Glendower volunteers honored for work

Volunteers from the Warren County Historical Society’s curatorial staff, who decorate Glendower Historic Mansion for the holidays, this year was given the opportunity to try something new. Lynn Chaney, Warren County Historical Society treasurer, honored the volunteers’ hard work by hosting two preview parties of Glendower decorated for the holidays. The parties took place last month as a way to kick off the Christmas season at Glendower. Guests to the parties were treated to a first peek at the decorated mansion, where they were free to tour, listen to live music and enjoy heavy hor d’oeuvres and drinks.

Rather than sticking to a fixed historical house tour, guests were able to explore the mansion at their own pace. Cell phones were kept busy snapping pictures of the many creative ideas on display.

The guides themselves are knowledgeable about the decorations throughout the mansion, but also the history, the furniture, the paintings and other decorative arts.

Historical Society staff and volunteers spent six weeks painstakingly outfitting the mansion with its new holiday look, and the hard work shows as each room is specially decorated to match its theme. The library has a patriotic theme, featuring mannequins wearing authentic World War II garb and red, white and blue adorning the walls and furniture. The Lady’s Parlor is known as the mermaid room for the season. It is also quite notable, as holiday decorations are a hue of blue rather than the traditional red and green, with sea shells spread throughout.

Visitors also found an interesting twist on the usual Christmas tree, in which mannequins wear a variety of dresses and are set atop a “skirt” in the form of a Christmas tree.

Visitors can enjoy the new look of the mansion from noon to 4 p.m. Fridays through Sundays through Dec. 31.