We're excited to extend an invitation to our Volunteer Open House on February 8th, at 4pm. Learn how our museum works, and what we do! Get involved in your community with your neighbors. With a special demonstration about fiber spinning and how to use a drop spindle.

See our event here.

Join us this Saturday for our most colorful event of the year - Dye Day! Aurora Colony Handspinners' Guild members will transform the courtyard into a vibrant hub of creativity. Watch as they dye wool using natural and synthetic dyes.

Stop by the yellow tent in the courtyard and try your hand at tie dying a bandana or bring a 100% cotton item of your own to personalize. Limit one per person while supplies last.

Saturday, July 15th from 11am-4pm with museum admission.

Enjoy the afternoon socializing in the courtyard of the museum.

• Delicious strawberry shortcake and ice cream by Arlene Cuisine!
  Available for purchase while supplies last:

  • $10 Aurora Residents (w/ID) & ACHS Members

  • $12 Adults

  • $6 Children

• Enjoy live music with musician Chip Cohen!

• Activities for all ages with corn hole and table top games.

• Complimentary museum admission from 11am - 4pm.

• Peek behind the scenes of the Museum. The Will Family Preservation and Research Center will be open to the public 3:30-5:00.

Bring your friends and meet new ones.

The Aurora Colony Historical Society cordially invites you to attend the Dedication Ceremonies for the Will Family Preservation & Research Center.

Please check in at the Old Aurora Colony Museum.

Program

• 1:00-4:00 Strawberry Social
  Community Celebration in the Old Aurora Colony Museum Courtyard with strawberry shortcake available for purchase from Arlene Cuisine, music by Chip Cohen, and activities for all ages. 

• 1:00-2:00 VIP Tours of the Will Family Preservation & Research Center
  (Invitation Only)

•  2:30 Dedication Ceremony at the Aurora Presbyterian Church 

• 3:30 Ribbon Cutting & Public Open House at the Octagon Building Grounds
  Tour the Will Family Preservation & Research Center and get a peek into the museum’s collection. Learn how to care for your unique treasures and family heirlooms.

•  4:00 Private Reception at Pheasant Run Winery
  (Invitation Only)

Step back in time and enjoy an Evening at the Stauffer-Will Farm. Guests will rotate through 6 stations learning about the Stauffer family and farm life in the 1870s.

Bring a friend and escape to the past. Includes dinner catered by Arlene Cuisine and Pheasant Run wine. Must be 21 or older to attend.

Member only event. Memberships start at $20 and can be purchased here.

TICKETS: $50/person
Call 503-678-5754 for Tickets.
Limited number available.
Tickets must be purchased by Monday, May 16th. All ticket purchases are final.

GUESTS WILL:

• Craft a log candle holder

• Dip a candle

• Use period tools

• Bake bread

• Learn about quilting

DINNER:
Please let us know if you need dietary accommodations.

• Smoked Chicken

• Loaded Mashed Potatoes

• Garden Salad

• Apple Crisp with Ice Cream

• Pheasant Run Wine

• Coffee & Tea

LOCATION:

This event will take place at the Stauffer-Will Farm located between Aurora and Hubbard. Guests will be emailed the specific site address and directions Tuesday, May 17th.

Aurora Colony Handspinners’ Guild presents the annual Antique Spinning Wheel Showcase.

Visitors to the museum will get to delight in the day as they browse through the buildings amongst the antique spinning wheels and their spinners. The handspinners will be dressed in their antique costumes and will be working their wheels, happy to answer questions and show visitors how their wheels work, what region they are from, what year they were made and any other query that comes their way.

This is a two-day event sure to please the fiber enthusiast! Please be sure to wear a mask and be mindful of your social distancing.

This charming double flyer wheel was donated to the Guild for a raffle. The wheel has dainty finial decorations of likely bone/ivory. The wheel came without any information about it’s lineage. It appears to be late 19th century and is typical of German parlor wheels of this era. It's graceful without being fussy. The wheel was purchased from a French seller and shipped to the previous owner. It is very small measuring 16 in. deep, 18 in wide and 39 inches tall including the distaff. There are only two bobbins (one for each flyer). There is some minor nonactive woodworm damage and some damage to a couple of the bone/ivory finial decorations. The wheel is functional, it treadles easily and is quiet to operate. It is a dark wood, unknown kind. Tickets are available: $1.00 a ticket or $5.00 for 6 tickets. The winning ticket will be drawn on March 13, 2022

Aurora Colony Handspinners’ Guild presents the annual Antique Spinning Wheel Showcase.

