With: Gretchen Stevens, Juliana Stevens, Bob Brown

Walk Fee: By donation/ registration encouraged

Walk Size: 25+ / family friendly (all ages)

We will cut our walking sticks, identify trees, shrubs, flowers, and ferns. Our 1 to 1.5-mile hike will include ups and downs, bridge and stream crossings (our walking sticks will help with this) and games in the woods. Please wear comfortable shoes and bring a water bottle. Bug spray/bug net if you wish. We'll meet at 103 Walpole Valley Road, Bob and Juliana's home in "Lost Alstead." The driveway is marked by an 8-foot rabbit. Drive up to the top of the driveway to park.

With: Patience Stoddard, Ann Acheson

Class Fee: $75

Class Size: 6-12 / Adults only

In this time together we will reflect upon the core values that have shaped the path of our lives. Through writing, sharing, art, and ritual, we will engage with what is challenging us and open to what is beckoning us onward. Please bring a lunch, some food to share and a touchstone for the altar.

Patience Stoddard lives in Alstead with her husband, Jim Gruber. She is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister, pastoral therapist, and chaplain. She enjoys creating opportunities for people to share their stories, inspire and support one another.

Ann Acheson has a keen interest in process, presence, wellness and Spirit. As a healing arts practitioner for twenty-five years, she has been continually inspired by her clients' courage to meet themselves and by the inherent wisdom of life that flows through each of us. She is currently stewarding the land where she and her husband live, and stewarding Chase's Mill by serving on the Board of Trustees.

With: Kevin Gardner

Event Fee: by donation

Event Size: 50 / family friendly (all ages)

Why are we so fascinated with stone walls? Kevin Gardner, author of The Granite Kiss, explains how and why New England came to acquire its thousands of miles of stone walls, the ways that they and other dry stone structures were built, how their styles emerged and changed over time, and their significance to the famous New England landscape. Along the way, Kevin occupies himself building a miniature wall or walls on a tabletop, using tiny stones from a five-gallon bucket. This talk is sponsored by New Hampshire Humanities.

Kevin Gardner is a writer, teacher, tradesman, and a lifelong resident of Hopkinton, NH. He has been a stone wall builder for forty years, and is the author of The Granite Kiss: Traditions and Techniques of Building New England Stone Walls, as well as poetry, songs, and essays. For 25 years, Kevin was an award-winning performance critic, feature writer, and producer for NH Public Radio. He has taught at the New Hampton School, the NH Institute of Art, and at St. Paul's School's summer Advanced Studies Program.

With: Jason Breen

Class Fee: $40

Class Size: 8 / Ages 16 and older

Using power and hand sharpening devices, learn how to safely sharpen your garden tools and get them ready for action! Bring some dull tools to class and return home with sharp ones.

Jason Breen is a Brattleboro-based custom furniture maker and member of the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers. He studied instrument building and history at Marlboro College, which he paid for by building timber frames and cabinets. Traditional tools have inspired his work ever since he inherited his ancestors’ hand planes.

Tuesday and Wednesday June 25 & 26, 9:00am-12:00pm

With: Donna Bascom Lund

Class Fee: $50

Materials Fee: $20

Class Size: 6-8 / high school age to adult; children 10-13 accompanied by an adult

This two day introduction to watercolor will help both the beginner and those who wonder how to start. We will talk about paper, paints, brushes and needed supplies. We will cover terminology and try out techniques and tools. Donna will supply a watercolor pad for each participant and will have extra brushes and paints to use for the lessons if needed. Bring any watercolor supplies you might have, or if you haven't started painting yet, just bring yourself and a willingness to experiment and play with this wonderful medium.

Donna Bascom Lund has enjoyed living in picturesque East Alstead for the last 40 years. As an artist, she plays with many creative media including sewing and blacksmithing but is most drawn to painting with watercolor as she feels that no other medium offers the feeling that watercolor does. View samples of her work here.

Tuesday and Wednesday June 25 & 26, 9:00am-12:00pm

With: Donna Bascom Lund

second class in a two-class program

Click here to learn more and register for the full program.

