Sylvester Manor: Dec 2024 News / Windmill Lighting, 12.6th / Zuber Wallpaper / Farm + House Updates….

Giving Tuesday

This year, Giving Tuesday falls on December 3 and we need your support to raise $5,000 to upgrade our farm’s wash station. A wash station is a designated space on the farm to clean all harvested fruits and vegetables and prepare them for distribution. All donations will get us one step closer to our goal, directly impacting our farmers and the whole community by increasing efficiency and providing more fresh and clean produce for your family’s table. 

Windmill Lighting

Gather with the community and share in the holiday spirit as we light the 1810 Dominy Windmill. We invite you to celebrate the season and this festive time of year up at the Windmill. Light refreshments will be served. No RSVP necessary, just show up!
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Friday, December 6
4:00-5:00pm
Windmill Field

Trails Closed

From November through February the walking trails will be closed for hunting. We are working in partnership with the Town of Shelter Island’s Hunting Program to control the deer population. 

Please adhere to the posted TRAILS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC

signs at all times.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Farm Update

In November we were awarded a grant of $32,500 from The Concordia Foundation in support of our 2025 Food Access Program, underwriting free Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares to community members in need. Concordia has supported this Program for the past four years and their generous support has substantially grown during this time. In 2025 we plan to provide 22 vegetable, pork and egg shares to community members in need in partnership with the Center for Advocacy, Support and Transformation (CAST). We’re grateful for the ongoing support for this program, both from Concordia and private donors; with everyone’s collective support we are able to advance the mission of the Farm and grow fresh food for the whole community.

Registration for our 2025 CSA Program will open on January 3, 2025.

Manor House Preservation Update

The season of holiday celebrations and gift-giving has begun, and at Sylvester Manor, this tradition is apparent in the objects we catalog, such as this porcelain bell. This item was gifted to Cornelia Conway Felton Horsford (1861-1944) from her nephew Augustus Henry Fiske (1880-1945) for Christmas in 1896. It is decorated using the flow blue glazing technique popular at the time to depict a tableau of a sailboat on one side and a bough of leaves on the other. Bells have long been significant in winter holiday celebrations, but this may have been especially true for the Horsfords due to their close friendship with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote the poem “Christmas Bells” in 1863. This poem inspired the popular carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”

Zuber Wallpaper

In preparation for the upcoming rehabilitation of the 1737 Manor House, a specialist from NYC-based Scenic Wallpaper helped us take down and preserve the wallpaper from the Ladies Parlor. They carefully removed each panel using just two tools, and organized them for storage where they will stay until we are ready to display them once more. With the wallpaper removed, we have the opportunity to learn more about the previous wallpapers, series of renovations to the walls, and original building techniques. In places where the wall is degraded we can see “fill” including hair, rubble, and other unorthodox materials.

The wallpaper is called “El Dorado” by the French company Zuber, and fortunately is still in production, using the original methods and materials. We have purchased new rolls of wallpaper for this room, to be installed after the construction phase has been completed. The Versailles Foundation supports our rehabilitation of this room.

Office Manager Position Available

Be part of the Sylvester Manor team! We are seeking a part-time office manager to support management and ensure the smooth operation of our office and facilities. The successful candidate will be highly organized, self-directed and proactive. This is a part-time position and is expected to be 30 hours per week with flexible hours, Monday-Friday, year-round.

For the full job description and details on how to apply, click here.