Korner’s Folly Foundation

Funds awarded to Körner’s Folly by the Kernersville Foundation in 2025 supported community programming designed to provide Kernersville’s citizens with opportunities to discover local history, engage creatively, and connect the past to the present.

Foundation support enabled the planning, creation, implementation, supplies, promotion, and evaluation of the following programs:

Taste of History, launched as a free monthly program, expanded Körner’s Folly’s calendar into consistent, year-round engagement. Between February and November 2025, the program engaged 262 participants across 8 themed sessions. Programming intentionally aligned with nationally recognized heritage months and local civic partnerships. Attendance peaked in early summer, reflecting growing public awareness and thematic resonance. While attendance varied by theme and season, the program established a reliable monthly forum for dialogue, scholarship, and community storytelling. Importantly, Taste of History represents not only increased visitation but also expanded intellectual and civic reach, bringing elected officials, scholars, authors, and community historians into conversation with Kernersville residents at no cost to participants. Grant funds were used to purchase refreshments that connected historic foodways to thematic elements, for speaker honoraria, for paid promotion on social media, and curriculum development, as well as post-program evaluation.
In March 2025, Homeschool Day: Museum Behind-the-Scenes invited students to “become a historian for the day”, engaging in object-based learning, preservation demonstrations, research exercises, and a themed scavenger hunt to explore how historic house museums steward collections and interpret the past. In September 2025, Homeschool Day: Fun on the Farm focused on Victorian-era agricultural life, offering hands-on experiences with baby goats from Romesburg Family Farms and native plant exploration led by horticulturalists from Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden. Both programs offered self-guided tours of all 22 rooms of the house and the Visitors Center Community Room, along with historic yard games, creative crafts, and immersive scavenger hunts that connect material culture, agriculture, and museum practice for homeschool families. A total of 156 participants were served through Homeschool Days programming. Grant funds were used to purchase supplies and equipment, as well as for paid promotion on social media and to support curriculum development and post-program evaluation.

In February 2025, the 2^nd Annual St. Valentine’s Family Celebration invited families to explore Victorian-era Valentine traditions through a themed scavenger hunt across all 22 rooms of the house with special collections objects on view, Romantic-era music, and hands-on art activities in the John & Bobbie Wolfe Visitors Center. Visitors created handcrafted Valentine’s and learned about floriography by making miniature “tussie-mussie” bouquets, with complimentary refreshments included to encourage extended, intergenerational engagement. In summer 2025, Family Fun Day: Classic Games & Toys activated both the grounds and the interior of Körner’s Folly with historic yard games, period toys, art-making stations, and a toys-and-pastimes-themed scavenger hunt. Staff and volunteers taught game rules and skills, while families created handmade toys in the Community Room, blew giant bubbles on the lawn, and enjoyed Storytime with a local children’s author. Together, these seasonal Family Days embedded layered historical interpretation with joyful, accessible experiences designed for learning across generations. A total of 135 participants were served by Family Day programming. Grant funds were used to purchase supplies and refreshments, as well as for paid promotion on social media and to support curriculum development and post-program evaluation.
In Spring 2025, Scout Day: Patch Party invited Scouts of all troop affiliations and levels to complete a series of interactive tasks to earn a custom Körner’s Folly patch. Participants engaged in historic yard games, hands-on crafts, and a Scouts-themed scavenger hunt through all 22 rooms of the house museum, connecting contemporary badge work with 19^th-century architecture, craftsmanship, and civic traditions. In Fall 2025, Scout Day: Scouting Through History explored a century of the scouting movement from its early 1900s origins to modern practice. Scouts rotated through interactive stations featuring Morse code, knot-tying, classic crafts, and outdoor skills while examining how values of preparedness, stewardship, and service have endured across generations. Together, these programs provided credential-aligned, hands-on historical learning experience that connect national civic traditions to place-based interpretation. A total of 121 participants were served by Scout Day programming. Grant funds were used to purchase art supplies, a new chess set, historical toys, bubble making supplies, croquet mallets, and Scout patches as well as paid promotion on social media and to support curriculum development and post-program evaluation.