Sloatsburgers Alison Harvey and Harrison Bush, two good friends of Harmony Hall, took advantage of the great weekend weather and organized a fall edition of the popular signature Great Lawn Flea Market. Vendors, browsers and buyers gathered Saturday at Harmony Hall for the flea market, where tables of goods were spread with everything from hand sewn denim clothes and Sloatsburg related historical odds and ends to the homemade dessert delicacies of Auntie El’s.

Lifelong Sloatsburg resident Harrison Bush serves as village historian. Bush, along with Alison Harvey (not shown) helped organize Harmony Hall’s recent Fall Flea Market.

The Flea Market was a bookend to The Dog Days of Summer flea market held over the summer. The Dog Days effort was so popular that Sloatsburg Village historian and enduring supporter of Harmony Hall Harrison Bush lobbied for a fall festival.

Harvey again pitched in, the call was put out and vendors and friends and neighbors flocked to the Great Lawn for fall afternoon of commerce and camaraderie. Harvey’s efforts helped bring in a number of new vendors and help with the cause of restoring Harmony Hall, which is currently undergoing significant restoration.

Friends of Harmony Hall President Barbara Bernsten (center) visits with board member Suzanne Daycock (seated right) and friend.

Proceeds from the weekend flea market fundraiser go towards the restoration effort.

Originally built as the home of Jacob Sloat in 1848, the mansion was known as Harmony Hall and today is on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places. According to the Friends of Harmony Hall, “the planned restoration of the mansion’s main roof and front verandah are temporarily on hold as the preservation team works with a structural engineer to ensure that the building is structurally sound before vital work on the roof begins.”

Restoration work is expected to be completed in the spring of 2014. For now, the old mansion will be closed to the public.

The Friends of Harmony Hall is a local non-profit organization that works in partnership with the Town of Ramapo and are dedicated to the preservation of Harmony Hall. The groups support arts, cultural and historical programs that capitalize upon the benefits of the historic preservation effort, and promotes the rich and varied history of New York’s magnificent Ramapo River Pass and Highlands.

Photos courtesy of Geoff Welch.