Visit Lowell’s Boat Shop during their Annual Holiday Open House is a two day family event during the first weekend in December. Festivities include old time music by violinist Gus La Casse and banjo player Mathias Kamin III; a children’s workshop with arts and crafts projects; visits from Santa (12 to 1 p.m. each day); a Silent Auction featuring boats, a stay at Mohonk Mountain House, sails on pinky schooner Ardelle, jewelry, and numerous gift certificates and items donated by generous area restaurants and shops.
Visitors can also buy fresh evergreen Christmas trees, Lowell’s Boat Shop signature wreaths, holiday ornaments, locally made jams and jellies, and Boat Shop apparel and glassware with the shop’s logo.
This year’s Art Show includes paintings and photographs inspired by local waterways, maritime history, and Lowell’s Boat Shop itself. All artwork is for sale and proceeds benefit both the artist and Lowell’s Boat Shop.
The Holiday Open House is Lowell’s main fundraiser and makes possible its extensive youth educational outreach programs, including the Apprentice Program for high school students interested in learning the art and craft of wooden boat building.
Founded by Simeon Lowell in 1793, Lowell’s is the oldest continuously operating wooden boat-building establishment in the United States, and the official birthplace of the fishing dory—the mainstay of New England’s legendary fishing industry. Visitors can explore the historic Shop with its numerous antique tools, well-seasoned posts and beams, and traditional skiffs and dories, all now decorated for the holiday season.