Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Romance will be in air at the Macpherson House on July 4 as the Lennox and Addington Museum and Archives kicks off the summer season with a new event, Love by the River.
Billed as a date night, Love by the River will be hosted on the grounds of the historic site and feature a charcuterie dinner from Ellena’s Café, live music from Beach Guitar Works and photos from Becky Hinch.
“It should be a lot of fun for people to just bring their picnic baskets and have their date night by the river,” said Alannah MacGregor, programs and exhibition coordinator with the L&A Museum.
The cost is $150 per couple and includes a picnic dinner, access to the Macpherson House grounds and one digital photo from the evening, with the option to buy more photos. Of course the event isn’t limited to romantic couples.
Registration for the event, which must be done by June 27, can be done by visiting https://countymuseum.square.site/product/love-by-the-river-date-night-at-macpherson-house/504.
Love by the River marks the start of a busy summer of events at the historic house, with over 20 programs scheduled throughout July and August.
“Everything from a Fishing 101 demonstration to a garden talk with the Horticultural Society to a youth sensory yoga class. We’re really spanning the gamut here,” said MacGregor. “Our guiding theme was connections, that’s how we picked our programs. Connection with nature or connection with yourself or connection to fun even. We do still have our more traditional art programs, we’re painting rock lady bugs one day, another is spray paint stencils with the Kingston School of Arts.”
Events will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays with Tuesdays being demo days with various demonstrations and Thursdays known as imagination days.
While visiting the home for an event, the bottom floor will be open for guests to visit. More detailed tours will be offered all summer long every Wednesday from 1 to 4 p.m. New this year, the guided tours will draw inspiration from the children’s book The Secret of Willow Castle, which was written in 1966 by Lynn Cook.
“It was based off a picture frame that the author found in Macpherson House, it was on display,” said MacGregor. “She did a short children’s story about it, it’s only about 200 pages. It’s about Henrietta Macpherson, one of the daughter’s of Allan Macpherson, so she would have grown up in the home. It’s a historical fiction just based of her life and what she would have experienced living here in Napanee in the 1830s.”
A full list of events at the Macpherson House can be found at https://countymuseum.ca/programs-and-events/.
Built circa 1826, the historic Macpherson House is located at 180 Elizabeth St. and was home to Allan Macpherson who played a prominent role in Napanee’s early days, being both politically active and as an early entrepreneur.