1860s LIFESTYLE EXPOSITION SEPT. 17-18, 2011, AT NATHANAEL GREENE/CLOSE MEMORIAL PARK

August 30, 2011

News release from Friends of the Garden, Springfield, Missouri

For more information, contact Michelle Atkinson at 417.725.4921 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

1860s LIFESTYLE EXPOSITION SEPT. 17-18, 2011,

AT NATHANAEL GREENE/CLOSE MEMORIAL PARK

This year’s sesquicentennial of the Civil War is the perfect time to visit the 1860s Lifestyle Exposition at the Gray/Campbell Farmstead, the mid-nineteenth century farmhouse—the oldest home in Greene County—that was moved to Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park in 1984 from the intersection of James River and Kansas Expressways.

The two-day event, now in its 20th year, will be held Sept.17-18, 2011. Saturday hours are 11 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 4:30 p.m.

“The whole family can learn what life was like during the 1860s, the period of the Civil War,” said Michelle Atkinson, president of the Friends of Gray/Campbell Farmstead. “We will have demonstrations of hearth cooking, fiber arts, woodcarving, storytelling and music, and, new this year, an Irish tinker demonstration. We are excited to have alpacas as part of our fiber arts demonstrations.”

The event is free to the public, but donations are appreciated.

On Saturday only, horseshoe pitching and seed-spitting contests as well as an old-time fiddle and music jam will be held. “All spectators can join in the contests and, for the music, there is no charge and no pre-registration unless you want stage opportunity,” said Atkinson.

Sunday’s events include the fourth annual apple pie-baking contest at 3 p.m. (rules are at www.graycampbellfarmstead.org), and an 11 a.m. outdoor service, reminiscent of an old-fashioned brush arbor meeting.

Related events include the Liberty School Reunion at 10 a.m. on Saturday with guest speaker John Mitchell and the Historic Schools Summit on September 16-17 at the University of Missouri Extension office in the Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center. Liberty School is a one-room schoolhouse located near Fellows Lake at Fair Grove, Missouri. The Friends of the Gray/Campbell Farmstead are in the process of fundraising to move the structure to the park, located at 2400 S. Scenic Ave.

The Friends of the Gray/Campbell Farmstead is one of several nonprofits that partner with Friends of the Garden to fulfill its mission of inspiring the discovery, understanding and appreciation of nature by creating and maintaining the more than two dozen botanical gardens and the Dr. Bill Roston Butterfly House in the 114-acre public park and arboretum in southwest Springfield.