Old Sturbridge Village Sheep Shearing Weekend

Sheep Shearing at Sturbridge Village

When you think of Memorial Day weekend you don’t think of Sheep Shearing but you do think of Family Fun.  Old Sturbridge Village is holding it’s 2010 Wool Days event this Saturday May 29th through Monday May 31st.

The Memorial Day Weekend forecast currently looks pretty nice with temperatures in the 80’s and mostly sunny.  This will make events like this so much more pleasant for those of us in Central Massachusetts.

Old Sturbridge Village is dedicated to New England History with a heavy emphasis on the living museum style of presenting that history.  It is only about half an hour from Worcester is well known as a New England History treasure.  The ability to relive the historic way of life by experiencing it in both a visual and hands on way really allows for visitors (especially children) to appreciate what they read in their history books or watch on their TVs.

The Wool Days event brings this experience to the art and “science” of the making of wool.  The Old Sturbridge Village website describes it as:

Farmers shear the sheep, and costumed history interpreters demonstrate the entire wool textile process, from scouring and carding the wool to spinning, knitting and weaving the handspun wool yarn into a blanket.

Besides the various activities surrounding the making of wool you can find a detailed listing of events taking place on Saturday, Sunday and Monday here.  There are quite a few options so plan in advance if you have children.

Ken Burns is a big fan of Old Sturbridge Village and actually attributes his visits there as the reason he pursued his documentary film making career on historic topics.  Here he is talking about it. He is giving Laura Linney an award for her performance in the movie John Adams: