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Why You Should Consider Giving to Us

1. Each year, we provide direct, hands-on learning experiences to hundreds and hundreds of school children at Landis Valley Village& Farm Museum. We teach them the really amazing history, the actual life skills, and the origins of what we have today that came from our ancestors right here in South Central PA. We help them discover what life was really like here from the 1700s through the mid-20th century through tours, workshops, demonstrations, and craft or trade skill classes and workshops. This is learning that is not available in most public or private schools, yet is incredibly important to understanding where we came from, how we got to where we are, and how the future is up to us to create with the same inventive fervor our ancestors had.
2. Our property is one of the few historic properties in the region with historic breeds of animals and heirloom plants. We have one of the few heirloom seed gardens that provides packaged heirloom seeds, currently for limited distribution. Our desire is to increase our impact in both livestock and gardening to provide both learning and actual usable stock to more and more persons interested in preserving our dwindling sources of heirloom agricultural stock.
3. Every year, hundreds of families visit for truly healthy family entertainment that helps strengthen both the family and the concept of a supportive community through learning how a strong supportive community worked right here to build what we have today. In the spring, our annual Herb Faire provides gardeners with an amazing variety of planting options, including our heirloom plants. In the fall, Harvest Days takes families through dozens of hands-on demonstrations of old skills, such as how to make apple butter, maple syrup, wooden bowls, rope, molasses, fabric from plants and animals, and many other items that households used to make for themselves rather than just running to the local store. Throughout the year, there are special Hands-On History Days for adults and children to learn together about real old-fashioned farm chores or hearthside cooking or traditional crafts or even how archeologists learn from the garbage that people threw away hundreds of years ago. And of course we have over 100 classes and workshops that are provided at barely over cost to help preserve these skills for future generations.
4. Many, many visitors each year travel from far away to visit us. They visit our area from both other states and other countries, generating income for local businesses. We desire to increase that impact within our community every year by making Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum the premier destination it should be. Our historic property is considered to be one of the top historic “gem” resources in this part of the country. We just need the resources to make more people aware of what we have here.