Pioneer Days

In a tiny township not far away, a well organized group of history lovers gathers every fall to present the surrounding communities with Pioneer Days. The event is put on by seasoned reenactors as well as local volunteers and even a few families who live today in the manner of yesterday.

Fall seems to me like a great time to discover history, and one of the neatest things about an event like this is being surrounded by people who really care about our past and its preservation. The reenactors are there to spend the weekend living in the world of over 100 years ago, and it is fascinating to watch them do it. Sure they're putting on a show, but it's not a start, stop, rewind, replay show like in a museum, it's a whole weekend long show, and if you stop by and see them cooking in the morning that's because they are already starting the meal they will actually eat later that night. Most reenactors are plenty happy to share information about their activities and the world in which they (are pretending to) live, while a few would rather be left alone to the living itself, teaching onlookers merely by doing.

These local, historical society organized events can be a great place to really touch, smell, hear, and believe history.

From watching the shearing of sheep, to the carding of the wool, to the spinning, and then to the booth where you can by the yarn.

Churn the butter, and taste some that was finished earlier while you're at it, then go inside and see how that butter is being used to start dinner.

Help shred cabbage for the making of sauerkraut...

help collect, clean, and press apples, then taste the cider...

Then go for a hay ride—and not just any hay ride, but a ride through the still active farm fields that belonged to the family that lived in the house you've been visiting. This is the ride the workers would have made to look over the crops, and to bring stores from the barn.

Then go around the corner to the one room school house that the children from the farm would have attended.

That's living history.

Growing

We went to the Chelsea Community Fair last night. This is something we try to do every year not so much for the midway, but to take in the sights, sounds and smells of the animals. Baby chickens, sheep, cows, hogs, horses, and goats. Vincent Van Goat was my favorite. We got smart this year and ate at a local restaurant on our way to the fair instead of consuming copious amounts of greasy, fatty fair foods. You can measure time by the events that punctuate life, and this year Calvin was big enough to ride certain rides by himself, even if he wasn't really interested in doing so.

And every year, after we see the animals and before the colored lights come on that dance and blink and light up the rides, we make our way to the viewing stands to see the demolition derby. Two years ago we took Calvin to see the derby for the first time and ended up leaving early when the loud sounds and disturbing sights made him more than a little nervous. Actually, it was the car that was pushed up on top of one of the concrete barriers that made him feel unsafe, and it was hard to argue with the logic of that assessment through the eyes of a three year old, so we left. By this year he had no memory of that ordeal and, being a little less sensitive to loud sounds and a little more secure in the laws of his own universe, we tried again. This time, like with the bike, he started out nervous, then ended up enjoying himself and we stayed to the not-so-bitter end.

It is in this way that we measure growth and time, is it not?

Dexter Daze

Once a year our little village comes alive with all the party that a little village can muster—live entertainment, "art" booths, fundraiser food, kiddie fun, and a beer tent—and every year we make our way down to our little main drag to take part. The stores take advantage of the increased traffic and hold sidwalk sales, the neighbors take advantage and have garage sales, and I spent most of the time cooped up in the library basement running the biggest used book sale of the year. The boys, on the other hand, took advantage of the mock train rides, the bounce house, and the instrument petting farm. And there's always the food. Friday night we ate home cooked pulled pork and cupcakes, Saturday lunch we ate grilled chicken at the local church, and Saturday dinner we made our way into the beer tent for brats and brew, and then to the Dairy Queen for dessert. And when a weekend goes like that, there isn't room for much more, nor energy with which to say much more.

Community Fair, take two

Fall, of course, isn't just about football and tailgating.  Fall is also about beautiful foliage, plentiful harvests, and community fairs.  Last month we attended the Chelsea Community Fair, and September is when Saline traditionally takes its turn at displaying its seasonal bounty, including champion steer, large melons, and crazy carnies, all of which were also available last month in Chelsea.  Saline, however, does have one major thing going for it over Chelsea, and that's Preschoolers' Day.  While at the Chelsea Fair it took a small fortune for an evening of entertainment, today at the Saline Fair Preschoolers' Day it took all of seventeen dollars, and that considerable sum got us in to see the animals, the produce, and the carnies, and also included a one hour concert by Gemini (our favorite!), lots of tot type games, and all the rides a toddler could care to enjoy.  Since the weather cooperated we were able to enjoy all of the above.  The Percheron stallions were my favorite animal, I think, while Calvin enjoyed one particular goat, and Gram seemed to enjoy those noisy, feathery roosters.  Gemini was a huge hit, of course, to the point that the woman in front of us asked if Calvin had the CD at home, since he obviously knew all the songs by heart.  As for the rides?  We happened to know, from the small fortune spent in Chelsea, that those would be a hit, and he's never been one to disappoint.  This one goes in the books as a real gem of an event.  Too bad it only comes once a year.

No metal on the track

Umpteen years ago (or maybe just four), during our wild young adult years, we sat in the dust of the Chelsea Community Fair on a late summer's night taking in the sights and sounds of the Figure Eight Demolition Derby.  This year we journeyed back to the same fair, similar event, with my parents and Calvin.  It was the same food, the same animals, and the same dust–all the things I love about a good community fair!  While there Calvin got to pet a day old chick and take in a real live sheep shearing (that was cool), and we discovered that the older he gets the more expensive the fair gets.  We didn't even think to take into account the fact that he is now tall enough and brave enough to try several of the carnival rides (how many times can a little boy ride the train ride?  To infinity and beyond...), some of which must be ridden with an adult (not that Gram begrudged him a chaperone on the merry-go-round).  The demolition derby, however, was not a favorite new event for him.  The noise alone was enough to set him on edge, but he was willing to accept our calm laughter as a sign of safety until one of the cars breached the barrier of cement blocks, after which he decided that the danger was no longer contained and he needed to leave immediately.  "I think we should leave this place now" were, in fact, his exact words and emphasis.  So we left the stands after only two rounds of derby, and escaped to the quieter and calmer train ride to watch him take yet another trip around the same twenty feet of track.  Wild.

More pictures from the fair (including the sheep shearing!) are in the new August 2009, too album (we took too many pictures in August for just one album).