Cherry Hill Sun

Tag: barclay farmstead

  • How 50 years of Friends made Barclay Farmstead

    Barclay Farmstead would not be what it is today without friends.

    One of the township’s most prominent historic and recreational sites came to be because of the Friends of Barclay Farmstead, an institution for decades. After the township purchased the farmstead as a historic site in 1975, the Friends restored the property’s home and eventually offered educational programs and community events.

    To mark its 50th anniversary, the Friends hosted a celebration at the farmstead on Nov. 15, enabling guests to see the farmstead’s holiday home decorations. To accommodate the 100 people who attended – too many for the farmstead house alone – a heated tent was set up on the lawn outside.

    Some of the original Friends were on hand, while the children and spouses of other members who couldn’t attend took their places.

    Megan Brown is the recreation manager for the township’s recreation department, under which care of the farmstead falls.

    “There was a lot of reconnection and just excited to be back together kind of feelings,” she said of the celebration.

    In addition to the holiday decor, the house featured photos of the Barclay Farmstead when the Friends first began restoration efforts and through the last five decades. Holiday tours took place through November.

    Abigail Twiford/The Sun
    The Friends of Barclay Farmstead were shown in photos through the years at the group’s anniversary celebration on Nov. 15.

    “There was a lot of just nostalgia in the display of the last 50 years and the people who have made an impact and telling some of the story of when the group of people kind of rallied around rehabbing the house and making it what it is today,” Brown explained.

    But this year’s Christmas decorations were less important than allowing visitors to see how the house looks the rest of the year.

    “They’re understated this year,” noted Betty Eigenrauch, a Friends volunteer. “We wanted to have a tree up, but it’s not the main thing in the room this year …”

     

    Abigail Twiford/The Sun
    The living area of the Barclay Farmstead’s historic house is decorated for the holiday season.

    Photos from the Friends’ anniversary celebration remain on display for anyone who would like to learn about the efforts that went into creating the historical landmark known today as the Barclay Farmstead.

    “It’s just a great testament to the impact of community volunteerism,” Brown observed. “You know that the farmstead would not be what it is today without that organization.”

  • Pop-up park story times wrap up for the summer

    Abigail Twiford/The Sun
    Youth Services librarian Katie Helf (left) reads one of the books to the audience as Adult and Youth Services librarian Kristin Redmond leads the kids in accompanying activities.

    Story times are a staple for young children at libraries around the country, giving kids an early introduction to reading.

    The Cherry Hill Public Library holds story times on a regular basis, though some of them are done with a twist.

    In the summer months, the library holds a series of story times in some of the township’s parks, alternating week to week between the Barclay Farmstead and Croft Farms called Pop Up Story Times.

    The seasonal story times are the result of a partnership between the library and the township’s Parks and Recreation department, a collaboration that has been ongoing since the pop up story times first started in 2016. 

    This year, they were held every week on Friday mornings from June 27 to Aug. 15 to overlap with summer reading. The theme, Color Our World, heavily inspired the story selection each week.

    Each week featured a different theme based around the idea of different forms of art, including painting and music. Microphones were used to make sure everyone could hear, no matter how far they were from the two speakers.

    Story times not only included reading and showing illustrations from the chosen materials, they also featured activities throughout the event to keep the children engaged.

    Youth Services librarian Katie Helf and Adult and Youth Services librarian Kristin Redmond began each meeting by leading the gathered children and their caretakers in song, often using nursery rhymes or variations of them to get them further invested before beginning the readings.

    The park-based story times were originally created as a way of raising more awareness of the library and the number of different programs it holds among residents of the township.

    “We moved around to different parks, trying to engage people in the different neighborhood parks,” Redmond explained. ” … If they happen to be here playing on the playground, they would say, ‘Let’s listen to this story time’ to hopefully engage them and get them to come to the library.”

    Each week, the story times saw a turnout of around 100 people, with the final week seeing 130 people come out.

    “We’re grateful for everybody who comes out and supports the program,” Helf said. 

    The final week, held on Aug. 15, had the theme of music and sounds.

    To go along with this theme, they read “Music is in Everything” by Ziggy Marley and “This Musical Magical Night” by Rhonda Gowler Greene and James Rey Sanchez. They also sang songs between the stories. 

    Children were encouraged to join in on the sounds showed and call out the different colors that appeared.

    Cara Dunn was one of the Cherry Hill residents who brought her children out for the story times, meeting up with a group of cousins and friends.

    “We’ve been here every time they’ve had it in Barclay farms this summer,” Dunn said. “We enjoy that it’s good for all ages, and the kids can roam and have snacks.”

    Each story time session wrapped with a final song as children and their parents sang along.

  • ‘What’s better than free music?’

    Abigail Twiford/ The Sun
    Audience members set up seats in front of the historic home on the Barclay Farmstead for the July 29 concert.

    The finale of the annual Music Under the Stars concert series at the Barclay Farmstead took place on July 29, after the first of the outdoor shows set for earlier in the month was postponed by threatening weather.

