As you are paging through your Jan/Feb, 2022 issue of Yankee Magazine?  On page 8, you might recognize a familiar sight featured in the “Let it Snow!, standout shots from around New England.”  It’s a photo submitted by photographer Giovanni Dumeng (@giotakesphotos) of the Valley Falls red barn!  This one-page feature in each issue of YANKEE depicts six quintessential New England scenes.  Using Yankee’s Instagram hashtag #mynewengland, anyone can send in a photo for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue.  Yankee selects photos to fit a common theme.  This issue’s theme is “Let it Snow.”  The photo shows our red barn dressed in snow, right after a storm.  If you doubleclick on this photo, you may be able to get a glimpse of the manure shed down the road to the right……check it out!

“FRIENDS OF VALLEY FALLS” along with five other Vernon area non-profit organizations applied for and received a grant from Connecticut Humanities, (https://www.cthumanities.org) our State affiliate of The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).  The funds are intended to support organizations that serve the community.  Funds will enable organizations to resume or expand services curtailed by COVID-19 restrictions.  Grants totaling $46,600, are a welcome relief to the six organizations:  Friends of Valley Falls ($8,000), Arts Center East ($10,600), Strong Family Farm ($9,100), New England Civil War Museum ($5,500), Vernon Historical Society ($7,100), and The Vernon Corale ($6,300).   Our thanks also to our local members of the CT General Assembly and Gov. Ned Lamont for their foresight in approving these truly needed funds!  As this especially difficult year ends, we thank YOU for your continuing encouragement and support!

What could be better on a crisp fall afternoon than watching “Plein aire” artists at work?  You might bring a blanket and picnic lunch…. afterward, stroll the Farm grounds while listening to the guitar-mandolin duo of Judy Handler and Mark Levesque.  The artists will be painting at their chosen spots, in this most scenic Vernon venue.  Free lemonade, provided by the Vernon Arts Commission.  Tours of the historic farm buildings will be given on the hour by local historian, Jon Roe.  A fun afternoon for you and your family, SUNDAY, October 10, 1-3 pm.!

Please park at the Valley Falls Park parking lot.  You can take the trail up to the Red Barn from the parking area.  A shuttle will be available if needed.

The ANNUAL MEETING of the Friends of Valley Falls will be held on Sunday, Sept 26, 2021, at 1 pm, at the Red Barn, 350 Valley Falls Road, Vernon.  Join us on a perfect fall afternoon to hear committee reports of happenings in FY 2020-2021.  We will hold Board Member elections and Ann will update us on the progress at the “Heritage Center.”  The public is invited, guests are always welcome!  Jon Roe, local historian will review his research on the Farm’s nefarious former owner, “Count” Hans von Munchow.

The Red Barn, 350 Valley Falls Rd, Vernon

Valley Falls Farm,

  Fun for just yourself, or your whole family!  We normally hold guided tours of our original historic farm buildings. We tell you what we’ve learned about their history, ending as a “Gentleman’s Farm,” owned by the Beach Family from 1915 through the 1950’s.  You can get a glimpse or our stable as it becomes the Heritage Center and visit Vernon Garden Club’s Herb Garden, in full summer bloom and fragrance.  Or, take a leisurely walk through the scenic grounds, imagining a time gone by.  Park at the RED BARN, 350 Valley Falls Road.

Due to limitations prompted by COVID-19, and restrictions on all group interactions, we will not hold our group tours this summer.  Please watch our website for more information on fall activities.

The Red Barn, 350 Valley Falls Rd, Vernon

Enjoy a late September afternoon in the basement of the Red Barn, 350 Valley Falls Road.  After a brief business meeting, CT State Historian Walter Woodward’s “Band of Steady Habits” (http://cthistory.org/band-of-steady-habits) will present a lively and entertaining program combining storytelling, history and music.  Learn about recent developments in the planning of the “Heritage Center” to be located in the stable at Valley Falls Farm.  Everyone is welcome, refreshments following the program.

Please, PARK IN THE PARKING LOT AT VALLEY FALLS PARK

What could be better than art, history and music on a late summer afternoon…………join us for Artists Day, 2019, on August 18 from 12:30 till 3 pm, at the Red Barn and Valley Falls Farm.   The popular local duo Handler and Levesque will play guitar and mandolin music from the Farmhouse porch from 1-3.  Works of Ct artists will be on display and for sale in the basement of the Red Barn, and artists Jane Burr, Jay Babina, Susan Bosworth, Catherine Elliot, Sharon Kehmna, Loretta Medieros and Dawn Tyler will be painting in the fields, if you’d like to watch them at work.  The Vernon Arts Commission will be serving lemonade and tours of the historic farm buildings will be conducted on the hour at 1 and 2 pm.  Our beekeepers will be available in the stable, and the herb garden has been manicured by the Vernon Garden Club. Please park in the Valley Falls Parking lot.  Let the attendant know you are there for Artists Day, you should not have to pay an entrance fee.  A shuttle will be available, or follow the trail from the parking lot up to the lemonade table at the Red Barn.  Join us!

  Fun for just yourself, or your whole family!  Join us on Sunday, June 23, from 1-3 pm for a guided tour of our original historic farm buildings. We’ll tell you what we’ve learned about their history, ending as a “Gentleman’s Farm,” owned by the Beach Family from 1915 through the 1950’s.   Visit Vernon Garden Club’s Herb Garden, in full summer bloom and fragrance, and take a leisurely walk through the scenic grounds, imagining a time gone by.  Park at the RED BARN, 350 Valley Falls Road.

If you can’t make the 23rd, we will be doing the summer tours on Wednesday July 3, July 10, and July 17 as well as Sunday, July 28, from 1-3 pm.

In August, tours will be held on Wednesdays, August 7, and August 14, and Sunday August 25, also from 1-3 pm.

Open House,  2018

Tour the historic Red Barn and Valley Falls Farm buildings on Saturday, June 8,       from 10 am-2 pm.  The iconic “gentleman’s farm” buildings, now repaired from the lightning strike of 2018, take us back in time to 19th century Vernon–and you get to look inside!  Vernon Garden Club maintains the herb gardens, beautiful in the spring!  As a special treat, the beekeepers at the Farm want to give you a demo, and a sample of their wares.

Wildflower Honey from Valley    Falls Farm