Date Night at the Village...

Saturday, Claude and I paused in the rush of the season to enjoy a quiet evening together. Our destination, Shaker Village. We had reservations for the 6:30pm seating for dinner.

We arrived about 3:30pm and checked on purchasing tickets to go to the events we chose at Shaker Village that evening. These were all actually included in the purchase of our dinner. But we were doing the events first and dinner at the end. They kindly gave us our little stickers to prove we paid before we paid so we could go ahead and enjoy our full evening.

The first thing we wanted to do was go to the Meeting House and listen to the Bluegrass Dulcimer Club perform Christmas music. This was a real treat. The acoustics in the Meeting House are amazing. The sound just rolls around and fills the room. No need for microphones. As the dulcimers played the audience joined in singing lovely Christmas music. They also played some Christmas music peculiar to the mountain folk of eastern Kentucky. I video taped as much of the music as I could so that Papa could see and hear it later. Claude was particularly fascinated with a couple of the music stands the musicians used. It was a nice start to our evening.

We also wanted to tour the Center Family Dwelling. The Shaker's lived as families but there was no marriage and no marital relations. The 'family dwellings' had the men living on one side of the house and the women living on the other side of the house. From the basement to the attic there are wide hallways down the center of each floor with stair ways on either side of the hallway. The men literally used the stairway on their side and the women used the stairway on their side. These family dwellings are really big houses.

I've been through Shaker Village at least three times during the summer months and been through all these buildings. This tour would be different. First, it was a candlelight tour. Second, the focus would be on how the Shaker's observed Christmas. We were told the Shakers were a lot like Quakers and tried to worship as it was originally intended, which did not include celebrating Christmas. However, one of the women had difficulty putting on her shoes on a Christmas day. Ann Lee, the founder of the Shaker's, determined this was a sign from God they should observe Christmas. It was determined they would treat the day like a Sabbath. Minimal work would be done and more time given to worship.

We were able to get in the 5pm tour. At the beginning of the tour, our tour guide, dressed in  Shaker apparel, asked for volunteers among the adults to carry lanterns with wax candles in them. Claude quickly made his way to the front and got a lantern.

The tour guide would take us through each floor where others dressed as Shakers would act out the purpose of that floor.

On the basement level they collected spices for the baking of the Christmas feast. This meal would be for those living in the family dwelling. But it would also include any others who came and needed food.

On the main level they made 'poor boxes'. These boxes were filled with foods, clothing, linens, and small toys made for the children. These would be delivered to those in need.

The next floor had a most touching scene. There was a table and two chairs set in the wide hallway. The guide told us the Shakers also took Christmas to perform a rite recorded in John in the Bible. It was done at the Last Supper. Two ladies came out from one of the bedroom. They never spoke while the narrator read from the scriptures about Jesus washing the disciples feet, Peter protesting and then asking for Jesus to wash not his feet only but his head and hands also. During his reading each sister, as they call each other, washed the other's feet and dried them. Having just taught this to my Institute class, I was deeply touched by this scene. I as able to catch the entire thing on video.

We were then led into the dining room for the family. Here our guide gave the other actors the spices collected from the basement. They were setting the table for the meal and through their acting we were told about their meal.

Our final room was the meeting room in the family dwelling. This was a big open room with a Christmas tree at one end. There were two ladies in there singing Shaker hymns. We were all taught a simple Shaker hymn and sang with these two ladies. Then we were encouraged to help them decorate the tree as we all sang "Silent Night".  Claude helped decorate the tree and hold his lantern so there was light as it was definitely darker outside now. I tried to take video, knowing the picture wasn't going to be good because of the light issue, but wanting to have the audio.

We were led down the back stairs and out to the lawn. Delightful tour and very different than what you get as you tour at your own pace during the summer.

By now they had two fire pits ablaze in the lawn area to the side of the Meeting House. There was a table and we were treated to hot chocolate and chocolate covered pretzels. Yummy. Claude and I took ours to a bench by the fire.

We would go to the Trustee's Office next and wait for our turn for dinner. Nothing quite like sitting in a rocking chair by the Christmas tree and just rocking, chatting and thinking.

Dinner was wonderful. We ate two items we have never tried before. The first was pickled okra. I loved fried okra and okra in shrimp gumbo. But I have never in my 62 years had pickled okra. It was delicious. The second was salsify. I have seen the word before and thought it was pronounced like the 'fy' was a long letter 'i'. Not so my friends. It is pronounced with the 'fy' sounding like 'fee'. They import this root vegetable from Belgium and serve it in the winter. They bake it in a cream sauce and it is quite tasty. I also had the lemon pie which is a real Shaker recipe. It is not sweet at all and is actually a little bitter. They thinly slice the entire lemon, rind and all. Somehow they blend it up so the filling is a mashed consistency and you still have bits of rind to chew. It was tasty also. Claude enjoyed one of his favorite desserts, bread pudding. Delicious meal.

As we dined, Claude and I determined this might just make a wonderful tradition for Claude and I to do each year. It sure made a wonderful 'date night at the Village'.