Visitors to the museum will get to delight in the day as they browse through the buildings amongst the antique spinning wheels and their spinners. The handspinners will be dressed in their antique costumes and will be working their wheels, happy to answer questions and show visitors how their wheels work, what region they are from, what year they were made and any other query that comes their way.

This is a two-day event sure to please the fiber enthusiast! Please be sure to wear a mask and be mindful of your social distancing.

This charming double flyer wheel was donated to the Guild for a raffle. The wheel has dainty finial decorations of likely bone/ivory. The wheel came without any information about it’s lineage. It appears to be late 19th century and is typical of German parlor wheels of this era. It's graceful without being fussy. The wheel was purchased from a French seller and shipped to the previous owner. It is very small measuring 16 in. deep, 18 in wide and 39 inches tall including the distaff. There are only two bobbins (one for each flyer). There is some minor nonactive woodworm damage and some damage to a couple of the bone/ivory finial decorations. The wheel is functional, it treadles easily and is quiet to operate. It is a dark wood, unknown kind. Tickets are available: $1.00 a ticket or $5.00 for 6 tickets. The winning ticket will be drawn on March 13, 2022

Start your Holiday Season with a trip to the Museum to join us for a Merry Christmas in Aurora!

Have your photo taken with Father and Mrs. Christmas. Enjoy refreshments in the Steinbach Cabin. Guests young and young-at-heart will enjoy making a number of fun crafts, suitable for gift-giving. We will even have a Wrapping Station available!

Regular Museum Admission applies.

See you on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 27, 2021, at the Museum!

We invite you to Celebrate the Colony at our annual fundraising dinner and auction. Tickets may be purchased-online (button below!) or by calling the museum-now through Friday, August 20, 2021 at: (503)678-5754

Your $65 dinner ticket comes with CHOICES this year! You may choose to come pick up your dinner and take it home OR….

Join us IN-PERSON at the Stauffer-Will Farmstead where we will have outdoor seating, wine and sparkling cider service with appetizers to sample before dinner.

Choices for dinner whether you stay or take away include: Smoked BBQ Chicken quarter OR Fred Broadwater’s Traditional Baked Salmon OR Grilled Portabella (vegan option)

The rest of the menu includes: Loaded Mashed Potatoes (vegan option IS available), Green Beans with Crimini Mushrooms, fresh-baked roll and butter.

Dessert is our Colony’s Krumble Cake with Marionberry Compote!

While you are enjoying appetizers and dinner, Chip Cohen will be playing live music to keep your toes tapping. You will be able to purchase raffle tickets, play the cornhole game or purchase from the wine wall while you visit with friends new and old.

UPDATE: You must now contact the museum by phone or email to place your dinner reservation. There are very few spaces available. We hope you will take a look at our online auction by downloading the McLaren app on your phone and registering for their services. Thank you so much for all your support!

After dinner, Gary McLaren of McLaren Auction services will conduct the LIVE portion of our auction and paddle raise. Some items include: a stay at Skamania Lodge, All-day fishing for 4 with Hot Line Guide service, a Rotary Hammer and so much more!

Our procurement team has been hard at work to bring you many, many items for our SILENT AUCTION. Gary McLaren will be supporting our online, silent auction through his platform.

All interested bidders will need to download and register with the “McLaren Auction Services” app from the app store onto their phone or other mobile device. We are all uber-grateful to Gary for his support and dedication to the Aurora Colony Historical Society.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at the museum either by phone at: (503) 678-5754 or email: info@auroracolony.org

The Old Aurora Colony Museum invites you to come spend the day with us for Living History Day. August 14, 2021 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm there will be costumed interpreters throughout the museum complex sharing activities or demonstrations.

EDIT: Due to the coming heat, all outdoor activities will end by 2:00 pm.

Visit with cheerful volunteers near the herb garden, learn how laundry was washed and try out the stilts. In the tie sheds, you can cut a log with a crosscut saw, split the log in 1/2 with a fro and mallet then drill a hole just big enough to fit the candle that you hand dip. As if that weren’t enough, in the Kraus House kitchen, you can make a fresh-baked bread roll and learn the science behind the ingredients used. Cookies and lemonade will be served in the old Steinbach Cabin and live music will be playing, courtesy of Heartstrings.

Entry into the museum is free all day, can we make it any easier for you to come visit? We love sharing the local history of Aurora and Oregon and we hope to see you here!

Come observe, visit and learn from the handspinners as they dye their fibers and yarns. Learn about natural dye such as the cochineal beetle, onion skins, lichen and more. Ask questions and see how it is done!

Cost of admission is regular museum admission. $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, students and AAA members.