March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 51 F

Strawberry Festival At Historic Benson-Hammond House

Benson-Hammond House, December 2009

The Ann Arrundell County Historical Society, Inc. will hold its 22nd Annual Strawberry Festival on Saturday, June 9, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the historic Benson-Hammond House, an interpretive truck farm museum, 7101 Aviation Boulevard. The Festival celebrates the rich agricultural history of Anne Arundel County in the production of strawberries for the local and national markets and the Polish pickers who worked seasonally on the farms.

In celebration of the Society’s 50th Anniversary, this year’s Strawberry Festival will feature the wine that made the Festival famous 22 years ago, Berrywine Plantations’ Strawberry Wine by Linganore Winecellars, made exclusively from the fruit of strawberries. Strawberries will also be available by the pint, in Strawberry Shortcakes, jams and hand-dipped in chocolate. The work of local crafters including needlework, jewelry, honey and wood work will be for sale, as will books, baked goods and flea market collectibles. Festival food will be provided by Buddy’s Pit Beef, Ham and Turkey with all the fixings, as well as soft drinks and water will be available for purchase.

Highlighting this anniversary event will be a performance by Maryland’s own internationally acclaimed recording artist Mr. Ronnie Dove at noon. Entertainment will also include Horn’s Punch and Judy Show, America’s oldest children’s entertainment founded in Baltimore, circa 1897, (shows at 10:30 a.m., 1 and 2 p.m.), and story-telling by local storyteller Adam Mazurek featuring Polish pickers tales (at 11 a.m.). The Benson-Hammond House will be open for tours from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at $3.00 for adults and $1.50 for children 12 and under.

Free parking is available within walking distance at the soccer fields on Aaronson Drive off Aviation Boulevard or Festival attendees may take advantage of free shuttle bus service provided between the lot and the Festival. There is no admission charge for the Festival. The rain date is Sunday, June 10. The Festival is sponsored through the generous support of BWI Airport, Southwest Airlines, Pam Beidle – Beidle Insurance Agency, Inc., Sandy Spring Bank, Gotügo, GableSigns, Inc. and the Anne Arundel County Farmers Cooperative Association, Inc.

The Ann Arrundell County Historical Society, Inc. is a 501(C)(3) non-profit corporation founded in 1962 to encourage and inspire present and future generations to preserve and explore the County’s history to foster a greater appreciation for our shared legacy. The Society’s headquarters, the Benson-Hammond House, is the only historic museum open to the public on an international airport property.

For more information contact Beth Nowell at 410-859-0298.

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