Historic Happenings Blog

Sunday, March 22 – Somerset County LEARN PYSANKY, THE UKRAINIAN ART OF EGG DECORATING, SUNDAY, MARCH 22       On Sunday, March 22 nd  at 11:00 a.m., the Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House & Museum will host  a workshop on Pysanky – the Ukrainian art of egg decorating.   Participants will get hands-on experience and decorate their own egg with materials provided by award-winning Pysanky artist Patty Wiszuk-DeAngelo. The workshop will cover division of the egg, drawing of designs, use of kistka, techniques of wax and resist method, the dyeing process, the technique of egg drilling, removing wax, and finishing methods.      Ms. Wiszuk-DeAngelo’s decorated eggs are part of the White House Museum’s collection. She was featured on the Food Network’s  Unwrapped , and she has taught workshops and authored many articles on the art of pysanky over the past 20 years. The three-hour class is $40 per p...

Saturday-Sunday, December 7-8 Plus November 29 and December 6 -- Somerset County 17 th  ANNUAL COLONIAL CHRISTMAS BACK AT BEDMINSTER’S HISTORIC JACOBUS VANDERVEER HOUSE – DECEMBER 7 & 8  Kick off the holiday season with plenty of patriotic cheer at Colonial Christmas!   Tree Lighting and Candlelight Museum Tour - Nov 29, @ 6:30 pm Cocktail Reception - Dec 6, 6:30 pm Colonial Christmas - Dec 7 & 8, 11:00 an to 5: pm   A patriotic Liberty Tree lighting, Santa visits and storytime, Revolutionary-era reenactors and demonstrations, boutique shopping, child and adult holiday workshops, festive decorations, a Candlelight Museum Tour with authentic Colonial libations, and the beautifully decorated and festive Jacobus Vanderveer House are in store for visitors to the 17 th  Annual Colonial Christmas at Bedminster’s historic Jacobus Vanderveer House & Museum.     The Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House invite visitors of all ages to experien...

Friday,  November 29   - Bedminster, Somerset County Liberty Tree Lighting The Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House are hosting a tree lighting on Friday at 6:30 pm to kick off the 17th Annual Colonial Christmas celebration, which will be held Saturday and Sunday, December 7 - 8. The tree lighting is free to the community and features caroling with the Harmonium Choral Society and hot chocolate. The Jacobus Vanderveer House is located at 3055 River Road (in Bedminster’s River Road Park), Bedminster, NJ. For more information,  call 908-396-6053 or  visit  www.jvanderveerhouse.org .

Sunday, September 8   -  Morristown, Morris County Chief Justice John Marshall and President Thomas Jefferson Debate This Sunday, the Jacobus Vanderveer House and Morristown National Historical Park invite you to join them for an exciting historical debate between Chief Justice John Marshall and President Thomas Jefferson. Admission is free, but  pre-registration  is required! John Marshall was the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, but the first to establish the judiciary as an equal branch of the federal government. Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States, but the first to preside during and after a change of power from one political party to another political party on a national scale. Their opposing views on the authority of the judiciary and its role in our government formed the groundwork of how the judicial, legislative, and executive work together—and sometimes at odds with each other—to this day. Marshall and Jefferson were dist...

May 10-May 19 – Somerset County “The Founding Fathers: John Phillip Osborne - The Artist’s 50th Anniversary Exhibition.”     The Friends are thrilled to host JM Stringer Gallery for their fourth annual exhibition featuring the contemporary American master, John Phillip Osborne (b. 1951). This two-weekend show and sale will be a curated selection of Osborne’s newest work. Admission tickets will be available for purchase at the door each day.    Osborne is an internationally renowned painter and avid student of history, particularly the American Revolution, who has won numerous awards for his landscape, figurative, and still life paintings. A native of northern New Jersey, the encampments and significant battles of the Revolution literally envelop him, sparking a lifelong fire to artistically investigate the period and its players. The landscapes ordinary citizen soldiers and great Generals marched through still surround us today, the murmur of their footstep...

Sunday, April 7 – Somerset County     On Sunday, April 7, at 1:00 p.m. at the Jacobus Vanderveer House and Museum, 3055 River Road Park, Bedminster N.J.,  Robert Mayers, historian, and author will present  The Middlebrook and Pluckemin Encampments-Hub of the American Revolution. Admission $20 per person, Members $10, children 12 and under free.    The Middlebrook and Pluckemin encampments were of critical importance to the American military during the swirling campaigns of 1777 and 1779. Yet, these iconic places, like many other historic sites in the Raritan Valley and Somerset County area have been virtually ignored in history. Most now are buried, obliterated, built over by suburban creep, rarely marked and shrouded in mystery and mythology . In his new book  Revolutionary New Jersey-Forgotten Towns and Crossroads of the American Revolution , author and historian Bob Mayers rediscover these sacred local place...

Sunday,  February 17  - Bridgewater, Somerset County Five Generals Bus Tour of Washington's Middlebrook Cantonment Visit and discover all five existing houses where George Washington, Henry Knox, Baron Von Steuben, Nathaniel Greene, and Lord Alexander were headquartered during the Middlebrook Cantonment of 1778-1779.  The tour will begin at the Van Horne House where guests will enjoy an overview of Middlebrook . Once guests are properly 'schooled' in the importance of the Middlebrook Cantonment of 1778-1779, we will board the buses and head off to:  The Abraham Staats House, The Jacobus Vanderveer House, The Wallace House and the Van Veghten House, ending at the Van Horne House for refreshments in the tavern. Tours are limited to 22 people each tour.  Tours at 10:00 am, 12:00 noon,  1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, and 3:00 pm and last approximately 2.5 hours. Tours may be consolidated to fill available seating.  Bottled water will be provided upon check in.  Ti...

16th Annual Colonial Christmas Features Holiday Shopping, Santa Visits, Pony Rides, and Festive Activities for all Ages 8:06:00 PM    Bedminster ,  New Jersey ,  press release ,  Somerset County    No comments 16th Annual Colonial Christmas Features Holiday Shopping, Santa Visits, Pony Rides, and Festive Activities for all Ages The Friends of the Jacobus Vanderveer House invite visitors of all ages to experience Christmas past and present when the circa 1772 Dutch Colonial museum opens its wreath-clad doors for the 16th Annual Colonial Christmas, Saturday and Sunday, November 24 - 25 and Saturday and Sunday, December 1 - 2.  Hours are from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm daily. $10 admission per adult. $5 children 6-12. Free to Museum members and children 5 and under. The museum is located at 3055 River Road, River Road Park, Bedminster, NJ. Visitors will enjoy tours of the museum, which will be decorated for the holidays by Gail Whiting of Design Consultants,...