Arrival & Check-in, Welcome Reception, Opening Dinner, Orientation, Program Overview

Afternoon: CHECK-IN & REGISTRATION. 3:00-3:30 pm in Mayflower Lodge on the Pilgrim Pines campus. When you will get your room assignment, you also receive your welcome packet containing your name tag, room key, up-to-date schedule and other important information we will review during orientation this evening. Please be aware that program activities and scheduled times could change due to local circumstances. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding. WELCOME RECEPTION; Join us for coffee and snacks from 3:30-5:00pm and begin getting to know the program staff and fellow participants.

Dinner: Dinner is at 6:00pm in the lodge, buffet style with an eclectic flair, offering a variety of selections with healthy choices include vegetarian options plus coffee, tea, and dessert.

Evening: ORIENTATION: 7:15pm. We will begin with introductions, then review the schedule, cover responsibilities, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer any questions you may have about our week together. PROGRAM OVERVIEW: We will begin our exploration into the production of award winning films by Ken Burns, including subjects, research methods, incredibly complex editing, and the life history of a creative genius.

Lodging: Pilgrim Pines

Meals Included: Dinner

About Florentine Films & Ken Burns, Walpole NH Field Trip, Recreational Opportunities, Ken Burns Film

Breakfast: Breakfast will be served 8:00-8:45 am in the Mayflower Dining Room featuring choices of cold and hot cereals, bread, toast, scrambled eggs, sausage or bacon, fruit bar with yogurt and granola, plus coffee, tea, and juice.

Morning: PRESENTATION: This morning we will explore the history of Florentine Films. Since its founding in 1976, Florentine Films has produced some of the most honored documentaries ever made. We will also examine the life and creativity of its founder, Ken Burns, purpose and mission, research and subjects, future projects, marketing, etc. Ken was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1953. He graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1975 and went on to be one of the co-founders of Florentine Films. The morning break will include coffee, tea, water, fruit and homemade Danish to renew your energy. PRESENTATION continues: Using DVDs, we will review the types of films produced by Florentine Films through the years.

Lunch: Lunch is from 12:30-1:15pm, buffet style in the Mayflower Dining Room. Choose from a full salad bar, soup of the day, taco salad, and/or make your own sandwich, brownies or cookies and drinks of your choosing (gluten free or vegetarian available upon request).

Afternoon: FIELD TRIP: Boarding maxi-vans, we will ride to Walpole, NH, the home town of Ken Burns and Florentine Films. Founded in 1736, Walpole is a typical rural New England agricultural town with working farms, schools, a small business district and several restaurants, inns, shops, and a characteristic town green. As a special treat, we will stop at Burdick’s, nationally known for its handmade chocolates. Returning to campus, there will be opportunities for a late afternoon swim in Swanzey Lake, canoeing, golf, tennis, or relaxing on the beach (weather permitting).

Dinner: Dinner is at 6:00 pm in the Mayflower Dining Room. After announcements and a blessing for the day, a full buffet dinner awaits your palate featuring a salad bar, meat and vegetable entrée, dessert and drinks of your choice (gluten free or vegetarian is available upon request).

Evening: The evening will conclude with a light snack in the Dining Room along with opportunities to discuss the film or relax and join in various activities.

Evening: FILM: At 7:15pm, we will view a Ken Burns documentary film presented on a large screen with excellent sound in our chapel on campus, followed by analysis and discussion.

Lodging: Pilgrim Pines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Documentary Film Planning & Research, Film: "The Shakers," Covered Bridges Excursion, Recreational Opportunities, Ken Burns Film

Breakfast: Breakfast is from 8:00-8:45am, buffet style in the Mayflower Dining Room, featuring choices of cold and hot cereals, breads to toast, scramble eggs, sausage or bacon, fruit bar with yogurt and granola, plus coffee, tea and juice.

Morning: PRESENTATION: Today we will focus on methods of research used to prepare for each film project and steps needed to move from research to production. The focal point of our discussion will be "The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God" -- the second documentary film produced by Ken Burns. The morning break will include coffee, tea, water, fruit and coffee cake to help renew your energy. FILM: We will view "The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God" followed by analysis and discussion.

Lunch: Lunch is from 12:30-1:15pm in the Mayflower Dining Room, buffet style, with delicious choices from the salad bar, homemade soup, chicken sandwiches, dessert and choice of drinks. Our professional chefs are always available to prepare alternative food requests.

Afternoon: EXCURSION: After lunch, we will board the maxi-van to visit the six covered bridges of Cheshire County. Ingenious New Englanders took the covered bridge designs of Central Europe and applied them to the new world, launching a new era in bridge construction. The first covered bridge in New Hampshire appeared in the 1820s. Nearly 400 covered bridges stood in the state at one time. Today, only 54 of these historic structures remain. In the late afternoon, enjoy a hike, swimming in Swanzey Lake, canoeing, golf, tennis, etc. (weather permitting).

Dinner: Dinner is at 6:00 pm in the Mayflower dining Room. After announcements and a blessing, a delicious full buffet will be served including a a salad bar, meat and vegetable entrée, dessert, and drinks of your choice (gluten free and vegetarian meals are available upon request).

Evening: FILM: At 7:15pm, we will view another Ken Burns documentary film presented on a large screen with excellent sound in our chapel on campus, concluding with analysis and discussion.

Evening: The evening will conclude with a light snack in the Dining Room along with opportunities to discuss the film or relax and join in various activities.

Lodging: Pilgrim Pines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Shaker Village Museum Excursion, Two Fiddles, Film: "When Lincoln Paid"

Breakfast: Breakfast is from 8:00-8:45am in the Mayflower Dining Room, buffet style, featuring pancakes, sausage, bacon, hot and cold cereals, bread to toast, fruit, yogurt bar along with coffee, tea, and juice.

Morning: EXCURSION: Now that you've seen the film about the Shakers, get a first-hand glimpse at how they lived. We will leave at 8:45am by bus to Canterbury, NH and the Shaker Village Museum. We will have a guided exploration of this National Historic Landmark and museum nestled among the rolling hills of wooded central New Hampshire with nearly 700 acres of forests, nature trails, gardens and ponds, as well as 25 original and four reconstructed Shaker buildings.

Lunch: Lunch will be in the Shaker Village dining room, a beautifully reconstructed Blacksmith Shop, featuring freshly sourced, Shaker inspired cuisine and pastoral views of Canterbury Shaker Village.

Afternoon: LOCAL CULTURE: Two Fiddles. After lunch, we will journey to the home of Dudley and Jacqueline Laufman who perform together as “Two Fiddles” and who are dedicated to preserving the traditional songs and stories of New Hampshire. Dudley has been awarded the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, the National Heritage Fellowship. We will enjoy music and dance in their barn and have late afternoon tea before returning by bus to the Pilgrim Pines campus.

Dinner: Dinner is at 6:00pm in the Mayflower Dining Room, buffet style. After announcements and a blessing, a delicious buffet includes a salad bar, meat and vegetable entrée, dessert, and drinks of your choice (gluten free and vegetarian meals are available upon request).

Evening: FILM: At 7:30pm, we will watch "When Lincoln Paid" -- an historic silent film from the early 20th century directed by Francis Ford (brother of John Ford) who also appears as Abraham Lincoln. This 100-year old film was found in a barn in Nelson, NH in 2006. Learn the story of the film, its re-discovery, and restoration. The film is important for its historical theme, Lincoln's practice of pardoning young Civil War soldiers condemned to die, if any extenuating circumstances might have been involved; for its place in film history; and for what it has to show about the techniques that influenced movie-maker John Ford and others down to Ken Burns.

Evening: The evening will conclude with a light snack in the Dining Room along with opportunities to discuss the film or relax and join in various activities.

Lodging: Pilgrim Pines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Documentary Film Production, Film Analysis: "Unforgivable Blackness," About Swanzey Lake, Ken Burns Film, Homespun & Ice Cream Sundaes

Breakfast: Breakfast is from 8:00-8:45am, buffet style, in the Mayflower Dining Room featuring choices of cold and hot cereals, breads to toast, scramble eggs, sausage or bacon, fruit bar with yogurt and granola, plus coffee, tea and juice.

Morning: PRESENTATION: Today we will explore the task of final film editing and the steps required to make a film ready for production. FILM: On the big screen in the chapel, we will view, analyze, and discuss "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson" by Ken Burns. Johnson was the first African-American Heavyweight Champion of the World, whose dominance over his white opponents spurred furious debates and riots in the early 20th century. As Ken Burns has written, "Johnson in many ways is an embodiment of the African-American struggle to be truly free in this country -- economically, socially and politically. He absolutely refused to play by the rules set by the white establishment, or even those of the black community. In that sense, he fought for freedom not just as a black man, but as an individual." The morning break will include coffee, tea, water, fruit and homemade donuts to help renew your energy.

Lunch: Lunch is at 12:30pm in the Mayflower Dining Room, buffet style, with a variety of choices from the salad bar, homemade soup, choice of cold cuts for sandwiches, dessert and drinks (gluten free and vegetarian meals are available upon request).

Afternoon: PRESENTATION: Hear a brief presentation on the local terrain and Swanzey Lake. There will be opportunities for recreational hiking, swimming, canoeing, golf, tennis, or relaxing on the Swanzey Lake beach (weather permitting). FILM: In the late afternoon, we will view and discuss another exceptional film by Ken Burns.

Dinner: Dinner is at 6:00pm, buffet style, in the Mayflower Dining Room will include a salad bar, meat and vegetable entrée, and drinks of you choice (gluten free and vegetarian meals are available upon request).

Evening: HOMESPUN: At 7:30pm, we will enjoy an evening of fun where everyone has an opportunity to share favorite stories, poems, writing, songs, jokes, etc.

Evening: The evening will conclude with "make your own sundaes" in the dining room. Delayed gratification!

Lodging: Pilgrim Pines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Ken Burns Documentary Film & Discussion, Wrap-up Session, Program Concludes

Breakfast: Breakfast is from 8:00-8:45am, buffet style, in the Mayflower Dining Room featuring a full menu which include baked oatmeal as a specialty of the house.

Morning: FILM: We will view and discuss a concluding documentary film by Ken Burns with an appreciation for his achievements. Mid-morning you will have opportunity to check out of your rooms and then enjoy coffee, tea, and muffins to renew your energy. During a final wrap-up session, we will review what we have seen and learned.

Lunch: Noon: Our closing lunch in the Mayflower Dining Room is an opportunity to say farewell to new-found friends. Box lunches will be available for those who need to get on the road. The program concludes with lunch. We hope you have enjoyed this special new program and will return for other rewarding Road Scholar learning adventures in the future. Best wishes for all your journeys!

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch