholar, at Ruthmere to “Catch
the Twain! A Living History Visit with
Mark Twain.” Edward Quattrochi will
speak on April 23 on “Time Is Life:
The Concept of Time in Dante, Shakespeare, and Michelangelo.” Professor
Quattrochi taught English at Ohio University, where he specialized in Renaissance Literature.
Local curator Bryan Byrn of the
Midwest Museum of American Art
will lecture on May 7 on the subject
of “Robert Henri and the Ashcan
School.” His talk will create a fascinating counterpoint between the sometimes
stark realism of Henri and his circle and
the elegant formalism that characterized
Ruthmere’s aesthetic, the Beaux Arts
style.
Thomas Gordon Smith, retired
chair of the Department of Architecture
at the University of Notre Dame and
former member of Ruthmere’s Board of
Trustees who is now advisor to the chief
architect for the GSA, will be the lecturer
on May 21, discussing “1830s New York
Grecian Architecture and Its Influence
on the Midwest.”
On the Saturday following each of
these lectures a workshop on a related
subject will be held for children from
10:30 am to 12 pm. “Art in Taos, New
Mexico” will be held on April 14, while
“Mark Twain and Scrapbooking” will
be held on April 21. Did you know that
Mark Twain was into scrapbooking?
Now your children can find out all about
it. Michelangelo will be the subject on
April 28, “The Ashcan School” on May
12, and an architectural activity on May
26. All of these programs are free.
The last lecture on June 4 will be
delivered by Ruthmere’s director Laurel
Spencer Forsythe on “The Havilah
Beardsley House: Report on a Restoration in Progress.” She will discuss how
the plans for restoration compare with
the realities to date and will share news of
some exciting and unexpected discoveries.
All lectures will begin at 4:00 pm,
and, thanks again to the Genesis Fund,
they are free.
Robert Recalls
Robert B. Beardsley, President, Board of Directors
YEARS AGO funerals used to be sad
solemn affairs. My grandmother Helen
Brown Beardsley’s first funeral certainly
was all of that. Not the second.
Grandmother died at 85 in 1958 at
her home at 1006 North Roxbury Drive
in Beverly Hills after a long illness. Her
first funeral was at the house. She was
laid out in pink in an open casket in the
conservatory in front of a stained glass
window at the end of the living room (up
two steps). Perhaps 50 family, friends,
and staff were present. Afterwards there
was coffee in the hall before they took her
away. I watched the hearse leave from the
side door, turn left on Roxbury towards
Sunset Boulevard and ultimate reunion
with her husband Andrew “Hub” Beardsley in Elkhart. She left behind a neighborhood of Hollywood celebrities, none
of whom I think she actually ever met:
Jack Benny lived two doors down, Eddie
Cantor two doors up, Lucille Ball on one
corner, Clark Gable and his last wife Kay
Spreckles on the opposite corner, Jose
Iturbi, pianist, across the street, and my
pal Hedy Lamarr just down the block
(more about her at a later date.)
What followed was right out of
Evelyn Waugh’s The Loved One, a
macabre but very funny film from the
1970s starring, among others, Liberace
as the casket salesman, to set the tone of
our story. First, she was flown to Chicago
by Flying Tiger Airlines, air freight. She
hated to fly. She disliked speed. She disliked anything theatrical. “Flying Tigers”
might just as well have been Valkyrie
Airlines had she been asked. She once
instructed her driver, Ed Keller, NEVER
to go faster than 45 mph, even on the Los
Angeles Freeway. “But Mrs. Beardsley…”
got him nowhere. Her life had been one
of calm, dignity, and punctuality.
And then the plane was three hours
late. That alone would have been unfor-
givable. Chuck Wally of Wally Funeral
Home met the plane on the tarmac in his
ancient hearse that had wheezed up from
Elkhart that morning on the just-opened
Indiana Toll Road. Once loaded it was a
three and a half hour run back to Elkhart.
The funeral was set for 2:00 PM at the
First Presbyterian Church on Second
Street (an E. Hill Turnock edifice, 1914,
by the way—the same man who built
Ruthmere) so, some speed was necessary.
Therefore, as we sailors say, “he put the
pickle to her.” At 85 mph the hearse blew
a tire and rocketed off the highway and
finally came to a smoking stop. Chuck
later recalled that Grandmother, in the
back minding her own business, was
“overturned” in the process, whatever that
meant. A state police car came by, helped
change the tire, Grandmother was righted,
and they were off again at a very high
speed, this time with a police escort.
