GREENFIELD – It’s goblins galore at the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home and Museum, as Greenfield’s Riley enthusiasts celebrate the poet’s 174th birthday and mystical creatures brought to life through his children’s poetry.
“The Nine Little Goblins” is the theme of this year’s Riley Festival in downtown Greenfield, and his home is also celebrating with birthday cake and special exhibits of goblins.
The traditional Riley birthday party will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8 with cake, the Greenfield Community Choir and possibly a visit from a Riley interpreter. Festivities will take place in the garden and/or kitchen area of the home, 250 W. Main St., Greenfield.
Marissa Purcell, museum curator, said fall is the perfect time to visit the Riley home.
“I think it’s an excellent time of the year to visit,” Purcell said. “Riley’s birthday is Oct. 7 and it’s an excellent time, so you can get a little bit more of a historical background of the Riley Festival.”
The home is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day of the festival – this Thursday through Sunday – for tours. An exhibit on goblins is displayed inside the museum, as well as Sandy Hall’s painted goblins with glowing green eyes on the exterior of the home.
“It’s really interesting to see how peoples’ imaginations of the nine little goblins have changed through the years,” she said. “What our perception of goblins are, what they were in the 1900s as mischievous pixies verses what we think of goblins today.”
Staff gave tours to Greenfield-Central third graders last week. They’ll participate in this Friday’s Children’s Parade of Flowers, so field trips to the home gave students an idea of who they were honoring.
Purcell told one group that Riley in his day was even more popular than Taylor Swift is to today’s culture.
His goblins stemmed from fantasy stories Mary Alice “Allie” Smith told the Riley children when the 12-year-old orphan came to live with them.
Purcell has even been using social media to get the community excited about Riley and his goblins: she’s been hiding a cutout goblin around the community and taking a photo. Winners of the goblin hunts are asked to bring their pictures back to the home for a prize.
“I like scavenger hunts, and it’s just something fun to do as a warm-up to the festival to get excited about it,” she said, adding that she hopes interest is drummed up in the community to get people interested in the festival’s namesake. “Everybody should come and join us, and come take a tour.”
