Naughty or nice? Santa visits Carroll County Farm Museum

The Carroll County Farm Museum’s annual Holiday Tour began Tuesday, but it started to feel a lot more like Christmas when Santa Claus made his first appearance on Saturday. He is expected to return today and each Saturday and Sunday, from noon until 4 p.m., through Dec. 23.

Santa will greet visitors from the log cabin, behind a small wooden gate. Children will be able to speak to and get photos with St. Nick, albeit in a socially distanced way. The cabin has been decorated by ReFabuluz Vintiques of Westminster, according to a news release from the Farm Museum.

Most of the Holiday Tour activities will be held outside in an effort to keep all visitors safe. The farmhouse and living history center are not open and some traditional parts of the tour have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Health Department has been great about working with us every step of the way to be sure we are following all the appropriate state guidelines including requiring visitors to wear masks and also not having visitors congregate,” Farm Museum Manager Joanne Morvay Weant said via email. “Even though this is a very different look for this popular event, we are hoping visitors will be able to enjoy it and still stay safe.”

Admission is $3 per person for visitors age 9 and older. Visitors under age 9 are free with a paying adult. Holiday refreshments are sold on the weekends and museum gift shop is open with a theme of 1800s crafts and heartfelt holidays.

The Farm Museum is offering family-oriented activities including a children’s holiday scavenger hunt through the outside buildings and barns, free children’s crafts to take home, a farm-themed playground and self-guided walking tours including “Sleighs and Ice,” highlighting the sleighs and ice cutting supplies in the Museum’s collection.