    The last of the free series – a second show was performed on July 22 – featured the American Soul Band and was heard by residents and visitors who set up blankets and camping chairs or settled on one of the property’s benches. Room was made for a dance floor.

    Band members played covers of music from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, along with songs that reflected Philadelphia and its artists.

    Connie Borman was in attendance. Her work ensures she always knows what concerts are happening throughout the region.

    “I’m an HR person and I check all the concerts going around,” she said, “and I post them at work for everybody, so I know where the concerts are … I send it out to all the employees … And then I tell them like, ‘I’m going.’”

    Several community organizations and area businesses set up booths and tables around the historic farmstead to engage with the community. Food trucks and snack stands were on hand to sell lemonade, popsicles, barbequed food, beer and liquor.

    Despite the heat, attendees walked around with their dogs and children played along the walking paths and grassy patches at the farmstead.

    Cara Jaye is a member of American Soul Band.

    “It was amazing,” she noted of the audience. “The crowd was so interactive. We had such a great turnout despite the heat.” 

    Stacey Goldberg is the artist representative for the band.

    “It was hot, but these are troupers and they did their stuff,” she said of attendees who got up to dance. “The crowd loved them and it was a great night for all. I think everybody danced; they had a great time.”  

    The band played tributes to Gladys Knight, the Temptations and the Four Tops and donned a number of shiny, sparkled costumes. For some songs, members asked the crowd to wave paper, hats, rags and bags. They ended their show by descending to the grass to line dance with attendees. 

    Lisa O’Neil is a resident of the Barclay Farm area.

    “We all love to come out here,” she enthused, “because what’s better than free music?”

  • ‘Treasure in Barclay’ hosts farmstead open house

    The Barclay Farmstead holds an open house on the first Sunday of every month to educate the community about its history and surrounding land.

    The house is more than two centuries old, built by Quaker farmer Joseph Thorn in 1816 on a 32-acre property. The site was originally 168 acres, but over the years, families who lived there sold off portions.

    The land and the farmhouse are now owned by the township, but the historical artifacts and furniture are owned by the Friends of the Barclay Farmstead, a volunteer-run nonprofit that promotes historic, educational and interpretive activities there. The organization has operated for 50 years with activities that promote the preservation and restoration of the farmstead, its outbuildings and grounds.

    The site also features preserved nature trails and community gardens to continue its legacy as a farm. Tours are free for Cherry Hill residents, children under 12 and members of the Friends. Non-residents are charged $5. Farmstead tours are also offered to all the fifth graders in the township, with volunteers dressed in historically accurate costumes that are also displayed throughout the home.

    Betty Eigenrauch is a member of the Friends and a volunteer who offered tours during the June open house. The monthly events are run by Friends’ volunteers who show the first and second floors of the main building, giving attendees insight into the lives of its former residents. 

    “These people were self-sufficient,” noted Eigenrauch, who gestured at the kitchen fireplace that served as a stove, with dishes, pans and a crane for hanging pots that could be pulled from the flame or pushed over it. “They grew all the food that they ate, for instance. So, the house has no kitchen sink, has no refrigerator.”

    The home’s kitchen fireplace holds a display of dishes, pots and pans that were used to cook over the open fire.

    Eigenrauch also explained the role of the parlor, where families of the past placed more expensive possessions like upholstered furniture and fancy dishware. The family room held handmade toys, wooden furniture and materials for making clothing. 

    The Thorns made their own clothing, using flax for anything close to the body like undergarments and bedsheets, and wood for outer garments.

    “The Quakers don’t believe in slavery or war or any of that,” Eigenrauch offered. ” … They boycotted cotton. So they only used flax and wool.”

    On the home’s second floor, multiple rooms are set up to display bedrooms from different time periods and owners. Dottie Sevast pointed out that the Thorn family would have made their mattresses and pillows by filling a large cloth sack made from flax with hay and placing it over ropes strung across a wooden bed frame. 

    She also described how the Thorns eventually left the property because they couldn’t make the mortgage payments. It was then purchased by the Coopers, a wealthy Quaker family from Camden. Their daughter, Ellen Champion, married Charles Barclay, thus the farmstead’s name. A replica of her wedding dress and one of her portraits is displayed in a bedroom.

    “Back then, they didn’t wear white for weddings and things,” Sevast said. “They wore whatever was their best outfit. This is a replica. We do have the original, but it’s packed away because the sun was damaging it.”

    Sevast also offered the back story on the last person to live in the house, Helen Champion Barclay. She never married or had children, so when she was ready to leave, she sold the home to the township so it could become a museum and remain a farm. 

    “We really have such a treasure here in Barclay,” Sevast offered. “I think the signs on Route 70 have sort of rusted out and things like that. It’s a shame people don’t know that it’s here.”

    Photos by Abigail Twiford
    The front of the Barclay farmhouse on June 1. The structure is more than two centuries old and occupies 32 acres.