We six pallbearers were waiting
outside the church cooling our heels when
at 2:20 we heard sirens. Grandmother
was about to arrive! All traffic stopped,
all eyes looked as the hearse careened
around the corner of Second and High
Streets and rocked to a steaming halt at
the door. Meanwhile, the organist, an
elderly lady who had held the post for
many years and, as I remember, was not
too good with the pedals, was working
her way through the same Prelude the
fourth time in between bulletins from
the pulpit as to just where Mrs. Beardsley
WAS. “Quick! Get her out! They’re all
waiting.” Calm was just being restored to
the scene when, with a sickening crunch,
the mahogany casket got stuck in the
turning of the narrow stairs leading up to
the nave. Now wild-eyed, Chuck was just
reaching for the axe in “Break in Case of
Fire” when with one gigantic heave one of
us (me) on his hands and knees under the
coffin on the stairs using his back (mine)
pushed up and she was free. Her furniture slightly scratched and her dignity
somewhat restored, Grandmother rolled
majestically down the aisle and the service
finally began. It had been a wild ride
from California for the old girl, but at last
she was home and at peace. Late to her
own funeral! As we say in the Midwest
about extraordinary events, this second
funeral was a real “gol-darnit.” May she
rest in peace. She certainly earned it.
Great Aunt Ada Malloy Beardsley,
Uncle Charlie’s wife, loved funerals, once
going to seven in one week. When she
died in 1956 Uncle Charlie, then head
of the company (Miles Laboratories,
Inc.), put the word out he wanted flowers
for calling hours at the house (226 E.
Beardsley Avenue.) They arrived by the
carload…calla lilies, gardenias, roses, and
more roses. When my mother went over,
she almost gagged at the floral miasma,
commenting that “It smelled like a
gangster’s funeral.”
Aunt Ada became somewhat of an
authority on funerals. When Beatrice
Beardsley, niece of A.R. Beardsley died
(1945), her first service, open casket, was
in California. She was then shipped by
train to Elkhart for burial, where a second
viewing was arranged many days later,
again with an open casket. My mother,
who could not go to the viewing, asked
Aunt Ada how it went. “Well, you know,
Midge, they had to close her up. She was
beginning to turn quite brown.”
A few years ago my great friend
Lucinda Lord was asked why she no
longer went to church, having been one
of the pillars of the Unitarian Church for
years in Kennebunk, Me. “Well, I have
grown quite deaf in my old age (she lived
to be almost 93). I recently attended a
funeral for an old friend. But you know,
I think the deceased heard more of the
service than I did!”
Why Restore the Havilah Beardsley House?
The purpose of the Havilah Beardsley
House restoration project is to restore and
interpret the home of Elkhart’s founder,
Havilah Beardsley. The two story brick
home at 102 West Beardsley Avenue
stands as a centerpiece of community
history. Prominently located at the head
of the Memorial Bridge on the corner
of Main Street and Beardsley Avenue,
the handsome structure is identified
as the oldest remaining house in the
city. Designated as a city landmark, the
Havilah Beardsley House is also listed on
the National Register of Historic Places
and is one of two such properties in the
Beardsley Avenue Historic District.
Just a few steps away stands a monument to the city’s founder, who not only
practiced medicine, but also purchased
land for Elkhart’s original settlement
from Pottawatomi Chief Pierre Moran,
platted the town, and established a
number of mills along the St. Joseph river.
programs tailored to particular audiences,
It may be said that his vision and energy
including families and children. These
as an early Elkhart entrepreneur fostered
will feature handsthe development of a strong entrepreon educationneurial spirit that continues to
er s irc
d
n
le
al opporou
thrive in the community
tunities
today.
$50,000 Lead Donors
to
Many others have
Robert Beardsley
played important
roles in contributArt and Pat Decio
ing to the history
Bob and Mary Pat Deputy
of the commuRex and Alice A. Martin
nity, and many
Joan Beardsley Norris, Jonathan Beardsley Norris &
industries have
Andrew Carter Norris
led to its eco nomic success.
Still, underContributors: $2500-$5000
standing this early
George and Kathy Freese
era of community
Dorinda Miles Smith
development is essential to understanding
Laurel Spencer Forsythe
engage
and appreciating presentchildren
day Elkhart. Interpretation of
in learning
the Havilah Beardsley House will
about the community’s
emphasize not just one
past.