With: Dan Snow

Event Fee: by donation

Event Size: 50 / Family friendly (all ages)

This evening we invite you to celebrate stone! with us by viewing a screening of the documentary by filmmaker Camilla Rockwell. Stone Rising: The Work of Dan Snow follows Dan through a year of dry stone wall construction revealing his creative process. We are pleased that Dan will be present this evening to answer questions from the audience at the end of the viewing.

Dan Snow is an art maker in the outdoors. Dry stone construction is the mode of making he employs to devise site-specific works of environmental art. He combines mastercraftman skills with sculptural artistry to bring new geologic forms into the natural world.

With: Barbara Davis

Class Fee: $30 per adult/$35 adult with child

Materials Fee: $10

Class Size: 6-10 / children 8+ with accompanying adult

Garden Markers can add a surprising charm to any garden. Make a set (up to 12) for your own garden this summer. Using a rolling pin, underglaze, stamps and leaf impressions, you will create unique and attractive clay markers for your own garden. No experience necessary.

Barbara Davis is an East Alstead potter who loves sharing what she does with the community. Her workshop at Old Settlers Pottery is right around the corner from Chase’s Mill. She sells her work, teaches classes, and gives workshops.

With: Jim Gruber and Paul Rodrigue

Class Fee: $40.00 per adult/$45.00 adult with child

Materials Fee: Basic maple included. For exotic woods or to use your own materials, please check "let's talk about wood!" on the registration form below, or email jhall@chasesmill.org.

Class Size: 8 / children ages 12+ with accompanying adult

Optional second session for those who choose glued construction, Sunday, June 30, 9am-12pm.

Using maple, cherry, or other hardwoods, participants will design and make a cutting, cheese, or charcuterie board. A basic cutting board from one piece of wood can be made during the first three hour class. For those wishing to glue up different types of wood in their board, the second class session is available to complete the project. This class will use hand and/or power tools potentially including a planer, joiner, table saw, drill, band saw, router, belt/random orbital sanders, and/or a wood burner kit. Suitable for both beginner and intermediate woodworkers. Materials - Maple for basic board included. If you are interested in exotic woods price will vary.

Paul Rodrigue has been building furniture and kitchen items for over 20 years. He prefers to use hand tools as much as possible and is partial to colonial design and techniques. His first cutting board was a replica of one built in Mill Hollow.

Jim Gruber has been making things out of wood for over 40 years. He chiseled the oak post and beam timber frame for his current Alstead home at Chase's Mill in 1979. He taught woodworking for kids at the Mill in the early 1980s and timber frame house design classes at Keene State College. Working with native woods has become a life-long joy that he shares with his kids.

With: Nancy Botkin

Class Fee: $30

Materials Fee: $5

Class Size: 5-10 / adults only

In this class we'll learn a couple of techniques for making accordion-style artists' books, including tiny "button" books, hinged with ribbons. No experience necessary.

Nancy Botkin is the granddaughter of Edith and Heman Chase. She spends her winters at her home in San Francisco making books, playing with paper, and taking classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book. She then teaches book arts in the summer. This is her fourth year teaching at Chase's Mill.

With: Owen Miller

Event Size: 30 / all ages

This program is sponsored by the Dan Curll Community Programs Fund.

Mill some coffee at the mill! Drop by this informal coffee hour at Chase’s Mill for a cup of coffee from East Alstead Roasting Co. Hand grind your own beans with an old-fashioned coffee mill. Roaster Owen will be on hand to answer questions about his process and philosophy of coffee. Mill around and chat with your neighbors (pun intended). You are encouraged to bring your own cup. In addition to conversation, we’ll have some baked goods to share, plus tea for non-coffee drinkers!

Owen Miller started the East Alstead Roasting Company in 2020. He focuses on light roasts and single-origin coffees because he wants to highlight the delicious uniqueness of high-quality coffees from around the world. He uses a 6 kilogram drum roaster that allows full control of the roast profile for each coffee and runs the operation from the back wing of his family's home with an inspiring view of Lake Warren. His father, Randy Miller, is a musician and artist and his wood engravings are used in all of EARC's packaging and branding designs. Owen seeks out coffees grown responsibly from workers paid fairly.

