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Pottsgrove By Candlelight - Mansion Tour

Presented by Pottsgrove Manor historic site at Pottsgrove Manor

December 13, 2009

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Visitors will be welcomed through the front doors of Pottsgrove Manor and invited to step back in time to experience the holiday season as it would have been celebrated by English colonists over 250 years ago. “Pottsgrove by Candlelight” brings the visitor into this historical world to meet the people of Pottsgrove—particularly the servants and slaves whose work allowed the John and Ruth Potts, their thirteen children, and their guests to enjoy the high life. Costumed interpreters will bring Pottsgrove Manor to life as visitors tour the house. In the formal parlor, the housekeeper organizes her staff to ‘deck the halls’ and ornament the stately mansion with sprigs of holly, mistletoe and other greens. Elegant side tables are being assembled with sparkling glassware pyramids holding all manner of sweet delights, the construction supervised to perfection by the butler. In the servants’ hall, chambermaids discuss options for the positioning of decorative greenery, the merits of various wassail recipes, and how properly to ‘clove’ an orange. In the kitchen, the head cook and her assistants are busy preparing authentic colonial dishes and cooking them in the large hearth. After touring the house, visitors can watch eighteenth century country dancing and enjoy the music of a harp and a harpsichord in the 1820s addition to the Manor, shop for seasonal gifts in the Museum Shop, and warm themselves by a bonfire in the courtyard. For a small fee, visitors can also enjoy a cup of spiced cider and cookies in the historic Miller’s House next to the mansion, and younger guests can try their hand at making a pomander (a fragrant, clove-studded orange) to take home. In addition to the special candlelight tours, the house exhibit “Twelfth Night at Pottsgrove Manor,” which shows the mansion might have been decorated for the winter holidays. Pottsgrove Manor is operated by Montgomery County under the direction of the Parks and Heritage Services Department.