The City of New Philadelphia and Ohio Historical Society will each be presenting and planting a tree at the Village to commemorate Arbor Day.  Along with Arbor Day, Schoenbrunn is celebrating Ohio Historical Society’s 125^th Anniversary.  April 29^th will be an event that invites the entire community to come together.  Complimentary coffee and breakfast pastries will be available starting at 9:30am with a tree planting ceremony held at 10:00am by speakers Mayor Mike Taylor and Burt Logan, Executive Director of Ohio Historical Society.  After the ceremony students from New Philadelphia City Schools will assist in planting 125 native Ohio trees throughout Schoenbrunn Village to commemorate both occasions.

Both celebrations extend an invitation to the area to return to Schoenbrunn.  Going back to the beginning of Schoenbrunn’s history in 1772, the Village was about creating community, site director Laura Milarcik stated “that the 2010 Arbor Day Celebration will also help create lasting memories for the community by planting and providing visitors with free trees.”  Those attending the ceremony will be offered free trees to plant at their homes.  Over 200 seedlings will be passed out to visitors throughout the day as they come to the celebration.  All trees have been donated by Schoenbrunn Landscaping with a sponsorship by Dominion and a donation of Buckeye trees from Gooding’s Nursery to plant at Schoenbrunn Village.

Schoenbrunn’s Arbor Day Celebration invites the public to not only enjoy the beauty of the trees, but walk through the Village and lower park facility as students help plant trees  while Schoenbrunn gears up for a new season.  The 125^th Anniversary and Arbor Day Celebration will begin a full summer and fall schedule for the Village with an official opening on Memorial Day and two special events prior to the seasonal opening including a Lantern Tour on Saturday May 15 and Free Community Day on Saturday May 22.

Schoenbrunn Village invites all of the community to celebrate Arbor Day and the 125^th Anniversary of Ohio Historical Society as the Village opens its gates, free of admission, to share in planting trees.  Trees will be handed out on a first come basis beginning after the 10:00am ceremony and lasting until 12:30pm.  For more information on the Arbor Day Celebration or Historic Schoenbrunn Village contact 740.922.6776 or visit us at www.ohiosfirstvillage.com and on Facebook.  Schoenbrunn Village is managed by the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum under the ownership of Ohio Historical Society.

Along with a scrumptious buffet dinner served in the soft glow of lantern light, this fundraising event will also include musical entertainment throughout the evening and a look toward the exciting upcoming season of Schoenbrunn Village.  Guests will also be able to contribute to the Village by bidding on a wide selection of silent auction gifts from a number of sponsors and volunteers, including a special Historic Schoenbrunn Village Wedding Package, handcrafted art pieces, and popular Village artwork.  There will also be two raffle chances to support Schoenbrunn, a 50/50 raffle drawing and special Schoenbrunn Event Package for the all new ‘Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ program to be presented on the lower level of Historic Schoenbrunn Village in October.

The Lantern Light Dinner will also open the opportunity to all those interested in the second year of the ‘Adopt-a-Cabin’ program.  For 2009, 11 of the 18 structures were adopts.  Incoming site director Laura Milarcik is enthusiastic that the 2010 ‘Adopt-a-Cabin’ program will exceed last year’s favorable response.  Cabin adoption information will be available for all those curious in sponsoring Schoenbrunn Village at the Lantern Light Dinner.

Milarcik encourages all those interested in this great way to help preserve one of Tuscarawas County’s historic attractions to contact the Dennison Depot for more information.  Cabin sponsorships begin at $500 for smaller structures to $5,000 for the adoption of the Spring House.  Sponsorships will be used to help Schoenbrunn Village more into a new phase.

Advance tickets for the Lantern Light Dinner are required and can be purchased at the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum.   Individuals will be $25.00 and couples $50.00.  The evening will begin at 5:30pm with dinner served at 6:00pm. To find a complete list of upcoming events for Historic Schoenbrunn Village visit www.ohiosfirstvillage.com or find us on Facebook.  For more information about the dinner, cabin adoption or to make your reservations today, contact the Depot at depotmarketing@tusco.net or 740.922.6776.

The Trade Fair will be held at the historic Schoenbrunn Village in New Philadelphia, Ohio. It will be open to the public on Saturday, October 17 from 10am to 4 pm and on Sunday October 18 from 10am to 3 pm.

