It's Windmill Wednesday at Prescott Farm

Windmill Wednesday returns to this evening, part of the Newport Restoration Foundation (NRF)’s monthly program to enable visitors to put their "hands on history.”

The NRF holds the programs at Prescott Farm every fourth Wednesday through October.

“This is the second year we have done the Windmill Wednesday program. The idea is that we are making the Prescott windmill accessible to the public,” said Liz Spode, Education and Public Programs Assistant for the Newport Restoration Foundation.

“We want people to know that this is a public historic site and is open to all ages,” she said.

“People can come here and see vestiges of rural life on Aquidneck Island. In the case of Windmill Wednesdays, people can tour the windmill and bring their families,” said Spode.

She also pointed out that the younger visitors will enjoy their time here too.

“There are hands on corn grinding activities for kids so they can see the incredible technology of the windmill. That it was an incredible time saver in the colonial and early 19^th and early 20^th century,” she said.

“We also make jonnycakes for our visitors to taste. Jonnycakes are a variation of oat cakes that were made in Scotland and Britain. Because corn was so abundant here it was substituted for oats in recipes and that’s why windmills were so important to the local economy,” Spoden said.

Over the summer, Taylor Wheatley, 8, was on the trip with her sister Madyson, 6, and good friend Ella Donaldson, 6.

“I’m not really sure about the jonnycakes,” she said.

Couple Brandon and Renee Christensen of San Diego had been staying in Sandwich, Massachusetts and wanted to have an excuse to visit another state and this proved to be it.

“Everything in Southern California is stucco so it’s great to see old architecture here in New England,” said Brandon.

For more information, visit www.newportrestoration.org.