Our Interpreters
Meet our Master Interpreters
The Farmers’ Museum comes to life each day thanks to the dedicated interpreters who share their knowledge and craftsmanship with our visitors. Leading the way are our dedicated, master interpreters.
Garry D. Aney, Master Interpreter of Textiles
After starting with knot tying in Boy Scouts and being taught to crochet by his mother in high school, Garry taught himself to knit in college. After a program at a local Historical Society meeting on raising sheep and spinning yarn, he purchased a couple of sheep and a spinning wheel in 1974, followed by a loom two years later. He became a member of the Farmers’ Museum at that time to garner help and information from the staff. After organizing the Leatherstocking Spinners Guild in Little Falls, Garry started working at the Museum in 1986 at the Lippitt Farmstead, shifting to textiles a few years later. He is also a proficient dyer, tatter, felter, rope maker and bobbin lacer.
Patrick MacGregor, Master Interpreter of Pharmacy and Gardens
After obtaining a BS in History from SUNY Brockport, Patrick started as an interpreter at The Farmers’ Museum in 1992, where he brought his passion for homesteading and wildcrafting. He has spent over 25 years researching, studying and training in herbalism, gardening and pharmacological history. A long-time member of the American Institute for the History of Pharmacy, and a coordinator for the Healing and Intuitive Arts Alliance, he is the former town historian for Hartwick, where he lives on the land which was the original location of Dr. Thrall’s Pharmacy, now located at The Farmers’ Museum.
Pat Young, Master Interpreter of Domestic Arts
Pat has been cooking, baking and preserving foods since her mother taught her domestic arts at a young age. After growing up in Cleveland, OH, she moved to the Cooperstown area in 1987, becoming an interpreter at The Farmers’ Museum in 1990. She has been demonstrating and teaching open hearth cooking, bread baking, butter and cheese making, and meat brining and smoking. A lifelong learner and educator, she has taught domestic arts to new staff and conducted cooking workshops for the general public, school children, and special needs visitors.
