Once every 4 years (usually)

Woo hoo! We get an extra day of February this year. But it's a Monday, so maybe not so much fun. (Curious about the whole leap year thing? Thank goodness, for Wikipedia.)

But seriously, it does give you an extra day to get in on the Eckley Miners' Village Winter Wonderland photo contest, which has an entry deadline of March 1 (all the details you need).

Somerset Historical Center has shared photos of their latest hands-on workshop, where participants learned about tole painting and decorated a wooden box to take home. A staff project will stay at the site to accept donations to support this and other programs. If you're in the area (or like to travel), you might like the Pysanky egg workshop coming up on March 19.

As you probably know if you're familiar with Ephrata Cloister, music was vital to community life historically and is an important component of the site's programming today. On two recent weekends, student musicians played classical arrangements of Ephrata music in the Visitor Center as a part of a senior project. [Smooth segue alert!] And speaking of students, 2015 summer intern Kendra Ressler recently participated in Ephrata's Winter History Class, sharing a report of her research project on an autograph album acquired for the collection (she wrote about it for Trailheads in August).

The annual celebration of George Washington's birthday took place last weekend at Washington Crossing Historic Park and it looks like a good time was had by all (photos on Facebook). It was recently announced that management of WCHP has been transferred from PHMC to the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The site remains part of the PA Trails of History.

Wintertime is sail training time for volunteers at the Erie Maritime and U.S. Brig Niagara (named the top sail training program in the country for 2015). The museum recently shared photos on Facebook of trainees practicing seizings. Yeah, I had to look it up, too.

And last but definitely not least. We recently received word that the visitor center expansion and new core exhibit at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum will receive an Institutional Achievement Award from PA Museums at their annual conference in April. This was a major project that required the work of many people over many years, and we are really pleased that it is being recognized by our peers.

Coming up between now and the end of the month...

Erie Maritime Museum and U.S. Brig Niagara
Feb. 29: Storytime at the Maritime—children and their accompanying adult(s) enjoy a maritime-themed story and participate in a related activity. Program is free. 10 am.

Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum
Feb. 27: Heirloom Seed Project workshops—sessions cover a variety of topics (visit website for class descriptions and registration info). Registration deadline was Feb. 19, so it may be filled.

State Museum of Pennsylvania
Feb. 26: Storytime at Curiosity Connection—the winter series kicks off with a reading of Roadwork, by Sally Sutton. The program also includes a related play activity and a visit to one of the museum's galleries. Included in regular admission. 10 am.

Washington Crossing Historic Park
Feb. 27-28: History Conference—Mrs. Boice's Historie Academie and the Friends of Washington Crossing Park will present a two-day conference, "Beyond Boom-Boom Sticks and Fancy-Dress Balls: Women's Lives in Early America." The program includes lectures and hands-on workshops; registration fee is $75 plus $15 per workshop. For more details and to register, visit Mrs. Boice's Historie Academie online.