Change of Seasons

curran fall1

I’ve always considered myself very fortunate to live in this great state of Maine, for several reasons honestly.  One of them being the beauty we get to experience of all our different seasons here.  Fall has always been my favorite season – I love the colors, the crisp air, the apple harvest, baking, and all the wonderful Fall activities.  With each season always comes a change, and we at The Curran Homestead are in the midst of our own season of change as well.

We have always embraced the history of family farming.  It’s roots run deep at the Curran Homestead, as the Curran family ran a dairy farm there, and lived off the land, including ice harvesting, and working in their wood lot.  We have always tried to share some of the many ways people experienced life on the family farm in the late 1800’s to early/mid 1900’s, from the way they lived to how they worked.  We will continue to honor these roots but like the trees of Fall, our branches are experiencing changes.

You may have heard of the closing of the Willowbrook Village in Newfield.  This wonderful village has a vast collection that spans many different areas of how life was lived during the same time period as we have worked with at the farm.  Thankfully this wonderful collection will not be lost.  It is being donated to various museums, and we at Curran are fortunate enough to be receiving the majority of the collection.

Some of the areas of life from that time that are represented in the collection include a country store, a print shop, a school-house, various equipment, carriages, and more including a wonderful 1894 steam-powered engine horse carousel.  The collection showcases various trades, aspects of domestic labor, and means of entertainment, and more.

So while this season of change will be a work in progress for us for a while, it is an exciting one for sure.  We will still celebrate the Curran farm and their ways of life, while adding to our landscape so many other ways that life was experienced.  It is an exciting time, and we are looking forward to sharing it with all of you.

Marian Jerome

About Marian Jerome

Marian spent her time growing up in the Brewer area, on a family farm that has been in her family for 120 years, where she still resides with her own family today. She attended Husson College, now called Husson University after high school. She is currently married and they have one lovely daughter.