Guilford Keeping Society Offers Blue Star Museum Plan

The Guilford Keeping Society with its two museums has announced its participation in Blue Star Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and a record-breaking 2,000 museums across America.

Through this joint effort, the Keeping Society’s Medad Stone Tavern and Thomas Griswold House will offer free admission to the nation’s active duty military personnel and their families from now through Labor Day. This offer includes National Guard and Reserve as well.

The program provides military families an opportunity to enjoy the nation's cultural heritage and learn more about their new communities after completing a military move.

“Our two museums offer visitors a chance to step back in time to the early days of the republic and give a taste of early Guilford,” says Pat Lovelace, the director of both museums. “The Griswold House was built in 1774, and this summer offers a special exhibit on the lives of children in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century.”

The Tavern offers a slightly later view, as it was built in 1803, and reflects the generations of the Davis and Hubbard families that lived there from the nineteenth through the twentieth century. Pat adds,  “While at the Tavern, visitors will want to see one of our most exciting new acquisitions, The Armistead Colonial Crafts Village. Donald Armistead created the one-twelfth scale village to represent the workshops of six colonial craftspeople. Armistead learned each of the six trades featured in the village--blacksmithing, carpentry, cooperage, weaving, basket-weaving, and broom-making-in order to outfit the buildings with authentic and working parts. It’s an incredibly detailed work of art.”

The Thomas Griswold House is open during the summer Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.  The Griswold House is located at 171 Boston St. Summer hours for The Medad Stone Tavern, at 197 Three Mile Course, are Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment.  More information is available at guilfordkeepingsociety.com or by calling 203.453.3176.

“Blue Star Museums is a collaboration between the arts and military communities," said NEA Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa. “Our work with Blue Star Families and with more than 2,000 museums ensures that we can reach out to military families and thank them for their service and sacrifice.”

Leadership support has been provided by MetLife Foundation through Blue Star Families. The complete list of participating museums is available at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.