Sauder Village

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Sauder Village July 12, 2008 but posting delayed until Feb 2010....oops!

Sauder Village is a place where the history of this area is brought back to life. Living history facilities are fun to visit and can be both fun and educational for all ages. Among our group there was various reminiscing about older relatives farms, or even how things were done when we were younger. It also made us thankful for the modern conveniences we have today.


Sauder Village is located in northwest Ohio near Archbold. The time period spans the 1800’s to about 1920. The employees dress in period costumes and are a wealth of information. Today was “Summer on the Farm and Fiddle Contest.” The brochure lists several different special events on many of the weekends throughout the season of May thru October. I don’t know if the staffing was at it’s normal level or higher than usual, but there was sufficient people in period costumes that the place had a wonderful feel to it. In addition, there were fiddlers everywhere, in the morning, doing a final run through or practice prior to the afternoon’s competition.


The experience today was a nice mixture of hands-on activities or watching a task being worked on. I experienced churning butter and plucking goose down. I was content to watch lye soap being made outside in a kettle over a fire. It was a hot enough day, without being next to the fire, stirring the contents of the kettle. I did enjoy sampling the butter on a biscuit or cracker. Also the ice cream was a refreshing treat at the Ice Cream Parlor.


In addition to the town and farm areas there was and area entitled Natives and Newcomers. There was corn planted, but not in rows such as is the commonly seen today. Instead there was a group of plants on a small mound. There was several stalks of corn on each mound, along with beans that grew up the stalks and squash that shaded and grew at the base. It was fascinating to see the different and efficient use of the cleared space to grow crops. Also there were wigwams and various structures. There was demonstrations of weaving for making a bag.


Shawnee, Potawatami, Miami, Ottawa, Delaware and Wyandotte are fairly familiar names. Four of them are familiar to me as names of places, but actually they are all names of Indian tribes that were in this area during this time period.


Website is www.saudervillage.org

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Photos

Spinning
Demonstration of spinning

Comments

[Judy]

Psyche!
You had me puzzles for a moment.....thought wow where are they???? Oops,..........it's Ohio......delated entry. I get it. Darn, I was looking forward to more outstanding writing in your informative blogs. Very enjoyable, however, and I'd like to travel to the Village. See you at breakfast...when is it? Judy

[Sharron]

You're on you way!
Lynne & George, So you're on your way. How is the weather? Hope the roads are okay and the temperature isn't too cold. Where are you headed? Sauder village looks like a very interesting place. Sort of reminds me of Henry Ford's Greenfield Village. Is that place still in existance? I used to beg mom and dad to take me there at least once a year in June to watch the muzzle-loaders festival. It was great fun too with candle making, blacksmithing, spinning - much like Sauder village. I enjoy your blogs so much. Enjoy your trip!