GMPA's Events for 2022

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Visit The Academy

We are open every Saturday afternoon throughout the summer, and by appointment.


Our Location

We are located at 32 Academy Circle
in the village of South Woodstock.

Our mailing address is Post Office Box 143, South Woodstock, VT 05071.


Living History

Preserved as an historic example of mid-19th century education, the Green Mountain Perkins Academy reflects the life and times of a community and its school more than 100 years ago.

The schoolroom where so many students learned so much.

GMPA's Book of Historic Photos

The Rural Landscape Revealed

"The Rural Landscape Revealed"
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2022 Events

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 3PM OPENING DAY & STATE MARKER UNVEILING.  Join us for a first glimpse of South Woodstock's first historical MARKER.  Strawberry shortcake and beverages will be served!  Drop by or RSVP if you are planning on coming: Marymaple13@gmail.com 

SATURDAY AUGUST 6TH, 3PM  RANDALL ROAD HIKE.   Meet at the Academy for a guided hike along Randall Road. We'll stop at the Cemetery to view the stones of some of South Woodstock's earliest settlers.  Despite high heat, a good time was had by all.  

For more information about Randall and the sites along the road, click OverviewRandall LineageRandall Photos.                                    

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH, ANNUAL MEETING AT 2PM.  Local author Cassie Horner discussed her book, "Lucy E.- Road to Victory", the engaging tale of a New England farmer's life in Vermont and New Hampshire during the 1800's.  It's a riveting story of a Vermont woman whose life was full of tribulations and challenges in hard times, with five husbands, arson and ultimate happiness. 

Cassie is a well-known journalist and publisher in Vermont, and the co-founder of Rutland Magazine.  Her article on the Academy will be coming out in the winter edition of Woodstock Magazine,.

FROM THE PAST: 2021 

Weddings at the Green Mountain Perkins Academy

SATURDAY JULY 3, 2:30 PM: OPENING DAY AND HISTORY HIKE.  Meet at the Academy for a guided hike on Fletcher Hill to the Stratten Place Cellar Hole Complex and on to the Lover's Lament Stones.  It's 2 miles over uneven terrain, so plan about 2 hours and wear sturdy shoes!

SATURDAY JULY 31st, 3:00 PM: A reading of Darwin Washburn's incredible account of his 11 months with the Union Army in the last year of the Civil War.  Darwin was a graduate of the Green Mountain Perkins Academy and a long time resident of Hammondsville and Felchville.  It's a story of shipwrecks, explosions, hard marches, dusty Texas and the wide Mississipi.  If you missed Charlie Gilley reading Darwin's account, and Hunter Melville's accompanying slide show, check out these links: 

greenmountainperkinsacademy.org/files/Washburn.pdf

https://www.flickr.com/photos/11371544@N04/sets/72157719628485997

Charlie Gilley as Darwin Washburn: 

SATURDAY AUGUST 21st, 2:00 PM onwards.  Sharon Based fiddle Gale Emerson will be playing in the Academy throughout Saturday afternoon.  Don't miss this one!

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 11th, ANNUAL MEETING.  Following a 20 minute meeting and review of the year, we will have a reading from Karl Wood's book "Made in South Woodstock, Vermont. Tales from the Village that raised me."  (See below for a delightful review of the book by Paul Regan in the Vermont Standard.)

The Newmont Military Band

Newmont Military Band

On the lawn of the Academy, music from the late 19th century!

Band members from Vermont and New Hampshire play rousing anthems using antique instruments. A large audience enjoyed the afternoon.

(Photos from 2010's Summer Concert courtesy of GMPA Board member Dale Kjerulff.

Book Release!

"made in South Woodstock, Vermont"

Book

On sale locally (contact us for outlets)...a great gift which also supports the Green Mountain Perkins Academy!


Karl Wood Pens Book, 200+ Years in the Making

by Paul Regan
Special to the "Vermont Standard"

"Karl marked his 50 years of Perkins Academy board membership just a few years ago and this November has completed his wonderfully revealing and entertaining manuscript “Made in South Woodstock, Vermont, Tales From the Village That Raised Me.” This could be the perfect holiday gift for that Woodstock resident who thought they had everything!

"Anyone who has known Karl through the years or has spent time with him around the table at The South Woodstock Country Store is well aware of Karl’s story-telling expertise. As Karl penned in the forward to his new manuscript, I could say I’m here in the same village where I grew up, but that is not really correct; South Woodstock, Vermont, and I have changed every day of the nearly eighty years we’ve been together.” Karl went on to say, “It’s been my good fortune to be the repository of a great deal of history: old family letters and journals, town records, and stories that I have heard (and overheard). This information has given insight, not only into those who came before me, but perhaps a better look into the world that I have occupied and will leave to those who follow me.”

"As always, our mission at GMPA & HA is to educate by preserving the Academy building, its artifacts, personal papers, and records pertaining to the Academy, its students, and the South Woodstock community, of which Karl Wood, his family, and his ancestors have been such an integral part since the late 1770s."

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