Celebration Opens
     Announcements by President
     House open for tours
     Vendors open
     Membership desk and Souvenir booth open

Samples of life in both the old country and the new.

We are running the demonstrations "conference style" again this year in hopes that everyone can "take in" everything. Last year we were graced with Grady's oxen team and the Bernese Mt dogs. This year Grady will be demonstrating old-time ways and skills long forgotten by most.

Attend one in the first time slot then the other in the second. These sessions will provide a window into Swiss life in the mid 1800s. See details below.

Old-time skill and craft demonstration by Grady Partain.

(blurb from 2010)

Oxen were an important componment of life in the early colony. Colony records indicate many of the Swiss used oxen for draft animals. Last year Grady demonstrated yoking, unyoking and pulling etc., and gave a history of the animal and how it differed from working mules or horses. This year the animals weigh well over a ton each and are impractical to move. So, we will have Grady back doing old-time demonstrations as in years past.

We are running the demonstrations "conference style" this year in hopes that everyone can take in both the Grady's old-time skills and the Bernese Mt dogs. Attend one in the first time slot then the other in the second.

Hayrides behind house and barn tours

Tours of Cheese house and outer buildings

Bernese Mountain Dog demonstration and history by Chattahoochee Valley Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Atlanta. www.cvbmdc.org . This event will expanded this year as we have confirmation from sister clubs as well. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed our hard-working friends last year!

Bernese Mountain Dogs were working dogs for generations in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. Traditionally, Bernese hauled dairy products, such as milk and cream, from the farms to the dairy. Members of the Chattahoochee Valley Bernese Mountain Dog club will demonstrate how the dogs worked on the farms by having them pulling carts (aka drafting).

Hayrides behind house and barn tours

Tours of Cheese house and outer buildings

Local wine tasting (limited to persons over 21 and while supply lasts).

Introduction of distinguished guests and welcoming comments at the band stand

Historian Clopper Almon will hopefully be available for book signing - "The Swiss Colony at Gruelti" written in the 30s by Frances Helen Jackson. Mr. Almon has spent years updating, adding maps and indexing this valuable resource. His work has shed much light on the colonists and expecially on the earliest part of their journey to a new land.

Tasting and Sampling
     Local Wine and Cheese at concession stand
     American Cheese Tasting

Second demonstration of Bernese Mt dogs and Grady's bark buckets and old-time skills.

Gates close