An
additional
program emphasis
family’s role in building
will be on the role of the historic house
the community, but will
as a “learning laboratory,” especially as
focus on the interplay
the restoration progresses. The restoraof community members
tion process will provide information and
in developing Elkhart.
educational material to be shared with the
Building the city’s early
community through on-site tours, exhibeconomy and society was
its, and presentations. We aim to engage
the work of the entire
as many citizens as possible in the project.
community.
Currently, The Ruthmere Foundation,
The Ruthmere
Inc. is teaming with Elkhart Community
Foundation, Inc. seeks
Schools to develop a preservation educato analyze, research,
tion curriculum-based project, “Explorand carefully restore the
ing Elkhart’s Roots with Ruthmere,”
home of the city’s foundthat incorporates information about the
er to better interpret this
Havilah Beardsley House restoration
significant period of our
and the significance of the surrounding
community’s past. A
historic district.
special goal is to develop
F
educational areas and
Glazed fireplace tiles give clues to the time of the addition of the east wing.
’ C
R estoration R eport:
The Havilah Beardsley House Project Begins
The glaze on a ceramic tile, the
method of manufacture of an iron nail,
the color and pattern of a fragment
of wallpaper buried deep under other
layers… these are some of the subtle
but significant clues that will help us to
discover the untold stories of the Havilah
Beardsley House. The restoration of
Elkhart’s oldest house began just after
the New Year, as Ruthmere was closing
its doors for the annual in-depth cleaning
and inventories. In less than three months
our restoration team has made many important discoveries—some exciting, and
some disconcerting.
Contractor Jon Hillman and his crew
came in to implement immediate needs
identified by architect Eric Leedy in an
initial structural evaluation. Hillman’s
team focused on stabilization of the structure first, with particular attention to the
159-year-old foundation. Modern steel
supports, placed in areas that won’t be accessible to the public, will strengthen the
original structure for many years to come.
Other early projects have included the
addition of a security system and upgrading of the electrical systems to assure the
safety of the general public.
In the process of these initial stabilization efforts, Ruthmere’s grounds team
began to peel off layers added during this
century that have obscured some of the
house’s original material. Plush red wallto-wall carpet came up to reveal early (c.
1870s) hardwood flooring of oak, with
marquetry in walnut, throughout the
stairhall and two parlors. Wallpapers of
older if uncertain vintage have appeared
on both walls and, notably, the ceiling.
Fir flooring appears on the second floor
and under an area that would have been
concealed by an area rug in the west
wing—it was never intended to be seen!
Some of our teams’ discoveries have
been surprising, but less delightful, as
might be expected in an undertaking
of this nature. After removing modern
partitions and carpeting in the east wing,
which was long used as a doctor’s office,
we discovered significant termite and
rot issues in the oak flooring. Digging
deeper, the damage was found to continue
through the softwood sub-flooring and
even into the joists below grade. Since this
wing was an addition and had no proper
basement, it was vulnerable to termite
activity. After documentation, Hillman’s
team has been at work replacing wood
that could not be reused, and saving any
original material that is still intact.
Research in the archives of the
Elkhart County Historical Museum and
the county courthouse has begun to yield
some answers to the era of Havilah and
Rachel Beardsley’s occupancy in the house.
Our own Arts Reference Library includes
several very useful volumes of early county
history, and our archives hold some
documents that will help to develop our
research base. If any of our readers have
information or documentation to share
that pertains to Elkhart and the Beardsleys
from the 1840s through the 1890s, we’d
love to have access to copies.
Steel structural supports add needed strength to the
original foundation.
The Ruthmere Foundation, Inc. has
already been blessed with several gifts
of artifacts that will help to furnish the
Havilah Beardsley House. The Reverend
George M. Minnix has generously contributed a lovely Victorian sofa, several
side chairs, and a copper bed warmer, and
Pat Klockow has given an upholstered
Victorian side chair. If our readers know
of any period furnishings with a Beardsley family or early Elkhart provenance,
please consider contributing these to this
worthy project.
The exciting possibilities of ongoing
discovery await us, and we look forward
to your involvement. Please check Ruthmere’s website often (www.ruthmere.org)
for updated information on the restoration, and feel free to
email or call us at (574)
264-0330 with any questions or comments you
may have.
