Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

All Aboard for History Camp: Students learn of days gone by

TOM LAVENTURE

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Hurley - Area youth started a six-week exploration of area historic sites on Wednesday with the purpose of learning more about what everyday life was like generations before them.

The All Aboard for History Camp is a collaboration among area historic sites for students who have just finished the fourth- and fifth-grade, said Kristin Kolesar, board treasurer of the Iron County Museum and a fifth-grade teacher in Hurley. The camp visits sites through August where kids have the opportunity for hands-on activities, she said.

"This is the first time we've done it and this is the first session," Kolesar said. "This is just to learn about the history of the area."

At Iron County Museum on Wednesday the kids visited 11 stations as museum volunteers taught how various items were useful but have since been replaced with technology.

Gail Buccanero, a museum volunteer, taught the kids how food was made from scratch in the kitchen. She offered lemonade with samples of cheese, freshly churned butter and hardtack, a kind of crispy biscuit.

It's important to expose the children to their past, she said.

"I mean everything today is electronic, which is fine, but how many people have ever made cheese in a mixer, or used an old fashioned egg beater or used flower out of a flower bin?" Buccanero said.

Jenna Richards, 10, said she enjoyed the kitchen experience.

"I've seen egg beaters before but I've never really used one," she said. "A lot of stuff is new to me."

Ariel Haasch, 10, also liked the kitchen.

"It's fun and it's cool because you really don't get to see this stuff," she said.

Bette Berga, a museum volunteer in the textile room, taught the kids how to operate a loom while explaining how they were used by families to make and to repair clothing in the past. Families saved old clothing to cut into rags for grandma to weave with, and not every home had a loom so it went to the neighbor when it wasn't in use, she said.

"Most people who come in here remember their grandparents doing this," Berga said.

Weaving is something that anyone can learn and doesn't require a lot of special skills, she said. Producing something useful provides its own reward, she said.

"It is kind of a lost art but a lot of those lost arts are coming back into fashion again," Berga said.

Bob Massoglia, a museum volunteer and teacher, talked about the differences and similarities of schools years ago and today in the classroom exhibit.

There is a lot of technology in the classroom today, he said. He talked about walking to school, using his own great grandma as an example who walked 3 miles to and from her farm to a school in Saxon.

"I think from what I have seen they are getting a better understanding of how life was like 100 years ago or only 50 years ago," Massoglia said.

Steve Lundey, a museum volunteer, portrayed a judge in the former Iron County Courthouse that is now the museum. He pointed out the artifacts related to docket filing and stenography that are now mostly electronic.

The kids took part in a makeshift trial of "The Case of the Missing Cow," to teach about the judicial system along with history lessons. The kids played jurors, sheriffs, defendants and plaintiffs as the judge helped them find out who stole Myrtle the cow.

"I enjoy it because I taught sixth-grade," Lundey said. "I relate to them I guess."

Kids learned to use a washboard and hand-cranked ringer to do laundry. They observed the elaborate trunks and luggage that people used for long trips aboard trains or ocean liners.

Michael Meyer, director of the Ironwood Chamber of Commerce, said the overarching purpose is to help young people learn more about the history of their community. The secondary purpose is to learn how people lived in days gone by, he said.

"Each of the presentations here will feature a different aspect of early Ironwood," Meyer said.

The next stop is the Historic Ironwood Depot and Museum on July 10; Norrie Park on July 17; Little Finland on July 24; Living History Heritage Day at Iron County Museum on July 26; Historic Ironwood Theater on July 31, and Miners Memorial Heritage Park on Aug. 7.

Additional space is available. Contact the Iron Councty museum at [email protected] for registration information.

 
 
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