TOWN OF COLUMBIA — The Millers Mills community is again planning their annual Ice Harvest for Sunday, Feb. 9.
As always, the event is subject to Mother Nature’s fickle ways. Both sufficient ice to cut and snow for sleighs to carry the ice are critical.
The Millers Mills Grange sponsors the event and members said they feel compelled to carry on the tradition to offer younger generations an opportunity to step back in time and experience a task of their ancestors.
The use of old hand tools to saw, separate, and load the ice blocks onto horse-drawn sleighs maintains the authenticity of a 19th century ice harvest.
The only exception is the antique, gas-powered machine used to score the ice the day before. This ensures that the blocks are relatively uniform
in size and easier to cut and handle.
The harvest begins at 11 a.m. and continues until the ice house is full in mid afternoon.
Visitors are encouraged to participate in cutting the ice, as long as a minimum ice depth of 8 inches is met in insure safety for all.
The Millers Mills Pond has been the source for ice harvesting since its founding by Andrew Miller more than two centuries ago.
Then ice was needed to preserve food and to cool farmers’ milk.
After electricity arrived in 1941, the community church, and later the grange, continued harvesting ice to make ice cream for summer socials.
Today the Millers Mills Ice Harvest has become a nationally-known community effort to preserve and share a small facet of rural American heritage.
Members of the Eastern Regional Draft Horse Association and their teams of draft horses haul the ice from the Millers Mills pond to the ice house a short distance away.
Packed in sawdust and snow, the ice blocks last well into the following summer. The empty sleighs provide rides back to the pond.
Visitors to the nearby Grange Hall can warm up with homemade soup, hot dogs, doughnuts and hot chocolate, and view a historical exhibit.
Some commemorative articles will be available for purchase and a raffle will be held.
The Community Church located by the ice house, will offer chili, home baked goods and a craft sale.
Millers Mills is in the town of Columbia in extreme southern Herkimer County. The grange is located at 107 Finger Ave. Parking and admission are free. Attendees are advised to dress warm and bring their cameras.
Anyone planning to attend can check the status of the ice and the event by visiting the Millers Mills Grange website, www.millersmillsny.com or by calling 315-822-6860 or 315-822-3003 for more information prior to the date of the event.
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Millers Mills gears up for traditional ice harvest - Rome Sentinel
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