52 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • NOVEMBER 28, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Queens Historical Society to host #HollyTour 2019 in December
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Get your walking shoes on and enjoy
a tried and true Queens holiday favorite
known as Holly Tour.
Th is year, Queens Historical Society’s
#HollyTour 2019 returns for the 32nd year
as six Flushing landmarks open their doors
to the public for an aft ernoon of family
friendly activities, performances, displays
and refreshments.
On Sunday, Dec. 8, from 1 to 5 p.m.,
participants can walk or shuttle to Bowne
House, Flushing Town Hall, Quaker
Meeting House, Kingsland Homestead,
Lewis Latimer House Museum and Voelker
Orth House and see the venues outfi tted in
era-specifi c holiday decor.
General admission tickets are $20 in
advance and $25 at the door. Tickets are
free for children ages 12 and under. Visit
the Queens Historical Society’s website
at queenshistoricalsociety.org to purchase
tickets or visit its headquarters at Kingsland
Homestead to purchase tickets in person.
Voelker Orth House,
149-19 38th Ave.
Visitors to this Victorian abode will
view German-American style decorations,
mimicking the style of women in
the Voelker and Orth families. Built in
1891, it was the home of three generations
of a family with German roots. Th e “original
Voelker granddaughter” Elisabeth Orth
donated the estate to be used as a museum
in order to preserve a part of Flushing’s
history.
Staff will treat Voelker Orth House
patrons to seasonal decor and a display of
beaded sculptural tableaux. Guests can also
peruse a gift and plant sale while noshing
on pfeff ernusse — small spiced cookies —
and sipping on hot mulled cider. Pianist
Keith Gartman will lead visitors in a festive
singalong.
Quaker Meeting House,
137-16 Northern Blvd.
Th e Quaker Meeting House dates
back in 1694 and served as the fi rst worship
house in a town formerly known as
Vlissengen. Today, worshipers still use it
for religious purposes and it is New York’s
oldest structure. Th e house is also one of
the three oldest continuously active sites of
religious activity in North America and the
second oldest Quaker meeting house in the
United States.
On the tour, visitors will be able to
enjoy folk singing and hot apple cider and
will also get the opportunity to walk the
grounds and view the cemetery.
Lewis Howard Latimer
House, 34-41 137th St.
Guests at the Lewis Howard Latimer
House will enjoy STEAM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Art and
Mathematics) activities in the museum’s
Tinker Lab, view an art exhibition and
watch a video interview of Latimer’s granddaughter
Winifred Latimer Norman, who
worked to preserve the house and raise
awareness for her grandfather’s scientifi c
contributions.
Lewis Latimer lived in the Victorian-era
house from 1902 until his death in 1928.
Th e African American son of escaped
slaves helped to develop the telephone and
incandescent lightbulb. Latimer was also a
poet, painter and musician.
Kingsland Homestead,
143-35 37th Ave.
Staff at Kingsland Homestead will lead
guided tours of the new Flushing Garden
Club exhibition and instruct patrons on
how to make pressed fl ower scrapbooks.
Th e founders built Kingsland between
1774 and 1785 as one of the earliest surviving
examples of area houses common
in the 18th and 19th centuries. A British
sea captain and the dwelling’s namesake,
Joseph King, bought the property in 1801.
Five generations of Quakers in the King
and Murray families lived there until
the 1930s. It now serves as the Queens
Historical Society’s headquarters.
Flushing Town Hall, 137-
35 Northern Blvd.
At Flushing Town Hall, visitor can shop
at the venue’s annual holiday market, where
local artisans sell handcraft ed goods like
jewelry, paintings, ceramics, paper goods,
greeting cards and clothes.
Th e Romanesque Revival Hall was built
Bowne House Lewis Howard Latimer House
Photos courtesy of Queens Historical Society
in 1862 and was the village’s epicenter of
culture and politics in the late 19th century.
Prior to the Civil War, FTH hosted
swearing-in ceremonies for Union soldiers.
Later, the venue served as an opera house,
courthouse, jail and bank.
Bowne House, 37-01 Bowne St.
English-born religious freedom activist
John Bowne built the borough’s oldest
domicile in 1661. Nine generations of
Bowne and Parsons families lived there
until 1945 when it became a museum. Th e
structure features a unique blend of Dutch
and English construction and has landmark
status on the city, state and federal
levels.
Holly Tour patrons will discuss early holiday
traditions and view demonstrations
of Colonial craft s including an early dollhouse
with mini furnishings. Refreshments
include a treat typical of ones served in
the region of the Bowne family’s ancestral
English countryside home.
For more information, visit queenshistoricalsociety.
org or contact Jeran Halfpap at
718-939-0647, ext. 14, or jeranh@queenshistoricalsociety.
org.
Kingsland Homestead
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