2025 Events
Sunday, July 6th, 2025
Join us for the Second Annual Contradance: live music, dancing, strawberry shortcake, all under the big tent.
Saturday, July 12th, 2025
Sue Lenfest, local basket weaver and teacher, will be onsite for her basketmaking class. Join her class on July 12th and bring home a basket. This year she has promised to provide plenty of naturally-dyed material to liven up the basketmaking. Watch for our postcard & emails about how you can sign up early to this limited attendance event!
Saturday, August 2nd, 2025
The 5th Annual History Hike. This time we will start at the Academy, talk about the Kedron Valley Inn, then up Fletcher Schoolhouse Rd to take in an ancient tomb, the site of a pottery mill, view some American chestnut trees and then up Greene Road to where author and farmer Anne Bosworth Greene took up residence in 1910 with her daughter Lorna. We’ll return through the Vermont Farmstead Cheese property taking a look at their cows and the creamery. There will be some mud, and there’s bit of a climb, but it will be less than a two mile hike.
Sunday, September 7th, 2025
Did you ever wonder what the story was behind the big wooden “Suffolk Punch” sign on the barn across the road from the Firehouse? Do you know why some people call the stone chamber on Morgan Hill “Moon’s Ark”? And how about the big beautiful barn that is part of Green Mountain Horse Association, called Upwey barn? All of this relates to Owen and Margaret Moon who purchased property here in the early 1900s and started Upwey Farms. Through their careful management the farm grew to encompass hundreds of acres, multiple barns and homes, orchards and gardens. The Moons owned and bred Morgan horses attracting attention from all over the US. They raised Suffolk Punch draft horses and Jersey cows. They were generous to the community in many ways. Come and learn more at our Annual Meeting in September. Several locals will share their knowledge of this fascinating era of South Woodstock’s history.
2024 Events
GMPA'S HAPPENINGS 2023:
GMPA'S HAPPENINGS 2022:
For some time we have been very excited about the project of getting official historical recognition for the Academy. To that end, we applied to the Vermont Division of Historical Preservation for a new marker to be located in front of the Academy--the first marker in South Woodstock! Our plans included a two-sided sign that gives a brief history of the Academy. And now, at last, thanks to the efforts of Mary McCuaig, Board President, and Board member Hunter Melville, the plans have been realized and the marker has been unveiled at our opening event, June 25, 3pm. The event has been given very fine coverage by the Vermont Standard. To read the complete article, click HERE
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It should be noted that in light of this historic event, we have not been idle in housekeeping. Window repair and replacement has been completed with all the windows on the south and left sides and six windows on the front side; work on the foundation of the building has been completed, and we had Board volunteers repaint the steps and ramp at the front of the building. We are receiving funds from our recent Annual Appeal letter, and are very grateful to all who have contributed to the window project. You can still buy a window for $1000 and memorialize it with an engraved plate. However you wish to preserve this wonderful community resource, we hope you will become a member or renew your membership. And, obviously, we hope you will join in our activities and events as the situation permits. All stay safe and well.
FROM THE PAST: 2021
SATURDAY JULY 3, 2:30 PM: OPENING DAY AND HISTORY HIKE. Meet at the Academy for a guided hike on Fletcher Hill to the Stratten Place Cellar Hole Complex and on to the Lover's Lament Stones. It's 2 miles over uneven terrain, so plan about 2 hours and wear sturdy shoes!
SATURDAY JULY 31st, 3:00 PM: A reading of Darwin Washburn's incredible account of his 11 months with the Union Army in the last year of the Civil War. Darwin was a graduate of the Green Mountain Perkins Academy and a long time resident of Hammondsville and Felchville. It's a story of shipwrecks, explosions, hard marches, dusty Texas and the wide Mississipi. If you missed Charlie Gilley reading Darwin's account, and Hunter Melville's accompanying slide show, check out these links:
greenmountainperkinsacademy.org/files/Washburn.pdf
https://www.flickr.com/photos/11371544@N04/sets/72157719628485997
Charlie Gilley as Darwin Washburn: 
SATURDAY AUGUST 21st, 2:00 PM onwards. Sharon Based fiddle Gale Emerson will be playing in the Academy throughout Saturday afternoon. Don't miss this one!
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 11th, ANNUAL MEETING. Following a 20 minute meeting and review of the year, we will have a reading from Karl Wood's book "Made in South Woodstock, Vermont. Tales from the Village that raised me." (See below for a delightful review of the book by Paul Regan in the Vermont Standard.)
The Newmont Military Band
On the lawn of the Academy, music from the late 19th century!
Band members from Vermont and New Hampshire play rousing anthems using antique instruments. A large audience enjoyed the afternoon.
(Photos from 2010's Summer Concert courtesy of GMPA Board member Dale Kjerulff.
Book Release!
"made in South Woodstock, Vermont"
On sale locally (contact us for outlets)...a great gift which also supports the Green Mountain Perkins Academy!
Karl Wood Pens Book, 200+ Years in the Making
by Paul Regan
Special to the "Vermont Standard"
"Karl marked his 50 years of Perkins Academy board membership just a few years ago and this November has completed his wonderfully revealing and entertaining manuscript “Made in South Woodstock, Vermont, Tales From the Village That Raised Me.” This could be the perfect holiday gift for that Woodstock resident who thought they had everything!
"Anyone who has known Karl through the years or has spent time with him around the table at The South Woodstock Country Store is well aware of Karl’s story-telling expertise. As Karl penned in the forward to his new manuscript, I could say I’m here in the same village where I grew up, but that is not really correct; South Woodstock, Vermont, and I have changed every day of the nearly eighty years we’ve been together.” Karl went on to say, “It’s been my good fortune to be the repository of a great deal of history: old family letters and journals, town records, and stories that I have heard (and overheard). This information has given insight, not only into those who came before me, but perhaps a better look into the world that I have occupied and will leave to those who follow me.”
"As always, our mission at GMPA & HA is to educate by preserving the Academy building, its artifacts, personal papers, and records pertaining to the Academy, its students, and the South Woodstock community, of which Karl Wood, his family, and his ancestors have been such an integral part since the late 1770s."
On sale locally (contact us for outlets)...a great gift which also supports the Green Mountain Perkins Academy!
Karl Wood Pens Book, 200+ Years in the Making
by Paul Regan
Special to the "Vermont Standard"
"Karl marked his 50 years of Perkins Academy board membership just a few years ago and this November has completed his wonderfully revealing and entertaining manuscript “Made in South Woodstock, Vermont, Tales From the Village That Raised Me.” This could be the perfect holiday gift for that Woodstock resident who thought they had everything!
"Anyone who has known Karl through the years or has spent time with him around the table at The South Woodstock Country Store is well aware of Karl’s story-telling expertise. As Karl penned in the forward to his new manuscript, I could say I’m here in the same village where I grew up, but that is not really correct; South Woodstock, Vermont, and I have changed every day of the nearly eighty years we’ve been together.” Karl went on to say, “It’s been my good fortune to be the repository of a great deal of history: old family letters and journals, town records, and stories that I have heard (and overheard). This information has given insight, not only into those who came before me, but perhaps a better look into the world that I have occupied and will leave to those who follow me.”
"As always, our mission at GMPA & HA is to educate by preserving the Academy building, its artifacts, personal papers, and records pertaining to the Academy, its students, and the South Woodstock community, of which Karl Wood, his family, and his ancestors have been such an integral part since the late 1770s."