2025 Programs & Events

The programs listed below are presented by the Friends of the Morrill Homestead in partnership with the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.

Please click on the program or event in the list below for more information, or scroll down.

PLEASE NOTE: The Morrill Homestead State Site will be closed for this 2025 Season due to major repairs on the grounds but The Friends are still planning some wonderful off-site events.  Please check them out below.

You can register and pay securely online for many events.

May

Wake Up the Garden: Cultivating Morrill’s Gardens (May 17)

June

Walking Tour of Justin Morrill’s Strafford Village (June 14)

Day Trip to Historic Sites (June 21)

July

Online Auction of “Morrill Minis” (July 4-11)

Walking Tour of Justin Morrill’s Strafford Village (July 12)

Morrill’s Speaker Series: What Really Matters (July 20)

 

August

Walking Tour of Justin Morrill’s Strafford Village (August 9)

Morrill’s Speaker Series: What Really Matters (August 10)

September

Walking Tour of Justin Morrill’s Strafford Village (September 13)

Morrill’s Speaker Series: What Really Matters (September 14)

 


Wake Up the Garden: Cultivating Morrill’s Historic Landscape

Saturday, May 17, 1-4 p.m.  A Free event!

Work with the Homestead’s Master Gardeners to prepare the Victorian gardens for the 2025 season. This day is very important because the kitchen garden will be impacted by the State VDHP drainage project in summer 2025.. The work on this day will be different given what work is ahead of gardens and grounds this season.  As always, we are so appreciative for our volunteers!

Come join us and become a part of Vermont’s history as we care for the historic landscape of this very influential American. You can earn all of your Master Gardener outreach hours with us.

What is provided:
Basic garden tools will be on hand. Snacks and beverages will be provided.

All welcome! No experience needed.

Event is free.  Please preregister:

Online: Register for free online
Phone: 802-649-2940
Email: director@morrillhomestead.org


Walking Tours of Morrill’s Strafford Village

Saturdays, June 14, July 12, Aug. 9 and Sept. 13

11 a.m. leaving from the Morrill Homestead Entrance

Historical tours of Strafford’s village which remains much the same as in Morrill’s time. Tours include Morrill’s birthplace, his father’s blacksmith shop, two libraries, the Strafford Town House, and the mausoleum where Morrill is buried.

$5.00; Children under 12 free   Please pay when you arrive.

Please preregister:
Online: Register online
Phone: 802-765-4288
Email: director@morrillhomestead.org

Sponsored by Strafford Saddlery


Custom Bus Tour Day Trip  to State Historic Sites

Saturday, June 21

Explore Vermont in a unique way on a guided day trip to popular historic attractions with links to Vermont State Senator Justin Morrill. The sites we will visit are:

— Hildene, the Lincoln Family Home
— Bennington Battle Monument
— Park–McCullough Historic Governor’s Mansion
— Robert Frost Stone House Museum

Join us on this all day chartered bus tour with guided tours at each site, lunch included, all for the price of $50 per person. Middle and high school grade students will be free if accompanied by an adult.

Click Here to Access the Itinerary for the Day Trip:

Register Here:
Online:
Register online

Contact director@morrilhomestead.org with questions.

Sponsored by Kate Cassidy at Four Seasons – Sotheby’s Realty and The Strafford Area Seniors

Underwritten by The Strafford Area Lion’s Club and Mascoma Bank


Minis for Morrill Online Auction: Finding Joy

Snow Day by Dierdre Dennis

We are excited to continue the tradition of mini paintings created by local artists that will be auctioned in a bidding process.  Our theme is Finding Joy.

Bidding opens July 4th

Bidding closes at 7p.m. July 11

View the auction at: new.BiddingOwl.com/JustinMorrillHomestead

50 magnificent 4″x4″ mini paintings by artists of regional and national reputation.

Stop by the new Strafford Village Cafe on Friday, July 5th from 5-7 pm for the Opening Reception 

Sponsored by Agatha’s and Kayden & Liepmann PC.


Morrill’s Speaker series: What Really Matters:  Free

July 20th at 4 pm at the Strafford Meetinghouse

Speaker TBA

Sponsored by VT Humanities.

 

 

August 10th at 4 pm at the Strafford Meetinghouse

Julia Alvarez, Photo Credit, Corey Hendrickson

Julia Alvarez, Dominican-American author and educator who writes about the immigrant’s experience and living in a world with a bicultural identity,  will read from her latest novel The Cemetery of Untold Stories and engage in a conversation onstage with Jon Stableford, FMH Board Chair, that will include audience participation.

 

 

Sponsored by Flint, Blake, & Boles Roofing and BGY Diversified

 

 

September 14th at 4 pm at the Strafford Meetinghouse

 

Shirley Jefferson, Faculty at The Vermont Law School

Shirley Jefferson –“Where Do We Go From Here”.

This talk will explore the experience of growing up in Selma, Alabama, during the Civil Rights movement. It will focus on the challenges faced during that time and highlight the accomplishments achieved. Additionally, the discussion will examine how both these historical experiences and achievements are currently being challenged by the new administration.

Sponsored by Flint, Blake, & Boles Roofing and BGY Diversified