With: Adair Mulligan

Event Fee: by donation

Event Size: 50 / family friendly (all ages)

Northern New England is full of reminders of past lives: stone walls, old foundations, a century-old lilac struggling to survive as the forest reclaims a once-sunny dooryard. What forces shaped settlement, and later abandonment, of these places? Adair Mulligan explores the rich story to be discovered in what remains behind. See how one town has set out to create an inventory of its cellar holes, piecing together the clues in the landscape. Such a project can help landowners know what to do if they have archaeological sites on their land and help stimulate interest in a town's future through its past. This talk is sponsored by New Hampshire Humanities.

Adair Mulligan has a runaway curiosity about the natural and cultural history of northern New England. Author of The Gunstock Parish: A History of Gilford, New Hampshire, she has also contributed to Proud to Live Here in the Connecticut River Valley; Where the Great River Rises: An Atlas of the Upper Connecticut River; and Beyond the Notches: Stories of Place in New Hampshire's North Country. Executive director of the Hanover Conservancy, she served for 20 years as conservation director of the Connecticut River Joint Commissions.

With: Gail Golec and Nancy Botkin

Hike Fee: By donation/ registration encouraged

Hike Size: 15-25 / Family friendly/all ages. Possibly difficult terrain for smallest children

Join archaeologist Gail Golec and local historian Nancy Botkin for a hike on the unmaintained end of Bley Road (3.0 miles round trip). We will explore old cellar holes, roads and stonewalls of the farming community that was abandoned in the decades following the Civil War. We will use some of the maps that archaeologists use to locate, identify and confirm historic features.

Planned route is undulating, uneven, rocky and potentially very wet at many points along the way. Be prepared to be in the woods in a relatively remote location for 2+ hours. Suggested gear: sturdy hiking boots, hat, sunscreen, bug spray, hiking poles, snacks, water. If preferred, also bring a backpack, pencil, paper, and clipboard. We will park and begin the hike just past the last house on Bley Road.

Gail Golec has been a professional archaeologist in the region for over 20 years. She grew up in Alstead and now lives in Walpole and enjoys researching local history for her podcast, The Secret Life of Death.

Nancy Botkin is the granddaughter of Edith and Heman Chase. She spends her winters at her home in San Francisco making books, playing with paper, and taking classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book. She then teaches book arts in the summer. This is her fourth year teaching at Chase's Mill.

With: Kathy Torrey

Class Fee: $30 per adult/$35 parent and child

Materials Fee: $10

Class Size: 8-10 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

I will teach basic techniques of wet felting with wool and other natural fibers. Participants will learn how to sculpt with wool to make some felted containers, small flat pieces, and soap scrubbies.Each person will also learn how to use patterns to create a unique felted box or handbag. No experience necessary. This is a family friendly class.

Kathy Torrey is a career teacher , and has taught a variety of workshops in fiber arts in the community and at family camps around New England for more than 30 years. She is currently involved with planning programs at Chases Mill and has been teaching felt making there, as well as sharing it with her growing collection of grandchildren.

Wednesdays, July 17 and 24, 7-8:30pm

With: Nancy Botkin

Class Fee: $30; $10 materials fee

Class Size: 8 / Adults only

In this two-part class, we will learn simple techniques for creating beautiful books, complete with content of your choosing. No experience necessary!

first class in a two-class program

Nancy Botkin is the granddaughter of Edith and Heman Chase. She spends her winters at her home in San Francisco making books, playing with paper, and taking classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book. She then teaches book arts in the summer. This is her fourth year teaching at Chase's Mill.

With: Gail Golec

Event Fee: by donation

Event Size: 50 / Family friendly for ages 10+

This lecture will cover the ways in which historic gravestone design in New England changed over time and how those changes can serve as a unique lens through which to study history and culture. Primarily focusing on the late-18th and early-19th centuries examples of gravestones from cemeteries throughout the Monadnock Region of southwest NH and the Windham County area of southeast Vermont. We will track the evolution of gravestone materials, learn the "anatomy" of the different parts of a gravestone and study their symbology. We'll learn how to identify certain local gravestone carvers and discuss how, through those designs, we can track the movement of new people and new ideas from region to region.

