In the early 1800′s, the village of Brewer was very different than the city it has become today. Join us as we celebrate the days of yesteryear and experience life in Brewer up to 200 years in our past with Living History Day on Saturday, August 18, part of the Brewer Bicentennial Celebration.

The day begins at 10 am in the Brewer Children’s Garden, along the Penobscot River off of South Main Street. Our friends from Leonard’s Mills in Bradley help us recreate the past for some family fun. Free activities include grace hoops, stilts, quill pen writing, tin punching, ribbon making, log rolling, table games and more! Learn what life was like during the early days of Brewer before electricity.

In Brewer Auditorium Park, families can visit the encampment of the Acadia Frontiersmen with demonstrations on period cooking, tomahawk throwing & the trapper’s working life over 200 years ago.

Both the Clewley Museum at 199 Wilson Street and the Brewer Public Safety Museum at 151 Parkway South will be open to the public from 10 am to 2 pm. The Clewley Museum is a turn-of-the-twentieth century in-town farmhouse maintained by the Brewer Historical Society that features material culture from Brewer’s history including a collection that focuses on Brewer native and Civil war hero General Joshua Chamberlain. The museum will be open to the public for tours and activities. The Brewer Public Safety Museum is proud to feature historic displays from both the Brewer Fire and Police Departments. Included in these displays are a 6’ steel beam from the World Trade Center and our antique 1947 American LaFrance fire truck.

For more information, please visit http://www.brewermaine.gov/community/2012-bicentennial-information/

The Brewer Bicentennial Celebration is made possible by support from Machias Savings Bank. http://www.machiassavings.com

Posted in the Bangor Daily News – Community, August 14, 2012.