Lorna Werntz

• April 14, 2020
• Written by director

We had planned to host a special program in April, coinciding with the spring opening of the ICNA Barn to visitors, called A Barn for All Seasons and led by Dan Kulund.   In the future we still hope to be able to take visitors on a 2 hour tour of the barn with emphasis on how it would be utilized in the work of those at River View Farm in the time of Conly Greer.  Dan's programs will provide specific focus on how the tasks of the farm/barn would reflect the rhythm of each season.   While April's gathering is not possible, we do want to share this image of Dan at the barn (taken last year by board member Lorna Werntz) and this snippet of information from Dan.....

One of the first things you see when you visit the barn at Ivy Creek is the big green front door. A big door at the gable end is unique to Dutch-style barns - a gable being the upper triangular area of wall from the roof ridge to the eaves.

Early barn doors were swinging ones, but gusts of wind would damage the hinges. By the early 20th century, however, barns had sliding doors that hung from a rail like the doors of a freight train boxcar. Our barn door is a special combination of a swinging door set in one of two sliding doors. The swinging door lets us slip in-and-out of the barn quickly and easily without having to open the big sliding one.