Enjoy History—And Help Preserve It—At Dickson-Murst Farm on Sunday

What are you doing on Sunday? How about bringing the family for a fun-filled day on the farm, and helping to preserve a piece of Montgomery history in the bargain?

For the fourth year in a row, the Dickson-Murst Farm, at 2550 Dickson Road on the west side of Montgomery, will open its grounds for Spring at the Farm. It’s one of four major events hosted on the old farmstead each year by the Dickson-Murst Farm Partners, and it promises to be an old-fashioned good time.

It’s also one of the ways the Partners keep the farm in good condition. In 2006, the allowed the Conservation Foundation to buy the 4.5-acre farmstead—saving it from the bulldozers—and open a satellite office there. The Foundation agreed, as long as volunteers could be found to maintain the barns and other buildings, some more than a century old.

Enter the Dickson-Murst Farm Partners, a group of around 25 people who give their time to keep those buildings in good shape. But they need money to do it, which is one reason the partners hold events like Spring at the Farm. But another reason, according to Partner Merrie Woodward, is to give people some idea of what farm life was like in the 19th and early 20th Century, and what it's like today.

At Sunday’s event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., kids can meet and pet farm animals of all kinds, from horses, pigs and cows to sheep and goats, courtesy of the Future Farmers of America. The 4H Club of Kendall County will be on hand to show how old-time farm products were made, and a team of Belgian horses will provide hayrides.

Attendees can see antique tractors and farm equipment, and hear bluegrass music courtesy of the Northern Illinois Bluegrass Association. And there will be good food in abundance, Woodward said, at good prices—a family of four or five can eat for about $12, she said.

And she hopes people come away with an appreciation for farmers, and the food they grow.

“Farmers still exist and they work hard to provide good food,” she said. “It’s a good thing to see that milk doesn’t always come from Jewel."

Spring at the Farm is free to attend, though donations are accepted. Parking is free as well. The event will go on rain or shine. For more information and directions, visit the Conservation Foundation online, or call 630-272-0686.