The Woodstock Foundation, Inc. Billings Farm & Museum
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The Woodstock Foundation, Inc. Billings Farm & Museum 2019 RepoRt Woodstock Foundation BoaRd of tRustees Message from the Chair Ellen R. C. Pomeroy, Chair n this Report you will read that the Billings Farm & Museum had Salvatore Iannuzzi, Vice Chair its most successful year ever in 2019. Success was measured by a David M. Simmons, President number of metrics: number of guests, number of scholarship stu- Douglas R. Horne dents, number of school groups, number of social media views, William S. Moody Iamount of milk and cheese produced, number of new interactive pro- John Osborn grams for both adults and children, expansion of the film series, and James S. Sligar more. In 2018 we promised to “raise the bar” and our talented staff John Hallowell, ex officio worked very hard all year and met the challenge. We thank them for what they accomplished and for all the enjoyment and learning that they brought to our members, guests and community. mission and puRpose Truth be told, however, I am writing these comments from the vantagepoint of 2020, and the Billings Farm & Museum, like the The Woodstock Foundation, rest of the global community, is experiencing a very different set of Inc. promotes conservation, circumstances. How our team has again risen to the challenge of sustainable land use, and operating creatively and effectively in this new environment will be heritage as values that are essential to culture, community, highlighted in the 2020 Annual Report, but I can tell you now that they and the human spirit. have managed to “raise the bar” yet again. While under lock-down, the interpretive and programming staff quickly expanded its skill The Woodstock Foundation set and succeeded in providing informative and entertaining virtual explores the integration of experiences that reflect the Farm & Museum’s focus on heritage, farm conser vation, heritage, and human values, while advancing culture and our place in the environment. We hope that you have had programs, projects, and the opportunity to experience some of those programs. collaborations for the benefit But “virtual” lacks the easy give and take of “actual,” and we miss of the general public within you – our members and guests – during this time of closure. We miss the State of Vermont and your smiles, questions, enthusiasm, and energy, and look forward nationally. Recognizing that an to welcoming you back soon. We hope in the coming weeks and appreciation of nature, beauty, months that you will be ready to return to our beautiful corner of and heritage are essential to our sense of culture and Woodstock, and that you will continue your support of the Billings community and to lift and Farm & Museum’s mission by becoming a member, renewing your inspire the human spirit, the membership or making a donation. By joining our community of Foun dation reflects the broad- members and donors, you become an integral part of the Billings Farm based philosophy and vision of & Museum’s vision and future. After all, you are the reason that we do its founders, Laurance S. and what we do. Mary F. Rockefeller. Ellen R. C. Pomeroy Chair, Woodstock Foundation 2 2019 REPORT President & Executive Director’s Message illings Farm & Museum and the Woodstock Within the Visitor Center and exhibit complex, we Foundation had an outstanding year in 2019. completed the second phase of the Farm & Museum’s BDuring the museum’s 37th operating year, we Activity Barn. It is now a fully insulated, multi-purpose welcomed 60,755 guests – the most in 25 years. Across space with new windows and doors, siding and roof, the seasons and throughout our landscape, guests cupola, interior and exterior lighting, and an energy were treated to an increasing number of interactive efficient heat pump heating and cooling system. The experiences, programs, and special events. A new new space served us well programmatically for an Garden Shed provided an additional focal point and array of school programs, the 33rd Annual Quilt site for engaging experiences, as did the first annual Exhibition, special events such as the Harvest Festival Sunflower House which, in its first year, was listed and A Family Halloween, programs and workshops, by Country Living magazine as one of the top 30 and for after-hours facility rentals. The new Learning sunflower experiences across the United States. Our Kitchen, completed in 2018, was a hub of activity Walking Trail, expanded and improved during the during the year with BF&M staff and Woodstock Inn year, similarly offered our guests new vantage points and vistas of the Ottauquechee River, the Farm, and Mt. Tom. The Show Barn and new Heifer Barn, located behind the Dairy Barn, offered additional spaces for farm-focused engagement. ABOVE: Cooking in the Learning Kitchen LEFT: The new Heifer Barn 2019 REPORT 3 & Resort chef-led classes and demonstrations. It also served as a a pre-film gathering spot for patrons of the 10th Annual Woodstock Vermont Film Series, which continued to offer an exceptional selection of award- he centerpiece of the Woodstock Foundation winning