Gail Golec is a professional archaeologist who has worked on sites around New England for over 20 years. She currently works for Monadnock Archaeological Consulting. Gail was born and raised in New Hampshire and developed an interest in local history at an early age. Most recently, she has taken her years of research and funneled it into writing, producing and hosting a podcast about local history called The Secret Life of Death. www.thesecretlifeofdeath.com.

With: Nancy Botkin

Class Fee: $30 per adult/$35 parent and child

Materials Fee: $7.50

Class Size: 6-10 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Paste papers are one of the oldest decorative techniques used by bookbinders. They are commonly used as end sheets and decorative book covers. Paste paper designs can look like waves and ripples in water or streams. Fun for people of all ages, paste paper is a fancy form of finger painting. In this class we’ll explore different techniques and tools to make beautiful patterns with a 3-dimensional look.

Nancy Botkin is the granddaughter of Edith and Heman Chase. She spends her winters at her home in San Francisco making books, playing with paper, and taking classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book. She then teaches book arts in the summer. This is her fourth year teaching at Chase's Mill.

Wednesdays, July 17 and 24, 7-8:30pm

With: Nancy Botkin

second class in a two-class program

Click here to learn more and register for the full program.

With: Kim Varney Chandler

Event Fee: by donation

Event Size: 50 / Family friendly - all ages

New Hampshire was once home to over 300 covered bridges. Today, there are over sixty authentic covered bridges in New Hampshire, forty-six of which are over a century old. These bridges exist solely because of the efforts of a small but powerful community that both recognized their significance and honored their tradition. Join author and photographer Kim Varney Chandler as she shares an overview of covered bridges in the Granite State along with interesting facts she uncovered while researching her 2022 book, Covered Bridges of New Hampshire.

Kim Varney Chandler is a researcher, amateur genealogist, photographer, and author of the book Covered Bridges of New Hampshire. Covered Bridges of New Hampshire was honored with a NH Preservation Alliance Award for education, documentation, and advocacy. It was chosen as Book of the Week from the New Hampshire State Library.

With: Ellen Chase

Class Fee: $40.00 per adult

Class Size: 6 / Adults only (16 and older)

Practice basic woodworking skills using (mostly) traditional hand tools to make a useful tool caddy. Prior experience is useful but not necessary. Materials provided.

Ellen Chase learned the basics of woodworking as a child here in Chase's Mill, then moved up to making furniture for her own family. While living in the Boston area, she built kitchen and storage cabinets for friends and neighbors as "Handy Granny." She has always been primarily interested in the design and problem-solving aspects of woodwork but profited greatly as a participant in the "Fundamentals of Fine Woodworking" at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, learning the conventional ways of joinery. Her occupations have included potter, scientific illustrator, software visual designer.

With: Kathy Torrey with live music by Randy Miller and Nat Backes

Event Fee: by donation

Event Size: 25 / Family Friendly - all ages

In the mid-twentieth century Chase's Mill hosted English Country Dances taught by Mary Chase Burroughs, as well as square dances. Kathy Torrey, Randy Miller, and Nat Backes will continue this tradition, sharing traditional tunes and teaching time-tested dances and singing games to all ages. All are invited to come and join the fun.

With: Miranda Spencer, host

Fee: by donation

Size: 50 / 10+ at participants' discretion, however please be aware that adult subject matter may come up unexpectedly due to the nature of the event.

In the spirit of New York’s original “The Moth” storytelling slams, we will debut “The Earwig,” an open-mic night for sharing and/or listening to 5-minute, true personal stories on a set theme and then vote on audience favorite! This night’s theme will be ROCK – interpret that anyway you want. Learn, share, entertain, grow, and just maybe win a prize. I’ll go first to get the ball (or stone) rolling.

Miranda Spencer is a freelance writer and editor who has lived or "summered" in East Alstead her whole life. With a background in journalism, copywriting, and blogging, she knows how to tell a story and knows a good one when she reads or hears it. A very long time ago, she gained stage experience studying acting, voice, and dance.

