Summer Opportunities with Guidestone Colorado Start this Week for the Whole Family!
Get your hands in the soil through volunteer opportunities, play and learn on area farms and ranches through Farmhands Youth Programs and help bring the Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center to life this summer!
Summer day camp opportunities start this week with a Longfellow Junior Gardener Camp, followed by additional camp programs most weeks through June & July. Guidestone Colorado’s Farmhands Program offers single and multi-day experiential garden, pioneer and ranching programs through June and July for children ages 5 and up. Pre-registration is required and scholarships are available. For more information on these programs and to register, visit www.GuidestoneColorado.org.
Also starting this week is Garden Club, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Club. Students attending the Boys & Girls Club on Wednesday mornings can participate in weekly garden activities focused on experiential learning, and getting their hands in the soil at the Salida Middle School Garden. This Garden Club will also start hosting the weekly Youth Farmers Market at the Boys & Girls Club on Wednesday afternoons starting in July.
Volunteers are at the heart of all of Guidestone’s programs! If farming or gardening interests you most, join us for weekly Volunteer Days at the Salida School Gardens Holman Farm, Wednesdays 4-6pm. Assist with all aspects of the farm and support the growing of produce for the School District Lunch Program! For more information and to sign up, email [email protected].
To kick off the summer at The Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center, there are two events the first weekend in June. Friday, June 2 kicks off our Alive on Fridays Series. Each Friday through June & July, an interpretive program will highlight the homestead, high-altitude ranching, traditional skills, and more! Each week will include an informational presentation and hands-on activity, and is open to all ages. Our first guest presenter of the season is Bob Stocker of El Regalo Ranch, sharing information on raising goats, followed by the participants helping welcome the two new kid goat residents at the Homestead for the summer! We will also get to meet a baby chicken and hike over to visit the Hutchinson Ranch calves. Where shoes that can get wet!10:30am-12pm; $5/ person. The Homestead will remain open through Friday afternoons, 12-4pm, for tours. For additional info on each week’s program presenters and topics, visit www.HutchinsonHomestead.org
Saturday, June 3, from 11am-1pm, join us in our Summer Kick Off Event! You're invited to help us welcome the newest animal residents to the ranch this summer: chickens and 2 new goats! We will be introducing them to their new homes between 11:15 and 11:45, then celebrate with some homemade ice cream - hand-churned by YOU! Enjoy live music and additional children's activities. Come see what the Homestead is all about, learn more about summer camps, check out the Homestead Store, bring a picnic lunch, and join in the fun! $5/person.
Saturday afternoons, 2-4pm, June 17-July 29, the Hutchinson Homestead will also be open to drop in visitors with our Saturday Afternoon Gatherings. Enjoy live music, pie and lemonade, tour the buildings, bring a picnic, visit the animals, or just relax under the shade of the historic willow trees. Open to all ages.
Have a kid’s birthday coming up this summer? Host a birthday party for your lil’ cowhand or pioneer at the Hutchinson Homestead! The homestead buildings and surrounding ranchland provide a rustic backdrop where the birthday boy or girl and friends can travel back in time to Colorado in the late 1800s. A Homestead guide leads children through their three chosen activities and parents are encouraged to join in the fun!
Volunteers at the Hutchinson Homestead help support the homestead's tours, events and programming. Volunteer positions include being a site Tour Guide, Visitor Center Docent, Education Program Assistant and more! If you would enjoy sharing an incredible piece of Chaffee County history with visitors, or would like to support the Homestead, please join us!
Located at 8913 W. Hwy 50, halfway between Salida and Poncha Springs, the Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center is a dynamic heritage site dating back to the 1860’s where today, history and preservation bring the story of the land and community to life through interpretive education programs, celebrations and events. Walk in the footsteps of those that have lived and worked on this homestead, and see first-hand what life was like on a homestead and working ranch over 140 years ago. Tours are available Fridays 12-4pm and Saturdays 2-4pm. Come out for a visit, and bring visiting guests!
Guidestone Colorado is dedicated to growing a vibrant agricultural future through education, community building and partnerships through Farmhands Youth Education, Farm to School, Colorado Land Link, and the Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center. The Hutchinson Homestead is operated by Guidestone Colorado with the vision of bridging our past to the future of agriculture in the Upper Arkansas River Valley, and is a partnership between Guidestone Colorado, the Hutchinson Family and the Town of Poncha Springs.
For more information on all of these opportunities, please visit www.GuidestoneColorado.org email [email protected] or call (719)239-0955. Like us on Facebook!