Roc Day: A Spinner's Tradition

January 6 & 7, 2006
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
at the Heritage Center in Dayton, Virginia.

At the close of the holidays, spinners return to their work on Roc Day. Come celebrate the tradition as local spinners, including nationally renowned spinner Priscilla Blosser Rainey, turn flax and wool into yarn.

All hand spinners in the central Shenandoah Valley are invited to celebrate by spinning and talking to visitors at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society Museum in Dayton, VA. Spin both days or part of either day. Spinners need to bring their wheels, drop spindles and fiber they wish to spin.

The Public is also invited to come and see old and new spinning wheels, the people who use them and the thread and yarns they produce.

St. Distaffs Day is January 7, the day after the Epiphany, a church festival celebrated in commemoration of the visit of the Wise Men of the East to Bethlehem. As this marked the end of the Christmas Festival, work with the distaff was commenced, hence the name, St. Distaffs Day.

It is also called " Rock Day" in Scotland, rock being another name for distaff. "Rocking Day" was a feasting day when friends and neighbors met together in the early days of the New Year to celebrate the end of the Christmastide Festival.

Phone 540-879-2616 for information or email heritag1@heritagecenter.com. (The Heritage Center is closed the week of Christmas. Your email will be answered when we return to work.)

Check out this offsite link for fun information on Roc Day and St. Distaff:
http://members.toast.net/nwspinner/rocday.html