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Roosevelt Homes and Vanderbilt Mansion to Welcome Guests at Holiday Open Houses
Hyde Park's National Historic Sites - the home of Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-Kill, and the Vanderbilt Mansion - and the FDR Presidential Library and Museum will throw open their doors to welcome in guests for the holidays with three evenings of holiday open houses. Each of the historic homes and the FDR Presidential Library will remain festively decorated through the end of December.
The first event is Friday, November 30 at the Vanderbilt Mansion on Route 9, from 6 to 9pm. Visitors enjoy the glitter and the gold of a gilded age holiday celebration as well as music and refreshments. It is a wonderful way to experience the life of the rich and famous.
A week later, on Friday, December 7, at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site on Route 9G, from 6pm to 9pm visitors can get an intimate glimpse at a typical Roosevelt family Christmas as it was celebrated during the 1950s. The Stone Cottage at Val-Kill is decorated and open for viewing and refreshments.
On Saturday, December 8, from 1 to 5pm the FDR Presidential Library and Museum and Teaching the Hudson Valley will present the second Children's Book Festival with guest appearances by nationally known children's book authors, Daniel and Jill Pinkwater and author/fireman Don Estes and other Hudson Valley children's authors. Children can meet the authors, have their photographs taken with Santa and prepare holiday greeting cards for the service men and women who serve on the USS Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Refreshments will be served.
On the evening of December 8, from 6 to 9pm there will be holiday open house at the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site where visitors can learn about how the nation's 32nd President spent a typical holiday in Hyde Park. Passages will be read from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a Roosevelt family tradition.
The same evening of December 8, visitors can visit at the Franklin D. Presidential Library and Museum, which will be decorated for the holidays. This open house will also provide a last chance to see the special exhibit, Freedom From Fear: FDR Commander Chief, which closes on December 31, 2007.
All of these events are free and open to the public. A visit to Historic Hyde Park can provide some excellent holiday shopping opportunities with the New Deal Store at the Henry Wallace Center, the Vanderbilt Mansion Store and the Val-Kill Store offering unusual, appropriate and memorable gifts.
Historic Hyde Park is a group of government and private nonprofit organizations based in Hyde Park, New York. Each has a unique mission, but all are united in their dedication to extending the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt to new generations. HHP includes the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, and Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. For more information about HHP visit www.HistoricHydePark.org.
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