Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center to Host WWI Family Day on June 17

On Sunday, June 17, 2018, from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m., Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center (KTM&HC), 132 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT, will be hosting a free WWI-themed Family Day commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the ending of the war.

Visitors will meet historical WWI reenactors on the museum's front lawn, including soldiers from both sides of the conflict, the only working WWI American Rolling Kitchen in the world, and a restored WWI ambulance.

Visitors will also be able to explore the historic rooms of the museum, including the newly reinterpreted Cass Gilbert Dining Room, which tells the story of the Gilbert Family who summered at the 'Cannonball House' in the early 20^th Century. Julia Gilbert will be hosting a doughboy send-off in the Garden House, as she did for every Ridgefield doughboy during the war.

In the Cass Gilbert Carriage Barn, visitors can view original WWI propaganda posters and imagine life on the Western Front by walking through a life-sized replica trench.

The Ridgefield Historical Society will display their "Ridgefield Answers the Call" storyboards, and the American Legion will host an info booth. Amy Piantaggini, of the Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance, will perform a popular dance from the period, "Spirit of the Incense."

Activities for kids include planting a victory garden, typing a letter to a veteran on a typewriter, have their name drawn in beautiful calligraphy, drawing family trees, and playing outdoor, period games such as croquet.

Admission to Family Day is free thanks to a generous grant from the Ridgefield Thrift Shop. Food and refreshment will be available for purchase from Zawack Shack.

WWI Family Day is part of "Ridgefield Remembers WWI," a year-long series hosted by the WWI Town Committee to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the end of WWI in 1918.

The Keeler Tavern Museum, 132 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, presents three centuries of the region’s history through the lives of the families that occupied the site starting in 1713. It offers docent-led tours of its period-furnished Museum building February through December, and its Cass Gilbert-designed Carriage Barn, Garden House, and garden are venues for many public and private events. More information may be found at www.keelertavernmuseum.org or on the museum’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/KeelerTavernMuseum.

Photo caption: Cass and Julia Gilbert, portrayed by Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center docents Charlie and Judi Pankenier, pose before Julia's portrait in the Cass Gilbert Dining Room in the museum, where a new Gilbert Story display will open at KTM&HC's WWI Family Day on Sunday, June 17, 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.