A Weekend in Vermont

Your Regional Coordinators spent the weekend of June 7-8 in Burlington, Vermont, as guests of the JASNA Vermont Region. Vermont's RC, Deb Barnum, has already put up a post on the "Jane Austen in Vermont" blog--arguably the best regional blog in JASNA--with a most complimentary description of our June 8 presentations to our sister Region. With Deb's permission, here is a link to that post. We thank her both for the link and for her personal hospitality, and we thank the Green Mountain Janeites in general and Lisa's models in particular for persevering with us, despite the heat Deb describes!

Here are two additional photos of the meeting. In the first, Lisa Brown describes the finer points of the 95th Rifles uniform being bravely modeled by Jim. (Photo by Marie.)

And in the second, Marie Sprayberry discusses her 1817 Princess Charlotte of Wales "in memoriam" cup. Note Marie's strategic position directly in front of a fan! (Photo by Lisa.)

The day before the meeting, we spent a highly enjoyable afternoon with Deb at the Shelburne Museum, south of Burlington. The Shelburne, like Upstate NY's Genesee Country Village and Museum, is a collection of relocated/preserved historic buildings and artifacts. Here are Lisa and Deb in front of the Round Barn. (Photo by Marie.)

 

The Shelburne's collection of carriages and sleighs is particularly fine. This handsome stagecoach plied the Boston-to-Buffalo route, and thus may have traveled the Cherry Valley Turnpike south of Syracuse (present-day U.S. 20). (Photo by Marie.)

 

As Deb notes in her post, we all had fun trying out the two-cell village gaol. Here are Marie (obviously having too much fun to be a convincing prisoner) and Deb (doing a better acting job). (Photo by Lisa.)

Here's a collection of hats and hatboxes that would have made the Bennet sisters "quite wild." (Photo by Marie.)

 

This spinning wheel and other accoutrements for spinning recall a letter of Jane Austen's to Cassandra concerning a proposed gift to Jane from the family's benefactress, Mrs. Knight: "I cannot endure the idea of her giving away her own wheel..." (Photo by Marie.)

  

A printer--one of the Museum's many helpful and informative volunteers--demonstrates one of the extensive collection of printing presses. (Photo by Lisa.)

Both Marie and Lisa wanted to take the entire country store and its contents home with them! A lovely window full of glass. (Photo by Marie.)

We end with Lisa's photo of a gorgeous sunset over Lake Champlain; the Adirondacks can be glimpsed in the background on the New York side. And, again, many thanks to Deb and to JASNA Vermont!