On the Country Garden Club of Weston's sign-up page for this year's tavern decorating, two titles are already marked off. "The Mitten and Velveteen Rabbit have been claimed," the club tells its members. That leaves the rest of the holiday shelf for everyone else decorating a room at the Golden Ball Tavern Museum before it opens to the public on December 5.
The public week comes after a garden club brief, eight organizations answering it, three days of hanging greens, and a November wreath night in a church basement down the road. If you know that order, you have more ways into Trimming the Tavern than just a Saturday afternoon walk-through.
A Garden Club Brief, Answered by Eight Organizations
This year's theme is "A Winter's Tale." The museum's event page says each room will take on a different book or story, "from timeless classics to cherished children's tales," using decorations, seasonal greenery and design. The club's note to its own decorators leaves plenty of room. Winter, the solstice, Christmas or other celebrations can all serve as prompts.
The Country Garden Club of Weston leads the event and lists it as one of its annual projects: "Every December the CGC decorates the GBT for the holidays and the annual Wassail Party." The museum calls the partnership on its holiday open-house design "a tradition for almost 60 years."
The club doesn't decorate alone. The museum names the groups taking rooms, upstairs and down:
- Weston Historical Society
- Weston Garden Club
- Weston Garden Club Evening Group
- Land's Sake Farm
- Weston Council on Aging
- Weston Public Library
- Weston Media Center
- Weston Art and Innovation Center
That list covers a good share of Weston's civic life, from the farm to the library to the town's senior services to the arts center. Since each group decorates around its own organization as well as the theme, the rooms tend to say something about who made them.
Last year's theme marked the nation's 250th anniversary under the title "Here's to the Red, White and Blue!" The museum says it drew more than 500 guests. This year's turn to storybooks comes after a year when the museum's programs centered on the Revolution, a point covered further down.
The Calendar, in the Order It Happens
The run-up starts right after this post goes live. Here is the order, start to finish:
- Friday, November 13, 6 p.m.: "An Ordinary Bill of Fare," a free talk on colonial tavern food by Stacy Booth at the tavern. The Massachusetts Cultural Council sponsors it. Space is limited, and the museum asks guests to register.
- Thursday, November 19, 6:30 p.m.: The Country Garden Club's holiday wreath workshop, led by Sandra Gavris, in the lower level of St. Peter's Episcopal Church at 320 Boston Post Road.
- Wednesday, December 2: The club holds its board meeting at the tavern at 10 a.m., and exterior decorating starts right after. If it rains, the outdoor work moves to Thursday.
- Thursday and Friday, December 3 and 4, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Interior decorating.
- Saturday, December 5 through Saturday, December 12: Trimming the Tavern is open to the public, free.
- Tuesday, December 8, 6 to 8 p.m.: Twilight at the Tavern, the ticketed candlelight evening.
The wreath workshop is the one step that sends greenery home with you. The club's listing calls it an "annual favorite" that kicks off the holiday season. The $45 fee covers the workshop and one wreath. You can add more wreaths at checkout, and each extra guest is $45 and also takes home a wreath.
The tavern-food talk fits nicely before the week of decorated rooms. The building's history starts with feeding travelers, so a talk on what an eighteenth-century tavern served is a good way to see the place before the greenery goes up.
The Week the Doors Are Open
Admission is free all week, and the event is billed as family-friendly. Kids get a scavenger hunt. The hours are the same every day except one short Sunday. Weston's town calendar confirms that change for December 6.
| Visit | When | Hours | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trimming the Tavern | Saturday, Dec. 5 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free |
| Trimming the Tavern | Sunday, Dec. 6 | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Free |
| Trimming the Tavern | Monday, Dec. 7 through Saturday, Dec. 12 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free |
| Twilight at the Tavern | Tuesday, Dec. 8 | 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. | $15 adults, $5 ages 5 to 17 and all under 21 |
Twilight at the Tavern is the same display at a slower pace and in different light. The museum's Twilight page describes a candlelit, self-guided tour. The ticket includes Trimming the Tavern admission, on-site parking, a glass of wine or seltzer, and nibbles. Adults who want an alcoholic drink need a photo ID. Tickets are sold through Eventbrite. They have been on sale since November 1.
The Waltham Times listing notes that organizers can change dates and times, and it points readers to the museum's own site for the latest. Check before you head over.
A House Built to Host Travelers
The setting explains why a garden club and a library want to decorate these particular rooms. According to the museum's history, Isaac Jones built the tavern in 1768 on the Boston Post Road, the main mail route, where it served travelers and Weston's community life. It stopped operating as a tavern in 1793 and became a private home. After the last Jones heir, Ralph Frost Jones, died in 1963, the house was placed in a trust and opened as a museum in 1964.
Each December, for one week, the public is invited in and the rooms are set up for guests, much as they were for travelers on the Post Road.
The holiday week also follows a museum year focused on the Revolution. The 2026 exhibit, "Lost Liberties – Broken Promises," opened February 12. It looks at the enslaved and Indigenous people, displaced Loyalists and veterans of Weston who ended up on the losing side of history. Mass Humanities gave the museum a $5,000 "Promises of the Revolution" grant for the exhibit's design, printing and speakers. The museum's 2026 speaker series also brought author Brooke Barbier in to talk about how tavern culture and drinking helped fuel the Revolution. The museum says she will be back in January to discuss her book "King Hancock."
The house keeps its regular hours outside the holiday week. Thursday guided tours run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with last admission at 3 p.m. Tickets are $12 general, $10 for seniors 65 and older, and free for visitors under 18. The tours cover 200 years of the Jones family, the "Weston Tea Party," and visits from General Gage's spies and Paul Revere's men. The museum is already promoting its 60th Annual Barn Sale on September 25, 2027.
From December 5 through 12, a library, a farm, a media center and an arts center will each have a room in a house that has been welcoming guests on Boston Post Road since 1768.
At Donahue | Maley | Burns Team, we like keeping our neighbors up to date on traditions like this one at 662 Boston Post Road. If you own one of Weston's older homes and wonder how its history plays into today's market, schedule your complimentary home valuation and we'll walk through it with you.
