Plimoth Plantation

Plimoth Plantation will officially open for the season on March 17 with a variety of special events, including a parade featuring rare breeds of animals at 10:30 a.m. Visiting children will be encouraged to make signs to carry in the parade welcoming the goats, sheep, chickens, and cows back to the living history museum's 17th-century English Village for the season. For more information on the lineup of opening day events, visit www.plimoth.org. - Emily Sweeney

Plimoth Plantation will officially open for the season on March 17 with a variety of special events, including a parade featuring rare breeds of animals at 10:30 a.m. Visiting children will be encouraged to make signs to carry in the parade welcoming the goats, sheep, chickens, and cows back to the living history museum's 17th-century English Village for the season. For more information on the lineup of opening day events, visit www.plimoth.org. - Emily Sweeney

A 17th century-style replica building at Plimoth Plantation was destroyed yesterday by a fire that spread from a fireplace to the roof, according to Ellie Donovan, the organization's executive director. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze at the Cooke House, but the fire "ate up the whole roof by the time we got there," battalion chief Dean DelTorro said. No one was injured. Donovan said the building will be torn down. The tourist site was reopened later in the day.

"A Christmas Carol"" A Staged Reading Plimoth Plantation Visitor Center 137 Warren Ave., Plymouth Saturday, 7 p.m. Free; donations accepted www.plimoth.org Plimoth Plantation's historical interpreters will stage a Christmas play this weekend to help build a new house for the Pilgrims, a devoutly religious band who didn't celebrate that holiday. "It's a welcome change of pace" for museum staffers who take on the roles of prominent Pilgrims such as Governor William Bradford, Elder Brewster, Miles Standish, John Alden, and less well-known Pilgrims, said interpreter...

PLYMOUTH - In the summer of 1637, two working men at the English colony at Plymouth faced the possibility of execution, convicted of what the law books said was a grave moral crime. John Alexander and Thomas Roberts had been caught in a homosexual relationship. Court records from their case, and from a handful of others, are the only keyhole through which researchers at the Plimoth Plantation museum can peek backward through time to imagine the lives of the colony’s gays and lesbians.

The next session of the ongoing South Shore Locavores series "1621 and Your Authentic Thanksgiving Table" features Kathleen Wall, the Colonial culinarian at Plimoth Plantation. Participants will be able to sample pottage made from turkey and Indian corn, a New England twist on an old English dish that used leftover turkey. At Plimoth Plantation, Wall trains the staff in period cooking techniques and the 17th-century diet, and coordinates the daily cooking in the plantation's 1627 Village.

Officials say a building at the Plimoth Plantation living history museum was destroyed after a fire spread from the fireplace to the straw roof. No one was hurt in the fire at the Cooke House, a Colonial-era style building. The plantation's executive director, Ellie Donovan, said the fire started during a cooking demonstration. Plimoth Plantation portrays what 17th century life was like for America's early European settlers, the Pilgrims, and the native population. Donovan said the plantation will raise money to rebuild the Cooke building, which was named after...

PLYMOUTH - What did they serve at the first Thanksgiving dinner? One thing is certain: The feast shared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag in autumn 1621 was nothing like the turkey dinner most American families enjoy today on the last Thursday of November. There were no forks. No cranberry sauce. No potatoes. No apple pie. No pumpkin pie. Water was the beverage of choice, because there was not much else. Venison and fowl were the main items on the menu, and some of the dishes probably contained guts or innards, such as deer heart, liver, and lung.

MUSIC Canton: The Irish Cultural Centre of New England presents the Dublin City Ramblers, one of Ireland's best-known ballad and folk groups, who have entertained audiences worldwide with their unique blend of ballads, folk, humor, and foot-tapping music. Friday, 8 p.m. Irish Cultural Centre of New England, New Boston Drive. $25. 781-821-8291, www.irishculture.org. EVENTS Hingham: Come into the air-conditioned clubhouse and watch the Model Railway Club's ever-expanding HO layout being operated by members.

