Month: November 2017

There has been a tradition of telling Christmas ghost stories for hundreds of years, and the Victorians were particularly good at it. Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” – published in 1843 – was not only the most successful book of that holiday season, but it is a perennial favorite and has been made into multiple film and television versions.

So when the planners of Lantern Light Tours at Mystic Seaport sat down earlier this year to determine the story for this year’s production, talk of ghosts quickly arose. In addition to being fans of Dickens, many in this crew love Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” as well. “We thought it would be fun to Victorian-ize ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’,” said Denise Kegler, the program manager for Lantern Light Tours. And so Lantern Light Tours: “The Spirit of the Holiday: A Christmas Ghost Story” was born.

Written by Rebecca Bayreuther Donohue, a local historian, author, and Mystic Seaport staff member, this beloved Museum tradition runs weekends through December 23. And while there is a ghostly element, Kegler says, “It’s warm-hearted and cheerful, with a touch of ghost.”

There are five scenes in the production, which take place across the Museum’s 19 acres. Because of the popularity of Lantern Light Tours, there are two schedules that run concurrently, a red tour and a green tour. Each tour follows the same story, but takes place at different locations across the grounds. A cast of about 60 makes up the two tours.

The opening scene includes both tours, however, as it involves the Victorian athletic competition of Pedestrianism. This is a sport that came into vogue after the Civil War, Kegler explains, and it’s basically speed walking in garish outfits. The two competitors in this particular race, which happens in the Greenmanville Church, are real: Edward Payson and Dan O’Leary. Because this race is happening in 1876, the nation’s centennial, expect very patriotic costuming.

The storyline is based on this race – it is a charity event to raise money for destitute sailors. As the play progresses from location to location, a mystery unfolds and visitors’ sleuthing skills are put to the test! As they go, each group meets a pair of eccentric sisters, some traveling spiritualists, and a mysterious sailor who looks a lot like a jolly old fellow from the North Pole.

The message is true to 38 years of Lantern Light Tours, Kegler said. “The true Christmas spirit is always found in human kindness and being good to one another.”

Lantern Light Tours runs weekends through December 23. Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

There are a lot of halls – and vessels and outbuildings and doors – to deck at Mystic Seaport. Work begins before the Halloween candy wrappers have even been swept off the Village sidewalks.

Made out of boxwood, spruce, fir, juniper, white pine, flat cedar, winter berry, 170 wreaths and 400 to 500 feet of garland are the stars of the Mystic Seaport holiday trimming. Garden Supervisor Julia Jankowski oversees a team of about a dozen volunteers who, over 18 total days, create all that out of piles of greenery and boxes of decorations. Gardener Steve Sisk makes nearly all the garland by hand.

The wreaths range in size from 10 inches (147) to 72 inches (the iconic decoration on Brant Point Light) and are hung throughout the Village and visitor centers in time for the opening of Lantern Lights Tours (this year on November 24).

[embedit snippet=”decking-the-halls”] 

Jankowski says she couldn’t do it without her volunteers, who gather in the greenhouse in Tuesday and Thursday mornings starting in early November. There are printouts of the list of wreaths that have to be created and where they will be hung. Some are always the same, like the star-shaped wreath for the Treworgy Planetarium, and the shell wreath on the Mallory building. Some are left up to the wreath-maker’s own creativity.

Thirteen of the wreaths are made from scratch using greens gathered from the Museum ground, and the rest arrive formed but in need of decoration.

Additionally, Christmas trees are placed atop the Museum’s signature vessels, the Charles W. Morgan, L.A. Dunton, and Joseph Conrad. A tree is also placed top the Breeches Buoy on the Village Green. The trees went up on November 20, placed by riggers Matthew Otto and Sarah Clement.

You can enjoy the holiday spirit at Mystic Seaport during the day or during Lantern Light Tours, which runs weekends beginning November 24 through December 23. Please note winter schedule begins Monday, November 27: the Museum will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday-Sunday, starting that week.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has recognized the Thompson Exhibition Building for an achievement in design.

The building earned an Honor Award-With Distinction at the AIA QUAD 2017 Design Awards in Albany, New York. The annual QUAD (Quality Unites Architectural Design) Conference brings together the AIA chapters from Connecticut, New Jersey, New York State and Pennsylvania.

The AIA QUAD Awards jury commented: “Whimsical and joyful, this project has very strong imagery: the jury admired its resilience and its work with glulam structure to connect with traditional shipbuilding imagery.”

The award was presented to Chuck Mueller of Centerbrook Architects & Planners, who designed the building for Mystic Seaport.

This marks the second award the Thompson Exhibition Building has received. The 21,000-square-foot facility was designed as a keynote building for the McGraw Gallery Quadrangle on the Museum grounds and features an exhibit hall, welcome center, retail shop, and wraparound deck.