DURHAM Patrick Ranch

Family Farm Day and Threshing Bee June 8, 2019, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Patrick Ranch Museum
10381 Midway, Durham, CA 95938
(530)-342-4359
patrickranchmuseum.org
$5 admission approx.

Entertainment

• Tractor & Draft Horse Parade
• Old Fashioned Wheat Harvest
• Bee, Stock Dog Demonstrations
• Vendor's Court
• Train Venue
• Kids Activities and Tram Rides
• Grand Farmhouse Tours
• Car & Truck Show
• Food Court
• Live Music
• Blacksmithing Demonstrations
   

It's a farm so you'll see animals, tractors and bugs, of course. If you're looking for something old-fashioned and wholesome, this is your best bet!

In addition to the annual Durham Harvest Festival and the Annual Country Fair & Threshing Bee on the Midway at the Patrick Ranch Museum, the many events throughout the year transport participants to simpler times. Back over 100 years to a time when the wheat harvest of the late 19th and early 20th centuries became a neighbor's honor and duty to help out with. Men and women moved from farm to farm to help harvest wheat, an event that is replayed at the Patrick Ranch Museum's field.

Listen to the sights and hear the sounds of antique binders, threshing machines, trucks and tractors. Magnificent working draft horses with enormous size, strength and stature move steadily through the fields in demonstrations that showcase why these animals have been so valuable throughout the centuries. The Threshing Bee experience is enhanced by vintage bee exhibits, award winning sheep dogs, and a phenomenal art show by the Plein Air Painters and local artists and craftsmen.

There will be a special emphasis on activities for children. At no cost, the kids will be able to make homemade lemonade , fish in the water fountain in the back yard and choose from a wide variety array of period arts and crafts. The planning for an exciting farm animal exhibit and our wonderful chicken coop and the girls” are waiting to meet you. Standing on viewing benches kids can observe the chickens on their nest and fresh eggs in plain sight.

Children hands on activities often include cooking the old-fashioned way, and more. A tram will weave through the Threshing Bee venues on the hour and half hour to facilitate Senior Citizens participation. The Midway Café will be open to provide something for all at the Food court. Tables dot the Glenwood's beautiful front and side lawn where families can leisurely eat their meal while being serenaded by live music. Bring your family by bike on the Midway Bike Trail.

The Threshing Bee: It is further enriched by period craft booths, a variety of farmers market's, small engine exhibits, blacksmiths at work. Visit the newly built Visitor Center and see the Almond exhibit. Tour the ranch and look for the bee exhibit.

Visit the newly restored Glenwood Farm house which will be open for viewing . Each room is fully decorated with furniture , wallpaper, rugs and historic period pieces. The Docents will tale the history of each room as you tour the beautiful original grandeur 1877 house. A video will be provided of the upstairs for those that cannot accommodate the stairs. Take a tour the Tank House Cellar which was used to preserve food.

The historic Patrick Ranch Museum is two miles south of Chico at 10381 Midway.

Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of cereal grain (or other crop) from the scaly, inedible chaff that surrounds it. It is the step in grain preparation after harvesting and before winnowing, which separates the loosened chaff from the grain. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain. Threshing may be done by beating the grain using a flail on a threshing floor. Another traditional method of threshing is to make donkeys or oxen walk in circles on the grain on a hard surface. A modern version of this in some areas is to spread the grain on the surface of a country road so the grain may be threshed by the wheels of passing vehicles. However, in developed areas it is now mostly done by machine, usually by a combine harvester, which harvests, threshes, and winnows the grain while it is still in the field. The cereal may be stored in a threshing barn. A Threshing Bee is a festival held in communities to commemorate this process.

Events are not guaranteed. It is your responsibility to confirm before going.