|
|
Monday, April 21, 2008
|
|
Past comes alive at Little Falls mansion tea party
Staff Writer LITTLE FALLS - Jan Novotny and Jo DeBruycker hopped in the car to get away for the day.
The two good friends from Willmar found themselves in Little Falls around noon Saturday and thought it would be fabulous to drive along the Mississippi River. And, even better yet, they thought they'd attempt to visit the Weyerhaeuser and Musser mansions and see if the historic site was open to visitors.
Little did the two women know until they stepped onto the property at the Linden Hill Historical Event Center that they had stumbled upon a special four-course tea party featuring Minnesota author Monica Ferris. The women were able to purchase the last two remaining tickets for the first author tea retreat held at the Musser mansion since Linden Hill reopened.
|
|
|
|
Polly Abler (left), Crosslake, and her sister, Sharon Prebonich, St. Paul, dressed up for the author tea retreat Saturday at Linden Hill Historical Event Center. The tea was held at the Musser mansion and the estate's china was used four the four-course luncheon. Brainerd Dispatch/Jodie Tweed
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
"We both like tea and china so we're in heaven," said DeBruycker. "It was serendipity. There's a sense of peace here. You can close your eyes and it's a different era."
Forty people, all women, attended the tea retreat Saturday. The event was hosted by The Friends of Linden Hill and Bookin' It bookstore of Little Falls. Tea selection and donation was made by Ambiance@53.
The women enjoyed lunch in both the dining room and music room in the Musser mansion. Many then stayed the night, including Ferris.
"The whole house is nice. We're so lucky to have this in Little Falls," said Jackie Bermel of Little Falls. Bermel said she and many of the neighborhood children learned to swim in the former mansion swimming pool, which is now a parking lot. Her instructor was the late Laura Jane Musser, the sole heir to the properties who died in 1989.
|
|
|
|
Brenda Jerue (left), St. Paul, smiled as author Monica Ferris told a story Saturday at the author tea retreat at the Musser mansion in Little Falls. Brainerd Dispatch/Jodie Tweed
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
The mansion was a perfect place for a tea party. Many of the women dressed up in hats and dresses and some wore white gloves. Ferris, who is best known for her needlework and knitting mystery series set in Excelsior, said she always dresses up for her book signings. She said the most wonderful thing about Saturday's author tea retreat was that everyone else was dressed up, too.
"It's like we're all grownups, I like that," Ferris said with a smile. "I'm amongst fellow-minded people, people of the same hearts."
Ferris said the mansions were a perfect setting for a murder mystery. She said she had heard that the mansions were haunted and she hoped that it also meant the room she planned to stay in for the night. Ferris gave a brief reading and discussed her books between courses at the event.
|
|
|
|
Women dined and sipped tea in the music room at the Musser mansion in Little Falls during the four-course author tea retreat Saturday. Many dressed in hats and wore dresses and some wore gloves to the event. Brainerd Dispatch/Jodie Tweed
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
|
|
|
|
|
"I love old houses," said Ferris. "You get a glimpse of what people liked.
If You Go
Two additional author tea retreats are planned from 1-3 p.m. June 29 and Aug. 23.
Author Jess Lourey (Murder-By-Month Mystery Series) will be the featured author at the June 29 retreat.
Author Ellen Baker ("Keeping the House") will be the featured author at the Aug. 23 retreat.
Self-guided tours of the mansions are held between noon-1 p.m.
Cost is $40 per person. The overnight stay at the Historic Linden Hill is $55 per person, a special rate for tea retreat participants. Make your reservation by calling (320) 616-5580.
For more information visit www.linden-hill.org
Sponsored by Bookin' It of Little Falls and Friends of Linden Hill.
|
Look at the woodwork over there. That's fabulous."
Polly Abler of Crosslake, her sister Sharon Prebonich of St. Paul, five other relatives and two friends attended the tea and planned to stay overnight. They were ready for a fun evening - they brought wine, smoked salmon and shrimp among other foods to share with the rest of the woman who were to stay, too. Twenty-one planned to spend the night in the mansion.
Abler said they were celebrating the life of her mother, who had attended a previous author tea retreat with them and who died in January.
"It's the eloquence you just don't find in today's modern world," Prebonich said of the mansion.
Nine members of the Breezy Belles - a Red Hat Society - attended the retreat. Lydia Loven of Pequot Lakes said she attended the first author tea retreats when they began about five or six years ago and couldn't miss the first one held since the mansions reopened.
"We couldn't miss it," said Loven. "It's beautiful in here. Every time you come you see something you didn't see before."
Lori Stang, executive director of the Linden Hill Historical Event Center, said she believes the last author tea retreats were held for several years through 2004 and the city then shut the doors to the historic site in 2005. Some previously scheduled events had been held in 2006 but not the popular author tea retreats. While the city owns the site, The Friends of Linden Hill manage the property.
Having tea in a mansion is a popular draw for many people.
"It's because a lot of people can go and tour a historical mansion but very few places allow you to eat in an historical mansion," said Stang.
Two more author tea retreats are scheduled later this summer.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
To Subscribe to the Brainerd Dispatch, Click Here.
Note: Comments are not edited and don't represent the views of The Brainerd Dispatch. Please read our posting rules in the terms of service policy. To report a post that may be inappropriate, click the triangle alert icon.
|
|
|
|
Thinking about a New Job?
These employers want you!
|
Loading...
|
|
|
Today's Best Classifieds:
|
|
|
|
|
|
