19th Century Willowbrook Village in Newfield hosts its annual ice harvest Jan. 30. This photo from the 2015 harvest shows how it’s done.
At the same time, those looking for some fun would pile onto bobsleds and ride down the hills.
On Jan. 30, people can do both again during an annual handson ice harvest on Mill Pond in the 19th-Century Willowbrook Village. They’ll also have a chance to ride on a horse-drawn bobsled, then warm their bones with a bowl of chili and a square of cornbread at the village’s Victorian Kitchen.
Ice harvesting was a regular winter event in many parts of Maine in the 19th century and early 20th century. A handson ice harvest will take place at 19th Century Willowbrook Village in Newfield Jan. 30. Here, harvesters during the 2015 harvest prepare to make the first saw cut.
In those days, instead of plowing the roads, the snow was packed down with big, horse-drawn rollers in many New England communities.
Local historian Janet Colwell has a photograph showing Loring “Tom” Tarbox with a team of horses and a roller apparatus just outside the Masonic Hall in West Newfield. The last time the roads were rolled there may be lost to history, but the photo in Colwell’s possession is dated 1925.
Willowbrook Director Robert Schmick said the museum village has a snow roller that used to belong to the town. On Jan. 30 between 8 and 10 a.m., they’ll pull a small roller with draft horses to pack a trail for bobsled use later in the day.
“The ice harvest is a big event for us,” said Schmick.
Last year, about 50 adults and 125 youths came for the harvest. With sledding and more on tap this year, Schmick said he’s expecting a banner turnout.
Before modern refrigeration, ice was one of the few methods to keep things cool. The harvested ice was either put in an icehouse, where it was packed in sawdust for local families to use in the summer, or shipped across the country or around the world.
Ice harvesting for the Durgin family – who lived at Willowbrook in the days long before it was a museum – was most likely used locally, Schmick said.
Schmick has estimated that ice harvesting was popular in Maine through at least the 1930s, even later in some locales. Before home refrigerators became popular, most homes were equipped with ice boxes – usually a well-insulated, free-standing kitchen cabinet that held a block of ice, with a drip pan underneath and shelves for food storage.
Festival participants will use antique tools to saw and harvest the ice. During the 2015 harvest, the ice was 18 inches thick. Someday, Schmick hopes to build an ice house; this year’s harvest will be used for kids to chip away at and placed around the open water as a safety measure.
Other festival activities include a bonfire, open blacksmith shops and more.
Restoration has been completed on a 17–foot-long bobsled with wooden runners, Schmick said, so two bobsleds drawn by Belgian horses will be available to take people for rides.
Jean Harvey, president of the Granite State Carriage Association in nearby New Hampshire, will be bringing a 100-year-old Buckboard “fancy sled” to offer rides as well.
In the old days, Harvey said, Buckboard sleighs were used as people today use a pickup truck, or as a family use a mini-van for outings.
“It even has a tailgate,” she said.
People can participate for free in the ice harvest, which begins at 10 a.m. and winds down at 2 p.m. Sled rides cost $5, and there is also a fee for chili, cornbread and hot cocoa, which will be available in the village’s Victorian Kitchen.
19th Century Willowbrook Village is open Thursday through Sunday from July through Columbus Day. While much of the museum village is closed the remainder of the off-season, Schmick schedules a series of classes in such old-time arts as knife making, metal casting, letterpress printing, heirloom blanket chest construction and more. And of course, there’s the annual ice harvest.
For more on the ice harvest or upcoming classes at Willowbrook, call 793-2784, email director@willowbrookmuseum.org or visit willowbrookmuseum.org.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com
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