Ceilingpaper revealed on the
ceiling of the East Wing offers
an additional clue about the
structure’s pastt.
Volunteers Make a Difference at Ruthmere
Ruthmere volunteers have logged
more than 1,400 hours for the 2006
year. The value of these volunteer hours
is in excess of $21,400.00. This in-kind
donation of service demonstrates significant community support of Ruthmere.
Thanks to all of our valuable volunteers!
We could not do what we do without
your generous gifts of time and talent.
We appreciate Paula Barb who
spends each Thursday afternoon with us,
helping to catalogue the collection on our
computer, and Bob Frey whom we see
twice a week to help with our accounting.
Again, our governing body, the Board
of Directors, is another special group
of volunteers. They give of their time
and expertise to chart the course of the
Foundation’s future.
We had our own Pam McIntire’s
Career Center students help with our fall
planting. Juliana & Friends volunteered
their concert this year for Ruthmere’s
Fall Concert Series. We also have from
Central High School, the NHS students
helping with several different events.
During our holiday season we had over
175 volunteer hours to help with several
events during that time: teas, sip and
shop, tours, Holiday Open House, concerts, and our Holiday House Walk.
So far into the 2007 year we have
logged 75 volunteer hours even with
Ruthmere closed until April.
If you have an interest in volunteering at Ruthmere, please contact Kathy
Sponseller or Laurel Spencer Forsythe at
(574)264-0330. Whether you have a few
hours a week or a month to offer, we will
welcome your interest and are willing to
work with your schedule.
Volunteers
Juliana & Friends :
Benita Barber
Lyn Buschert
Sara Thomas
Juliana Lockman
Central High School
National Honor Society:
Julie Morningstar
Alex Kruis
Stephen Thorne
Chris Cassella
Robby Irwin
Kendra Plunkett
That’s Dancing with Sally Lee
Elkhart Career Center
Horticulture Students
Marie Smith
Bob Frey
Carrie Mathews
Kathy & George Freese
Paula Barb
Agnes Grahmbeek
Laura Grey (Miss Indiana 2006)
George & Darlene Adkins
Paul Randall
Elmer Billings
Tom Artley
Board of Directors
Isabelle Freeman
Peg Trobaugh
Dean Hupp
Emma Wynn
Annette Kozak
Barbara Adcock
Judy Bechtold
Ronnie Mack
DeShawn Brown
Briteya Evens
Chad Suggs
Rowenna Miller
Nick Witwer
All who helped with the
Books Art Festival
All who helped with our
Holiday House Walk
Mr. and Mrs. Dave Kiefer
Ray Stutsman
Gail Martin
The Reverend George Minnix
Sue Templin
Stanley Kropf
Please join us for our
Spring Celebration
to honor all of our volunteers
Elkhart’s Elegant Beaux Arts Mansion
Sunday, April 15th, 2007
4:00 PM
in Ruthmere’s Gameroom
A Special Program will be presented for
National Poetry Month
Flowering Bulb Show & Sale
Light hors d’oeuvres, wine, and
beverages will be served
From April 1 through April 7
Flowering bulbs will be available for purchase.
Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Please RSVP by April 11, 2007
574-264-0330
Louis Comfort Tiffany Leadership Circle Members
Platinum $5,000
Gold $1,000
Arthur J. & Patricia Decio
Dorinda Miles Smith
Joan Beardsley Norris
George & Darlene Adkins
Robert Beardsley
Thomas & Dorthy Corson
Thomas & Lois Dusthimer
George & Kathy Freese
Craig & Connie Fulmer
Jonathan & Leisa Norris
Laurel Spencer Forsythe
David & Janet Weed
Rose Gold $2,500
Thomas & Elizabeth Borger
Jack & Karen Cittadine
Robert & Mary Pat Deputy
Robert & Peggy Weed
Scott & Kim Welch - Welch Packaging
Silver
Stuart & Paula Barb
Robert and Gail Martin
Bronze
Thomas & Dorothy Arnold
Laura Funk
Bart & Nancy Lefever
- Lefever Plumbing William and Diana Reglein
Steve and Kathy Sponseller
Douglas & Karen Mick
Peter & Becky Parmater
Bonnie & Phil Penn
James Pettit
Marilou Ritchie
Harold Smith
Robert and Mary Lou Stackhouse
Don and Claudia Stohler
Susan Warner
Donald & Cidney Walter
Patron
Stephen & Jean Barton
Borden Wasteaway
Jane Burns
Mr. and Ms. William Cloar
Peter Combs
Virginia Combs
Linne Dose
Steven & Carol Eldridge
Donald & Judy Findlay
Robert & Karin Frey
Desco Glass
LaVerne Herzberg
Richard and Audrey Herzberg
Keith & Nancy Holmes
Dean & Judy Kelly
Neil & Pat Klockow
Brad & Pam McIntire
D iscover the R ewards of M embership
Calendar of Events
A pril
The Ruthmere Foundation, I nc .
