Lammas Day: Derry historical society marks traditional beginning of harvest season

People who filtered in and out of New Derry’s Fulton House Sunday afternoon took a step back in time as they recreated the traditional Lammas Day observance, a celebration of the beginning of the harvest.

Sunday’s festival, which marked the 17th year the Derry Area Historical Society has celebrated Lammas Day and the first time the event has been held since the covid-19 pandemic, allowed attendees to witness the blessing of the crops while exploring local vendors and writing their regrets on a corn husk to be consumed in a bonfire.

“So many other places will have corn festivals or strawberry festivals so I started to do a little research and discovered the pre-Christian festival of Lammas Day,” said William Snyder, a former society president who started the festival. “What it was was like a reverse Thanksgiving where they would celebrate the beginning of a harvest, not the end like Thanksgiving.”

Lammas Day in England traditionally marked the beginning of the harvest, particularly for corn and wheat, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, with Lammas derived from “Loaf Mass.”

This year, the society expanded the festival, giving guests the opportunity to tour the restored 1817 Fulton House as well as local vendors like the Four Season Brewing Company & Pub.

In addition to the blessing of Derry Township crops by the Rev. Sam Lamendola, pastor of the local St. Martin and St. Joseph parishes, attendees could listen to traditional music played by the band Bits & Pieces and learn about the blacksmith and thread spinning trades. A Conestoga wagon was also on display.

“We’re hoping that today a lot of the community will come out and get a chance to see what we have to offer,” said Denise Wood, the society’s secretary. “We’re working on building the historical society back up. … This will be one of the ways to get our name out in the community and attract some people, hopefully some new members.”

She noted that the historical society lost members during the pandemic because people were fearful of catching the virus during meetings or events.

Now, officials are working to bolster those numbers while also preserving the history of the area.

“We tend to be the keeper of the history in Derry and we have a lot of things that were donated to us. … Only through the support of the community can we maintain the upkeep and make sure that this is here and preserved for the future to see,” Wood said.

Several people who attended the event held similar sentiments.

Racquel Matijak, a thread spinning demonstrator from Greensburg, works to keep the skill alive with the help of her daughter.

“This is something anyone can do,” Matijak said. “Kids don’t do this kind of stuff anymore … and it’s going to get lost along the way. So it’s a way to keep the folk arts that people still do like crocheting and knitting, but they don’t realize where the yarn comes from. So this is a way for the kids to see that it’s a lot of fun and it’s easy to do.”

Harry Condon, from Derry, attended the event with several friends.

He said his interest in the community and what members of the Derry Area Historical Society are doing is what attracted him to the festival.

For Condon, attending the event is important, “Just for the sake of history itself. That’s always worth it.”

David Campbell, of Derry, agreed.

“It’s important to keep history alive, especially for the younger generation growing up,” Campbell said. “Hopefully they’ll realize and respect it and help build the area up around here.”