HOLIDAY MIXER ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14th

5:30-7:30pm | FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14th
601 STATE STREET | BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY

The South Union Shaker Village Board of Directors invites you to attend a holiday cocktail mixer for an evening of renewing old acquaintances and making new ones. This special event is being held inside the Downtown Redevelopment Authority building at Circus Square; speakers will include Tommy Hines, Executive Director of South Union Shaker Village, and Tom Tomlinson, Executive Director of SKyPAC.

Appetizers and cocktails will be served in a festive setting.
$75/ person | Evening or cocktail attire is appropriate.

FIRST ANNUAL SOUTH UNION SHAKER VILLAGE

TURKEY SHOOT

The First Annual South Union Shaker Village Turkey Shoot will take place on Saturday November 3rd from 10 AM to 2 PM. This event is being co-sponsored and facilitated by The Rockcastle Shooting Club. Turkey Shoot participants will be shooting at a fixed targets (no turkeys will be harmed) and a prize will be given for the best shot. The cost per shot is only $5, and the shells are provided. Only 12 or 20 gauge shotguns will be used for this event.  The prizes for best shot in each round will include whole turkeys, turkey breasts, hams, and other items. A light lunch with a drink will be available for $5. Come out and support South Union Shaker Village and demonstrate your shooting skills. 

COMMUNITY EVENT BEGAN 50 YEARS AGO!

"Shakertown Revisited"
Cast Reunion Scheduled for September 15

Ruth Morris rehearses the cast of "Shakertown Revisited" for a performance in the 1970s.

Fifty years ago this summer, citizens of Auburn, Franklin, and Russellville, along with students from WKU, were preparing for the first performance of ìShakertown Revisited.î  The script had been written by Russell Miller, faculty member in Westernís drama department, using both manuscript records and published material on the Shakers.  The music, original Shaker melodies and turn of the century standards, was arranged by Ruth Morriss, faculty member in Westernís music department, who also directed the Civic Choral Club in the production.  Miller directed the dramatic portions of the production.  The original script called for nearly 40 speaking parts and the ìpageantî involved over 100 cast members.  Scores of other volunteers made costumes, assembled sets, and created publicity for the event.

The first performances were held July 20, 21 and 22 in the Auburn High School gym.   A Shaker Festival, held in conjunction with the pageant, included an antique show, an art show, crafts, concessions by the South Union Homemakers, tours of the historic buildings at South Union, and tours of the newly opened Shaker Museum in Auburn.  Initial response was overwhelming.

After ten years in the Auburn High School gym the pageant moved to a large tent in the back yard of the Centre House in the summer of 1972.  The museum collection had also moved from Auburn to the newly purchased Centre House that year.  Instead of running for three days, the pageant and festival were presented over a ten day period, then eventually over three weekends.  In 1987 a pavilion was constructed as a permanent home for the production.  Unfortunately, due to rising costs and fewer volunteers, the summer tradition of ìShakertown Revisitedî ended in 1990.

On Saturday, September 15, the South Union Shaker Village will host a reunion of former cast members and fans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the pageant.  A box lunch will be served at noon, after which will be an opportunity to reminisce and to tour the historic buildings. For reservations for the Pageant Cast Reunion, please call:  270-542-4167 or email shakmus@logantele.com.

Cost for the event, (which also includes admission to the annual MUSIC IN THE BARN event from 2:00 until 5:00 pm that afternoon) is $20.


SPONSORED BY:

AUBURN LEATHER CO. [one of the original sponsors in 1962]

A REMARKABLE FIND!

A photograph documenting the 1923 destruction of the 1847 East House was recently discovered in a family home by Mark Hardison, Woodburn, Kentucky. Mark, who is a former member of South Union’s Board of Directors, graciously contributed several pages from a ca. 1923 album once owned by his grandparents, William Irvin and Minnie Ruth Wells Hardison.  The Hardisons came to work for Oscar Bond soon after he took possession of the former Shaker village of South Union in 1922. In the album were several photographs of the Centre House, but the picture that proved to be the most valuable was one of the East House in the midst of being torn down. A tornado struck the building on March 11, 1923, not only heavily damaging the structure but ripping away most of its roof. Soon after, Oscar Bond directed his hired men to take the building down.  Finished in 1847, the East House was South Union’s largest communal dwelling. Several photographs of the building’s exterior have been published, but images that provided information about the interior had never surfaced, until now. Photographed looking north, workers have obviously begun to tear away the building’s “ell” first. From this vantage point the image reveals a large arch on the second floor and a smaller arch on the third, an arrangement identical to the interior of the Centre House. These arches opened into cross halls with doors on the second floor and windows on the third that opened east and west for light, access and ventilation. Evidence of baseboard, chair rail and peg rail are visible in the photo, as is the plaster that was applied directly to the brick walls. It is likely that the meeting room was on the second floor and that retiring rooms occupied space on the third; similar to what is found in the Centre House. The door on the fourth floor undoubtedly led into the East House attic. Unlike the Centre House, the front section of the fourth floor housed an additional level of retiring rooms, not low-ceilinged garret rooms.

The South Union Shaker Village is most grateful to Mark Hardison, who donated these photographs in memory of his grandparents, William Irvin Hardison (1895-1970) and Minnie Ruth Wells Hardison (1896-1987).