Woodsmen’s Festival

Come see the axes fly! The Woodsmen’s Club from the SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill returns to Hanford Mills to demonstrate cross-cut sawing, overhand and underhand chop, ax throwing and other lumberjack skills. The speed and precision of these talented college students is amazing to watch.

Exhibitors and activities for 2019 will be listed soon. In 2018, the Woodsmen’s Festival featured:

• Traditional cooper Bob Allers
• Don Vanhart (1870s treadle lathe demonstrations)
• James Cleaveland (woodcrafts)
• Horse-drawn wagon rides
• Music by Bourbon & Branch (1-4 pm)
• Abba’s Acres (goat’s milk fudge, hickory syrup, jams, peanut brittle, soap, and honey)
• Gilson’s Native American Crafts (handmade jewelry, beadwork, dreamcatchers)
• Awestruck Ciders, serving samples and bottles of premium hard cider
• Pure Catskills (Buy Local Campaign, free giveaways)
• My Woodlot (resources for landowners and outdoor activities)
• American Chestnut Society
• Catharina Kessler her handmade Swedish style, traditional mittens and hats
• Shaver Hill Farm maple syrup and candy
• Water-power demonstrations in the historic sawmill, gristmill and woodworking shop
• Historic cooking demonstrations in the John Hanford Farmhouse
• Tickled Pink BBQ
• Pies (whole and by the slice) made by members of the Charlotte Valley Presbyterian Church
• Mill-made crafts, traditional toys, books, and local products for sale in the Museum Shop
• The Cooperstown Graduate Program offered a fun slate of activities. Kids can make a mini-forest, create leaf rubbings and stick dolls, and build mini-beaver dams and test how well they work.
• The Learning Lab was open with gears, blocks and kid-focused activities.

“The first mill was built on this site in 1846,” says Museum executive director Liz Callahan. “For generations and generations, Hanford Mills supplied the community with lumber and wood products they needed for their homes, businesses, and farms. The Woodsmen’s Festival celebrates this history, and is an opportunity to demonstrate how we still use water power to run the Mills’ machines. We also want to highlight the work of today’s woodworkers, craftspeople, lumberjacks, and organizations that work to protect and enhance our forests.”

Admission