Ashantilly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Noel Gieleghem, Brandon Tyson, and Bill Bolin worked tirelessly decorating the house, inside and out, with natural materials from our coastal region. Boondoggles and grape vine wreaths were decked out with shells, pecans, citrus, and greenery. Carol Gaither, Gigi Stratton and Donna Bassett did their annual decorating of the tree, beautiful! 

Oh, what fun in the Print Shop! Students printed their own cards that had been set by their instructor, Nicholas Silberg. After learning the basics about setting type, they composed their lines for the inside of their cards. Ashantilly Press's wide collection of typefaces offered many choices. The cards look great!

Janisse Ray spoke about her latest book, The Seed Underground to a very interested audience. There is a growing revolution to save food and heirloom seeds. Janisse is a very large part of this movement and is very passionate about farming. A reception and book-signing followed the talk.

Lots of activities took place during the Darien Fall Festival! Downtown Darien had arts and crafts, live music and a doggie parade! Local artist, Carly Hardy, donated 50% of her sales of her art at Ashantilly's booth, thank you so much, Carly! Also at the booth, Noel Gieleghem demonstrated the heritage craft known as boondoggle. Woven from palm, the boondoggle brings good luck to the household and wards off lightning. Noel will be using these handmade beauties for decorating for Christmas at Ashantilly (Dec. 5th).

Tours of Ashantilly and print demonstrations at Ashantilly Press began at 11:00. At 1:00 pm, Buddy Sullivan gave a lecture on the Antebellum South. Light refreshments rounded out the activities.

Nicholas Silberg showed students the ends and outs of Linoleum block carving. Each produced a cut for printing. After several proof prints, they honed their blocks for the final prints. Everyone did a great job!

What fun! Last night's BBQ was a blast! Rick Caldwell provided delicious BBQ and Waits & Co rocked us with their awesome tunes! Craft beer helped to bid a final farewell to Hurricane Matthew and toast our luck at the near miss! We appreciate all the support of our sponsors and friends that helped make this a successful event!

Coastal Wildscapes' Fall Native Plant Sale brought together 5 different vendors who had healthy, beautiful plants for buyers. Lovely refreshments and non-invasive Mimosas were served, and educational programming was provided throughout the sale. Both buyers and vendors seemed pleased!

 Graphic Arts students from Golden Isles Career Academy and Needwood Middle School visited Ashantilly's Print shop. The students learned how type is set, how formes for printing are composed, and how the presses operate. Everyone printed a small broadside on the Vandercook proof press. Students were given a brief history of Ashantilly, the Haynes family, and the Ashantilly Press as they toured the National Register main house, affectionally called "Old Tabby". 

In spite of a rainy morning, lots of folks turned out for the Churn-Off! Churners had quite a variety of flavors to taste! Live music by Skeeter Truck provided a nice feel to the afternoon. Lots of popcorn and lemonade were also enjoyed. A generous friend donated a vast supply of jewelry which was sold during the event. Ashantilly would like to thank volunteers Jeanne, Kay and Barbara for their help in handling this for us. The Judges selected Keep McIntosh Beautiful 's  "Mean Green Mint Chocolate" as this year's Business/Organization winner. Their Individual Winner was Jan and Barry Lollis for their "Jan's Blueberry Best" (made with blueberries  received locally from Jan Durrance.) The People's Choice went to Jan Chamberlain for her "Key Lime" flavor.

ASHANTILLY was pleased to welcome Joe Sanders to the Print Shop! Joe is the Alan F. Rothschild Distinguished Chair of Art at Columbus State University. He came to finish a project he had started a while back. Using the Vandercook Uni 1, he was able to complete his project. In addition, he has designed and printed a unique Holiday card. We will have some for sale at the Center.