With: Lark Leonard

Class Fee: $30, or $35 per adult/child pair

Materials Fee: $2.50

Class Size: 12 max / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

This year, we will explore the experience of straw plaits as we add in straws - starting with the 2 Plait and working through to the 6 Plait. We won't focus on making ornaments but rather the quite magical differences between the plaits - the way in which they form and the way that each plait has a distinctive feel as it is being made. Each student will have their sampler of plaits they have made to take home - hopefully, to encourage them to continue on their own! No experience necessary.

Lark Leonard has been plaiting straw ornaments now for over 40 years, and deepy loves the craft. She learned from Shelley Osborne, then of Walpole, NH, and from Marilyn Stearns of Springfield, VT. She also discovered a great deal on her own. A member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, Lark also works with birchbark, rush-seating, and hand-caning.

Event Fee: free

Event Size: Family Friendly - all ages

This program is sponsored by the Dan Curll Community Programs Fund.

Summertime is a perfect time for ice cream! Come join friends and neighbors at the Mill for an afternoon filled with making homemade ice cream. And then, of course, eating it!

Tuesdays, August 6, 13, 20, 27, 1-3 pm

With: Grant Taylor

Class Fee: $100

Class Size: 6-8 / Open to adults and youth ages 12 and up with accompanying adult

Using 12 sticks, a hand saw, and bit brace, each participant will make and weave a seat for a rustic stool.

first class in a four-class program

Grant Taylor has been a professional woodworker since 1975 and an award-winning maker of traditional Celtic and Celtic-inspired furniture since 1981. A founding member of the Guild of New Hampshire Woodworkers and a state-juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, he studied in the United States with master woodcarver Art Ritchie and in Ireland with furniture master Al O'Dea, among others.

With: Donna Bascom Lund

Class Fee: $30

Class Size: 6-8 / high school age to adult

Join us for a morning of creating beautiful skies in watercolor. We'll practice working with washes for calm skies and move to techniques to create lovely clouds. We'll finally finish up with stormy skies. Bring your watercolor supplies and we will explore skies!

This class is appropriate for beginners with some experience and intermediate watercolorists. For an introduction to watercolor, see Donna's two-morning class Watercolor Basics, June 25 & 26.

Donna Bascom Lund has enjoyed living in picturesque East Alstead for the last 40 years. As an artist, she plays with many creative media including sewing and blacksmithing but is most drawn to painting with watercolor as she feels that no other medium offers the feeling that watercolor does. View samples of her work here.

With: Bob Brown

Fee: by donation

Size: 50 / Ages 12+

As the ice melted at the end of the last ice age a lake was created in the Connecticut River valley that extended from Middletown, Connecticut to the Canadian border, well over 200 miles, and as much as 20 miles wide in places. This talk will cover the story of how this lake formed, some of the things we’ve learned from the evidence it left behind, and how we have exploited its remains for economic benefit and scientific understanding.

Bob Brown is a retired science educator and administrator, having taught at Fall Mountain Regional High School for many years. Now an Alstead resident, he summered in Mill Hollow throughout his childhood and worked closely with Heman Chase at the mill and surveying. Bob oversaw the rehabilitation of Chase’s Mill and its water power.

With: Jason Breen

Class Fee: $40

Class Size: 8 / Ages 16 and older

Using power and hand sharpening devices, we move on from garden tools in the first tool sharpening class, to learn how to safely sharpen your scissors, knives or chisels. Bring some dull tools to class and return home with sharp ones.

Jason Breen is a Brattleboro-based custom furniture maker and member of the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers. He studied instrument building and history at Marlboro College, which he paid for by building timber frames and cabinets. Traditional tools have inspired his work ever since he inherited his ancestors’ hand planes.

With: Kristy Rhoades

Class Fee: $20 for adults; Families: $20 per adult/$5 per child

Materials Fee: $20

Class Size: 12 max / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Flower pounding, also known as Tatakizome, is a captivating and ancient Japanese technique that involves hammering fresh flowers and other botanicals to create intricate patterns on fabric or paper. The process is surprisingly simple, loads of fun, and yields stunning results. Learn the basics of flower selection, preparation and technique, and bring home your own masterpiece! Materials will be provided, however you are encouraged to bring along some fresh blooms of your own. No experience necessary.