302 E ast Beardsley Avenue
E lkhart, I ndiana 46514
574.264.0330
w w w.ruthmere .org
1 Opening Day and Free Family Day Open House (1 pm-4 pm)
1-7Bulb Show and Sale
8 Closed Easter Sunday
9 Lecture Series with Dean Porter - From Chicago to Taos, New Mexico:
Ufer, Higgins, and Hennings (4 pm)
14 Saturday Program for Children: Art in Taos, New Mexico (10:30 am-12 noon)
16 Lecture Series with Warren Brown - Catch the Twain! A Living History Visit with Mark Twain (4 pm)
19 Spring Garden Series with Pam McIntire: A Wreath of Memories (6:30 pm)
21 Saturday Program for Children: Mark Twain and Scrapbooking (10:30 am-12 noon)
23 Lecture Series with Edward Quattrochi - Time Is Life: The Concept of Time
in Dante, Shakespeare, and Michelangelo (4 pm)
28 Saturday Program for Children: Michelangelo (10:30 am-12 noon)
M ay
6 Free Family Sunday Open House (1 pm-4 pm)
7 Lecture Series with Brian Byrn - Robert Henri and the Ashcan School (4 pm)
10 Spring Garden Series with Pam McIntire: A Victorian Tussie-Mussie (6:30 pm)
12 Saturday Program for Children: The Ashcan School (10:30 am-12 noon)
13 Mothers Day Tea (2 pm)
18 International Museum Day (Free Day)
21 Lecture Series with Thomas Gordon Smith - 1830s New York Grecian Architecture and Its Influence in the Midwest (4 pm)
26 Saturday Program for Children: Architecture activity (10:30 am-12 noon)
June
Every Saturday Coffee on the Piazza (9:30 am-12 noon)
3 Free Family Sunday Open House (1 pm-4 pm)
4 Lecture Series with Laurel Spencer Forsythe - The Havilah Beardsley House: Report on a Restoration in Progress (4 pm)
7 Spring Garden Series with Pam McIntire: An Edwardian Era Hat (6:30 pm)
23 Children’s Summer Garden Party (1pm-3 pm)
25-29 Children’s Summer Garden Camp (10 am-12 noon)
Spring Garden Series
Join Advanced Master Gardener Pam
McIntire to create a special project at each
of the following three classes. A wreath of
memories will be constructed on Thursday, April 19; participants may bring some
sort of keepsake to display on the wreath,
such as photographs (or copies), infant
shoes, or other items that evoke memories
of loved ones or treasured times.
During the Victorian period a tussiemussie was often the means of conveying
a message of affection between lovers. On
Thursday, May 10 modern-day lovers
can learn that a tussie-mussie, or small
bouquet, is more romantic than a text
message. The last class in the series is An
Edwardian Era Hat on Thursday, June
7. A special hat will be decorated to hang
on a hook in the kitchen or to wear to a
garden party.
All classes will meet at Ruthmere at
6:30 pm. The fee of $15.00 per class will
include the cost of all materials except the
personal keepsakes used for the wreath.
Participants in the initial Spring Garden Series class
create flower topiaries to take home.
House Tours:
Tuesday - Saturday on the hour at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. and at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.
Sundays on the hour at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 p.m.
Closed all major holidays.
Facilities Rentals at Ruthmere
Ruthmere offers a unique atmosphere for business meetings and private events. Our game room is a warm, yet distinctive setting for seminars, presentations, and other professional gatherings. Year-round, we can help you to plan the perfect indoor or outdoor wedding ceremony, birthday party, or
other private celebrations.
For more information about reserving Ruthmere for your special event, please call (574) 264-0330 or e-mail us at info@ruthmere.org.