documentaries. is the Billings Farm & Museum, an operating During the year, we welcomed Michelle Adams dairy farm that continues a 148-year Somerville as the Farm & Museum’s new Executive T tradition of agricultural excellence. As the premier Vice President, a role that oversees external relations gateway for interpreting Vermont’s rural culture and communications, as well as interpretation, and agrarian heritage, Billings Farm offers diverse, education and retail development. Jennifer Flaster also interactive programs that focus on rural life, work, joined the team as our Manager of Advancement, a and land stewardship as reflected in the traditions newly created position directly overseeing marketing, and values of 19th-century farm families. We also public relations, membership and fundraising; and showcase the progressive improve ments advanced Paul Brock rejoined the Farm staff. With our newly by Frederick Billings during the late 19th century. configured and talented staff in place, we are poised The Farm & Museum features the farm of the to make significant strides in 2020, expanding upon historic Billings estate and serves as the agricultural the outstanding Farm & Museum experiences that counterpart to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National visitors remarked upon during the year: from the Historical Park. London couple who shared, “Our visit here on a rainy afternoon crystalized our love of Vermont and its unique ethos. A wonderful experience with amazing guides who tell the story of the farm with passion and knowledge,” to the New England visitor who wrote, “Every American should see the history of this beautiful land that has been preserved for generations to come. I m i s s i o n am very humbled.” We, as an organization and staff, are ourselves Inspiring and engaging generations through shared stories of Vermont’s rural culture and our humbled by these words, and they help to inspire and continued practice of responsible agriculture. propel us into the coming year with renewed vigor. We are ever appreciative and encouraged, as well, by the generosity of our members and the broader community, whose steadfast support undergirds our work ahead. David M. Simmons President, Woodstock Foundation Executive Director, Billings Farm & Museum 4 2019 REPORT Education Programs illings Farm & Museum presents Vermont Annual Fund donations, these students received free farm life as history, science, traditional culture, admission and no-cost bus transportation to the Farm Band human interaction with the environment. & Museum. We are proud to have nearly doubled the During 2019, 4,145 school children engaged with number of scholarship students between 2018 and 2019. our staff, the site, and our programs and collections to better understand these themes in the context Interpretive Programs of 19th-century Vermont and in their lives today. Thanks to the public appreciation for our thematic Curriculum-aligned, established school programs were days – Time Travel Tuesdays, Wagon Ride Wednesdays, well attended, as were various homeschool programs. and Foodways Fridays – we added Thursday Threads, Story Activity Time preschool programs continued to which features different interpretive, fabric-related, be popular, and our three sessions of Junior Farmer hands-on projects each week. Enhanced foodways Camps were sold out. programming was moved to center stage in our new Student Scholarships Learning Kitchen, where Museum interpretive staff and chefs from the Woodstock Inn & Resort demonstrated Joining us for school programs this year were 582 and engaged with guests and workshop participants scholarship students from underserved schools in throughout the season. Vermont and New Hampshire. With great thanks to This year, the Woodstock Inn & Resort’s Master Gardener, Ben Pauly, created a magical, 10,000-square- foot Sunflower House experience comprised of more than a dozen varieties of multi-sized sunflowers in a maze-like setting. Guests were enthralled by what will become an annual special addition to our landscape. We expanded our array of gardening activities, centered on our new Garden Shed, which was made possible by a very generous grant from the SpringRiver Private Foundation Trust. These new offerings included a pollinator garden with programs and information; a Victory Garden with programs and history; and weekly herbal tea happy hour events. First Artist-in-Residence Kristina Rodanas was the Artist-in-Residence at Billings Farm & Museum in 2019. She provided interactive demonstrations and classes on sketching, painting, and crafts for members and guests, school Junior Farmer children, and workshop participants, teaching on the Camp porch of the Garden Shed, on the farm landscape, and in classroom spaces. 2019 REPORT 5 Thursday Threads Making Butter Doing laundry by hand on Time Travel Tuesday 6 2019 REPORT Farm and Dairy Programs he quality of our renowned herd of Jerseys continued to improve this year. In the final Tclassification of the Billings herd in November, the overall rating averaged 88 with several adult and young cows newly classified as Excellent and Very Good, respectively.