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Community Corner

Guests Enjoy Civil War Themed Garden Luncheon

Happy crowd feasts on summer treats at the annual Middlesex County Historical Society event.

A happy crowd of more than 100 gathered for an elegant lunch with a Civil War theme Wednesday in the garden of the old brick Mansfield House on Main Street.

There was excited chatter as guests, seated on long tables decked in festive red, white and blue, enjoyed egg, tuna and potato salad and sipped lemonade and iced tea in the spreading shade of an ancient Ginko tree behind the former home of Civil War hero, Gen. Joseph K. Mansfield.

For desert there was homemade vanilla ice cream and vanilla cupcakes with lemon Chantilly cream frosting.          

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“We tried to have everything in keeping with the Civil War period,” said Society member Denise Cahill, about this year’s garden luncheon at the Middlesex County Historical Society. “The food is what people might have enjoyed in the 1860s and even the flowers – red carnations and daises – are what you would have seen at a summer garden party. It was a lot of research.”      

Society member Nancy Bauer agreed. “We've been planning this for months,” she said, adding that the money raised will go to purchasing a new fire alarm to protect the society’s extensive collection.

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Guests were also able to view the historical society's new exhibit “Within These Walls: One House, One Family, Two Centuries,” which details the 200-year history of the brick Federal Mansfield House, which is among the few surving Main Street residences.      

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