"A Christmas Carol"" A Staged Reading Plimoth Plantation Visitor Center 137 Warren Ave., Plymouth Saturday, 7 p.m. Free; donations accepted www.plimoth.org Plimoth Plantation's historical interpreters will stage a Christmas play this weekend to help build a new house for the Pilgrims, a devoutly religious band who didn't celebrate that holiday. "It's a welcome change of pace" for museum staffers who take on the roles of prominent Pilgrims such as Governor William Bradford, Elder Brewster, Miles Standish, John Alden, and less well-known Pilgrims, said interpreter...

THE BOSTON Globe correctly points out the importance of allowing Occupy Boston to remain while insisting on the need for a cleaned-up site ("Menino should stick with policy of allowing Occupy Boston," Editorial, Dec. 3). The city should work with Occupy Boston to make this happen rather than blocking attempts to bring health and safety materials such as warmer tents and a kitchen sink to the site. Occupy Boston comes closer to realizing the original vision of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway than any of the earlier attempts to create civic venues such as a...

PLYMOUTH - What did they serve at the first Thanksgiving dinner? One thing is certain: The feast shared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag in autumn 1621 was nothing like the turkey dinner most American families enjoy today on the last Thursday of November. There were no forks. No cranberry sauce. No potatoes. No apple pie. No pumpkin pie. Water was the beverage of choice, because there was not much else. Venison and fowl were the main items on the menu, and some of the dishes probably contained guts or innards, such as deer heart, liver, and lung.

The next session of the ongoing South Shore Locavores series "1621 and Your Authentic Thanksgiving Table" features Kathleen Wall, the Colonial culinarian at Plimoth Plantation. Participants will be able to sample pottage made from turkey and Indian corn, a New England twist on an old English dish that used leftover turkey. At Plimoth Plantation, Wall trains the staff in period cooking techniques and the 17th-century diet, and coordinates the daily cooking in the plantation's 1627 Village.

A 17th century-style replica building at Plimoth Plantation was destroyed yesterday by a fire that spread from a fireplace to the roof, according to Ellie Donovan, the organization's executive director. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze at the Cooke House, but the fire "ate up the whole roof by the time we got there," battalion chief Dean DelTorro said. No one was injured. Donovan said the building will be torn down. The tourist site was reopened later in the day.

Officials say a building at the Plimoth Plantation living history museum was destroyed after a fire spread from the fireplace to the straw roof. No one was hurt in the fire at the Cooke House, a Colonial-era style building. The plantation's executive director, Ellie Donovan, said the fire started during a cooking demonstration. Plimoth Plantation portrays what 17th century life was like for America's early European settlers, the Pilgrims, and the native population. Donovan said the plantation will raise money to rebuild the Cooke building, which was named after...

PLYMOUTH - What did they serve at the first Thanksgiving dinner? One thing is certain: The feast shared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag in autumn 1621 was nothing like the turkey dinner most American families enjoy today on the last Thursday of November. There were no forks. No cranberry sauce. No potatoes. No apple pie. No pumpkin pie. Water was the beverage of choice, because there was not much else. Venison and fowl were the main items on the menu, and some of the dishes probably contained guts or innards, such as deer heart, liver, and lung.

PICK OF THE DAY Hit the road When London theater companies closed due to a plague, it was a great time for actors to go on the road. There’s no plague, but the Plimoth Players re-create the tradition of the Elizabethan touring player at ‘‘Shakespeare at Night’’ at Plimoth Plantation with ‘‘Romeo & Juliet’’ (Thursdays), ‘‘Macbeth’’ (Fridays), and ‘‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’’ (Saturdays). 8 p.m. ‘‘Midsummer’’ dress rehearsals tonight and tomorrow (through Sept.

THE BOSTON Globe correctly points out the importance of allowing Occupy Boston to remain while insisting on the need for a cleaned-up site ("Menino should stick with policy of allowing Occupy Boston," Editorial, Dec. 3). The city should work with Occupy Boston to make this happen rather than blocking attempts to bring health and safety materials such as warmer tents and a kitchen sink to the site. Occupy Boston comes closer to realizing the original vision of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway than any of the earlier attempts to create...