Saturday, July 12th, 2025
Location: Crop Field in front of the Fahnestock Barn
Program: 4:30PM – 6:30PM
Limit 50 guests. Pre-registration is required by 4:00PM on Tuesday, July 1st, 2025.
Registration for all attendees: $40
(Wristbands will be issued at check in)
All reservation proceeds support the care of Renfrew’s historic landscape and collections!
Bring a chair or blanket to sit back or get up close as Renfrew gets back to its roots with a historic threshing demonstration! Threshermen’s dinners were a harvest time tradition 100 years ago. It was a time when whole communities would come together to help each other with harvest and share a meal together. The demonstration itself will utilize a Waynesboro built steam engine and thresher to process a sampling of wheat. The straw will be baled after the threshing separates the necessary parts of the plant. Each step of the entire threshing process will be narrated, with a brief overview of the history of harvest time traditions through the centuries and its importance to mankind.
After the demonstration, we will break for a catered dinner by the Parlor House (fried chicken, scalloped potatoes, coleslaw, green beans, salad with fixings, apple or lemon meringue pie, water, tea, lemonade, and soft drinks). Cutlery will be provided.
PLEASE NOTE: Kindly remember that Renfrew is a tobacco, drug, and alcohol free facility. Please be sure to place all trash in designated receptacles to keep the grounds beautiful for all to enjoy.
RAIN POLICY: If there is a chance of rain, Renfrew will monitor the forecast and make the call to proceed or cancel by 3:30PM on date of the demonstration. The demonstration would then take place on the rain date of June 13th, at 4:30PM. Information regarding cancellations/rescheduling can be found on our website, Facebook and Instagram pages, or by calling the office at (717) 762-4723.
PROGRAM NOTES: This program will take place outdoors on fairly level ground, but it is not fully handicapped accessible. Seating will not be provided, so please ensure your own comfort and bring along a chair or blanket if you wish. Reservations are limited to fifty (50) guests. Pre-registration is required. Please arrive thirty (30) minutes prior to the event. Check-in will be located outside of the Summer Kitchen. Wrist bands will be provided at check-in. This is not a public, walk-up available event. WRIST BANDS WILL BE REQUIRED. All reservation proceeds support the care of Renfrew’s historic landscape and collections.
Free parking is available at the Visitors Center lot located off of PA-16/East Main Street/Buchanan Trail East. Overflow parking is in Renfrew’s Lower Lot off of Welty Road. Guests should expect low lighting (as the evening goes on) and slightly uneven terrain over grass and gravel as they make their way to the event grounds. We apologize for any inconvenience. Restrooms are located at the northeastern corner of the Visitors Center with entrances accessed from the exterior.
Photographs from the 1996 and 1997 Threshing Demonstrations.
PLEASE NOTE: The 2025 program will not be harvesting directly from the Renfrew Crop Fields and will be a smaller demonstration area than those depicted below.
