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Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site – Christmas at Connemara
November 30, 2021 - December 18, 2021
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site will celebrate Christmas at Connemara with several virtual programs this holiday season. Holiday music and storytelling will be featured on social media the first three Saturdays in December, along with ranger-led craft and cooking demonstrations. Virtual writing workshops will be held on November 30 and December 7, to explore memoirs and recipes as the holiday season begins.
On December 4, 11, and 18, through the park webpage and Facebook, a Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra string quartet and a Capella singers, “The Blissing Trio” will share holiday music. Park rangers will share craft and cooking demonstrations based on Sandburg family holiday traditions. More information about these events can be found at www.nps.gov/carl/
On November 30, essayist and short story writer Lisa Lopez Snyder will lead a virtual workshop, “Mining Memories & Writing Memoir,” from 7:00 – 9:00 pm ET. In this workshop, Lisa Lopez Snyder will help participants explore fun and simple ways to mine their memories to help draft scenes for telling their stories. She’ll use excerpts from essays and memoirs to guide audience work and as writing prompts to generate their own scenes. Attendees should come to the session with a photograph of a familiar place or person(s) from the past or present for one of the writing exercises. Lisa was the 2015 Carl Sandburg Writer-in-Residence.
On December 7, poet and educator Kimberly Simms will lead a virtual workshop “Cooking up Poetry: Writing Recipe Poems,” from 7:00 – 9:00 pm ET. Kimberly will lead attendees in writing their own “recipe” style poems. Attendees will also discuss several sample poems to help them explore ideas about food and life. The workshop includes a structured poetic form and a craft lesson so that writers of any level can participate. The workshop will finish with time for sharing and discussion.
The writing workshops are supported by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara and will use Zoom for the virtual connection. Please visit the calendar of events page to sign up at https://www.nps.gov/carl/
Park grounds and trails are open sunrise to sunset. The park store and visitor information area are open Friday through Sunday, from 11 am to 2 pm, in the garage behind the Sandburg Home. Outdoor access to the goats (in the barnyard and goat pasture) is from 10 am to 3pm daily. The Sandburg Home and house tours remain closed, due to ventilation concerns in the 183-year-old house.
To promote our staff and visitors’ safety, masks are required in all NPS buildings and on all forms of enclosed public transportation, regardless of location or vaccination status. Additionally, masks must be worn in outdoor spaces where physical distancing cannot be maintained.
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, located in Flat Rock, NC, is open from 9 am to 5 pm daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Due to COVID-19, some visitor services are limited. For park updates and all parking options visit www.nps.gov/carl.
