Community

Plants, quilts, crafts and more at the Athens Brick Meetinghouse

COURTESY BILL SUMNER
ATHENS — The Athens Brick Meetinghouse Committee in conjunction with the Athens Historic Preservation Society will be hosting a series of events this summer at the 1817 Brick Meetinghouse.

The first event is a spring open house on Saturday, May 25 that will feature our Second Annual Plant & Bake Sale with help from the newly formed Athens Garden Club. This event will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the meetinghouse will be open for tours.

Our second event will be a Quilt Show & Craft Fair on Saturday June 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. We aim to fill the pews of the historic meetinghouse with many beautiful quilts. Guests will be able to cast a vote to select the Visitors Choice Quilt. In addition to the Quilt Show inside the meetinghouse, there will be a variety of artists and craft vendors selling their wares on the Meetinghouse Common.

There will be two Saturday evening concerts in the building, one on Saturday, July 13 featuring Sunny Lowdown, and the second on Saturday, Aug. 10, featuring the 2Bit 2Man Froggy Went A Courtin Orchestra. Both concerts start at 6:30 p.m. Stay tuned for details regarding musicians the availability of food for purchase and picnicking on the lawn prior to the concerts.

And Saturday, Sept. 21, the Meetinghouse Common will be the site of our 3rd Annual Harvest Fest BBQ with fun activities for kids of all ages, and lots of raffle prizes starting at 2 p.m. The famous barbecue will be served up at 3 p.m., with dessert to follow. Winners will be drawn for the many great raffle prizes during dessert. This is a great day to catch up with neighbors or make new acquaintances.

The Athens Brick Meetinghouse is historically significant to the Windham County region, and particularly the 12 surrounding towns which comprised the “Old Athens Circuit” — Grafton, Rockingham, Townshend, Londonderry, Weston, Chester, Acton, Springfield, Landgrove, Windham, Putney, and Mt. Holly. Circuit preachers from Athens, traveled out to these towns to perform religious services. Quarterly camp meetings with the Methodist congregants from these towns often lasted two days at the Athens Meetinghouse also known as the “Mother Church.”

This national historic landmark will be open for tours during these events. All proceeds go to support ongoing efforts to preserve this historic gem.

For more information contact Sherry Maher at 802-869-2141 or email at [email protected], or follow Athens Meetinghouse on Facebook.

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