A3o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, My 21,1984 An ice cream sign beckons visitors to the porch where they can get a heaping helping of the delicious treat. A young visitor accepts a balloon from one of the festival clowns. "It's all the ice cream I can eat," this youngster seems to be saying. Rockwood Museum hosts ice WILMINGTON, Del. - There was probably no better place to be during last weekend’s oppressive heat than sitting in the shade of a weeping beech tree eating homemade ice cream and listening to a barbershop quartet sing. That is exactly what some 7,000 to 8,000 people did over the weekend at Rockwood Museum’s Old-Fashion Ice Cream Festival held in celebration of National Ice Cream Week. The tum-of-the-century festival featured high wheeled bicycle demonstrations, hot air balloon rides, live music, a craft fair and fashion show, games, antique cars, fried chicken, and naturally, homemade ice cream. Nearly 600 gallons of ice cream made by The Porch ice cream parlor were consumed. Sponsored by The Friends of Rockwood, the festival raised an estimated $28,000 to support the Rockwood Museum. Rockwood Museum is an outstanding example of Rural Gothic ar chitecture and Gardenesque landscape design. It was built of gray Brandywine granite between 1851 and 1857 by Joseph Shipley, descendant of Wilmington’s founder. A country estate in the true nineteenth century sense, Rock wood included a manor house and conservatory, porter’s lodge, gardener’s cottage, stable, carriage house and other out buildings, all on 211 acres of land. Rockwood was bequeathed to New Castle County in 1972 by Nancy Sellers Hargraves, a great-great grand niece of Joseph Shipley. Photos by Trish Williams Members of the Brandywine Forest No. 20 “clown around” for visitors at the Rock wood Museum Ice Cream Festival. cream festival ,arv and Carol Stouffer stroll around the grounds in these Victorian style outfits from the 1890's era. Three-year-old Jason digs into a dish of homemade ice ► A V V j. 4 Kl % r