Kristy Rhoades only recently picked up this craft, but it spoke to her so deeply she has found herself trying the process with every flower she finds. As an accomplished seamstress, she has found ways to incorporate her flowered results into everything from cards to curtains to foraging bags.

Tuesdays, August 6, 13, 20, 27, 1-3 pm

With: Grant Taylor

second class in a four-class program

Click here to learn more and register for the full program.

With: Kristy Rhoades

Class Fee: $20 for adults; Families: $20 per adult/$5 per child

Materials Fee: $20

Class Size: 12 max / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Flower pounding, also known as Tatakizome, is a captivating and ancient Japanese technique that involves hammering fresh flowers and other botanicals to create intricate patterns on fabric or paper. The process is surprisingly simple, loads of fun, and yields stunning results. Learn the basics of flower selection, preparation and technique, and bring home your own masterpiece! Materials will be provided, however you are encouraged to bring along some fresh blooms of your own. No experience necessary.

Kristy Rhoades only recently picked up this craft, but it spoke to her so deeply she has found herself trying the process with every flower she finds. As an accomplished seamstress, she has found ways to incorporate her flowered results into everything from cards to curtains to foraging bags.

With: Juliana Stevens and Bob Brown

Class Fee: $30 adult/$35 adult + child

Class Size: 10 max / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Create your own marble run using hand tools with wood provided by the Mill. Demonstrate how they work and then bring home your creation. No experience necessary.

Tuesdays, August 6, 13, 20, 27, 1-3 pm

With: Grant Taylor

third class in a four-class program

Click here to learn more and register for the full program.

With: Laura Andrews

Class Fee: $40 adult/$45 adult/child

Class Size: 6 min, 8 max / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Materials for this workshop are provided by the Dan Curll Community Programs Fund.

Build a cherry shaker oval box. Shaker box and furniture making has been a part of New England's woodworking culture since the late 1700s. Learn how to make a small oval Shaker box using early methods still used today. Steps include cutting and bending the band, fastening it with brass tacks, cutting and shaping the tops and bottoms, putting it all together and instructions on applying a finish. This box can be used for storing any small treasures.

With: Juliana Stevens

Class Fee: $25.00 for adults; Families: $30 per adult/child pair

Materials Fee: $5

Class Size: min 4, max 20 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

In this class we will design and make necklaces and bracelets with assorted beads and memory wire. Come join the fun! No experience necessary.

Tuesdays, August 6, 13, 20, 27, 1-3 pm

With: Grant Taylor

fourth class in a four-class program

Click here to learn more and register for the full program.

With: Allan Kauders

Hike Fee: By donation/ registration encouraged

Hike Size: 10 max / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Alstead and Acworth were hotbeds of mining in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Evidence of this includes mines, mine pits, and sometimes, old equipment. As we hike to the Yuhas mines, we will also explore two cellar holes, and an abandoned farmhouse that are present along the wooded class VI road. There are two nice views of the Acworth hills as well. This hike is 3.5 miles. It is moderately challenging. Hiking boots and tick spray are recommended. We'll meet and park at 449 Cobb Hill Road, Alstead.

Allan Kauders loves the outdoors and is an avid hiker. His curiosity about his surroundings has led him to learn of the history of the mines and cellar holes that are part of the landscape in which he lives. He is also a steward of Chase's Mill by serving as a Board Member.

With: Ann Acheson

Tour Fee: none

Tour Size: 10 / Appropriate for children 8+ with accompanying adult

Join us for a tour of Adam's Grist Mill in Bellows Falls. It was built in 1831 as a grain mill and feed store powered by water drawn from the canal. In 1875 the gristmill passed to the Adams family who owned it until operations ceased in 1961. Much of the mill's machinery is still intact, including both its hydraulic machinery and later electric power systems. We will meet in the parking lot across from the Shedd-Porter Library in Alstead at 12:30pm and carpool over to Bellows Falls for a 1:00 tour.