Come visit with some of the most talented artisans, traders, re-enactors, native Indian re-enactors, and military groups portraying colonial life in the American colonies from 1750 thru 1789. This is a juried event so only the best of the best will be allowed to participate.

You will have the chance to eat period foods, purchase period goods that will include 18th century clothing, leather goods, period furniture, tin and copper ware, flintlock firearms, edged weapons, native trade silver, 18th century art and so much more.

Walk among the traders, talk with the re enactors, visit the native encampment to learn what life on the 18th century frontier was like. Watch a colonial Doctor perform his work on his “patients”. Watch 18th. Century book binding and even be able to purchase a 1733 Bible! Hear and see the blacksmith pounding out his iron wares.

Don’t miss out on what is sure to be a Fantastic weekend of historical fun for the whole family. See you at the Fair!

Historic Schoenbrunn Village, a recreated 1772 missionary settlement, will hold a new event on Saturday, June 20 from 6 to 9p.m., called “Dusk in the Village.”

This family event is designed to share with visitors through demonstrations and hands-on activities what would typically take place in a 1770s colonial village at dusk.  Join costumed guides as they complete their family chores for the evening by lantern light.

Writing letters and updating journals were a typical evening past time of the era, and visitors will have the opportunity to try their hand at writing with ink and quill in the schoolhouse. Tending and watering the garden and taking care of the animals before dark are also on the chore list.

Storytelling by firelight was a very popular form of entertainment in the evening, and visitors will be welcome to sit by the fire and hear a good tale.  Musicians would pull out their instruments or sing by the fire as well.  Candle making, games, toy making and cooking will also be featured.

As the settlers lived off the land, they would also spent time cleaning their guns and preparing musket balls for the next hunt.  Sewing and spinning by candle light will also be demonstrated.

Admission to Historic Schoenbrunn Village is $7 adults, $5 seniors, $4 students 7 to 17, under 7 is free.

The Village includes 17 recreated cabins, Ohio’s first schoolhouse and first church, as well as a museum, theater and gift shop.  The Village is open regularly for the summer Tuesday through Saturday 9 to 5, and Sundays noon to 5.

The Village is located at 1984 East High Avenue off of St Route 250, less than 5 minutes east of  I-77.

For additional information and a complete calendar of summer events, call 740-922-6776 or email schoenbrunnvillage@ymail.com.

The popular Lantern Tour will guide visitors by lantern light through the 17 cabins, schoolhouse and church of the recreated 18th Century Village settled in 1772 by missionary David Zeisberger.  Costumed docents will be reenacting the time period throughout the village with various demonstrations including candle making, hearth cooking, native American cooking, colonial life and flint napping.  Groups will feel as if they have traveled back In time as they carry their lantern through God’s Acre, the village’s cemetery, and the village as they walk from cabin to cabin.

The site also includes a theater, museum and gift shop.  Refreshments will also be served.

Admission to the Lantern Tours is $7.00 for adults, $6.00 for seniors, $4.00 for students. Under 7 is free. Historic Schoenbrunn Village is located in New Philadelphia, Ohio, off State Route 250, approximately 7 miles east of I-77. For additional information, call toll free 1-877-278-8020 or email schoenbrunnvillage@ymail.com.

The students from Mrs. Sharon Ricklic’s class at New Philadelphia’s York Elementary have been studying the history of Schoenbrunn throughout the school year, and are now ready to give tours on site. These students became very committed to the site when they agreed to sponsor the Schoolhouse and raise $3,000 to help restore the building.  They not only reached their goal by selling Cat’s Meow replicas of the Schoenbrunn Schoolhouse, caramel apples, and cookies at a cookie walk, but they helped leverage additional funding for the project which now totals $60,000.  They also contributed drawings each made of the cabins to raise funds at the Village’s February Lantern Light Dinner. These students have been active on site assisting with the care of the property, and will soon be planting the cornfields with the help of their parents.

On Sunday, they will don their newly made 18th Century period shirts and welcome visitors.  They are excited to share their knowledge of Historic Schoenbrunn, and to provide information on each building as visitors enter the structures.  Director Wendy Zucal shares that Mrs. Ricklic’s leadership in teaching her students local history, pride in their heritage and involvement in their Community is a wonderful model any teacher can adopt.  The students are now stakeholders in the site, and hopefully, will  continue to be involved for many years.

For information on Historic Schoenbrunn Village and the Free Community Day on May 3, call toll free 1-877-278-8020.