Civil War battles, vintage bric-a-brac and farm animal breeds from bygone days will take center stage this weekend across the western suburbs as several events pay tribute to the past while raising money for contemporary historical and educational programs.
Entertainment options include Graue Mill and Museum’s May Antiques Market in Oak Brook, Civil War Days at Naper Settlement in Naperville and a Rare Breeds Show and Sale at Garfield Farm near Geneva.
Antiques extravaganza: More than 65 dealers from eight states are booked for Graue Mill’s third annual Antiques Market from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday under tents at the Oak Brook Polo Fields, 31st Street just west of York Road in Oak Brook. Vintage wares will include quilts, rugs, books, prints, posters, furniture, fine art, folk art and architectural artifacts.
A garden area will feature decorative annuals, topiaries and hanging baskets, and a Graue booth will sell stone-ground cornmeal and provide information on a $1 million restoration project in progress at the historic Graue home, which dates to the 1850s. A booth aimed at beginning collectors will offer antiques and collectibles priced at $200 and under.
Admission to the show is $6 at the gate; presale tickets may be purchased for $5 at the museum and at several Hinsdale shops. A breakfast and slide lecture and an early buying preview also are scheduled in conjunction with the event.
Catherine Fallin, author of several books on gardening and interior design, will discuss the gardens of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Oak Brook Bath & Tennis Club, 800 Oak Brook Rd.; tickets are $20 and include breakfast. An early buyers preview is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Polo Fields; tickets are $35 and include a light buffet.
For more information, call Graue Mill and Museum at 630-655-2090. Proceeds from the show will be used for exhibits at the site and refurbishment projects on the third floor of the museum.
Civil War Days: Union and Confederate re-enactment forces will battle for supremacy Saturday and Sunday on the grounds of Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St. in Naperville. Events will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. both days, with major battle re-enactments scheduled from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. both days. The 13-acre Naper Settlement will become Pine Creek, a fictitious Illinois border community of 1864.
In addition to battles and infantry and artillery drills, the weekend will include Civil War-era fashion shows, re-creations of presidential press conferences with Abraham Lincoln and visits with re-enactors portraying Mary Todd Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Mary Surratt and John Wilkes Booth.
Admission to Naper Settlement’s Civil War Days is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for children 4 to 17. For more information, call the 19th Century living history village at 630-420-6010 or 630-305-5555.
Historic critters: Dutch belted cows, red wattle hogs and royal palm turkeys will be among the dozens of vintage breeds on display from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Garfield Farm Museum, 5 miles west of Geneva on Garfield Road just north of Illinois Highway 38. The 1840s farm museum’s 14th annual Rare Breeds Show and Sale also will feature demonstrations of sheep herding, sheep shearing, wool carding and weaving.
Many of the rare and historic breeds of farm animals and fowl on exhibit were common in the mid-19th Century, when Garfield Farm was established as a working farm and teamster inn.
Other breeds expected to be on display at the show include Devon oxen; milking shorthorn and Irish Dexter cattle; Gulf Coast Native, Cotswold and wrinkled Merino sheep; Icelandic, Andalusian and Clydesdale horses; Golden Laced, Dominique, Black Java and Black Sumatra chickens; and Buff, Pomeranian, Sebastopol and Pilgrim geese.
A donation of $5 for adults and $2 for children under 13 is requested of those attending; proceeds benefit Garfield Farm programs. Refreshments will be available.
For more information, call Garfield Farm at 630-584-8485.
