SACO — In 1866, the guns of America’s Civil War had been silenced for a year. In 1866, there was a large fire, called the Great Fire, in Portland.

In 1866, the Saco Museum was born­– in those days it was called York Institute – and on Saturday, folks celebrated with a Garden Party and Ice Cream Social.

It was a steamy hot day, but for the youngsters engaging in a game of croquet on the lawn, it didn’t seen to matter.

And the lemonade, that perfect, tangy quencher for hot days, was free and plentiful and served by trustee Inga Brown in period costume.

Celeste Apte Macas, 3, joined her grandmother Mary Apte in the art of making sachets with fresh lavender sprigs – a present intended for Celeste’s mother.

Linsey Pilon, of the Saco Museum and Dyer Library Board of Trustees, said the exhibit inside the museum shows 150 years of collecting. Examples include a large dragon chair brought back from China many years ago, fine portraits and a set of surgical instruments that belonged to Samuel Nye and are dated from 1832. The exhibit goes on through the end of October.

Outside, children earlier in the afternoon had tried their hand at the Game of Graces. The website History Lives describes the game this way:

“Opponents send gaily beribboned hoops whirling towards each other to be caught on the tips of slender wands in this exciting and elegant outdoor game. The Game of Graces was considered proper and beneficial exercise for young ladies in the early 1800’s, and it was proper as well for boys to join in the game as a lark.”

What came next after all that fun? Well, an ice cream sundae, of course.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].