September 26, 2001

History comes alive for students

Fourth graders attend Heritage Celebration

By LISA PERKINS
Herald staff writer
       Students traveled back in time along the shores of the Boardman River last week at the Sixth Annual Heritage Celebration, sponsored by the Friends of the Con Foster Museum.
      More than 1,500 fourth-grade students from schools in a five county area toured the event held in Hannah Park.
      A 300-year history of the Grand Traverse area was brought to life with demonstrations of traditional culture including cooking over an open fire in the Metis Encampment recreation and the raising of a miniature timber frame barn.
      "I really liked seeing the place that they ate and slept and the silverware that they used," said Hannah Kaley, from Interlochen Elementary, of the Metis Encampment.
      Students were also shown how the trappers and traders in the encampment used antlers as animal calls and learned how they traded animal skins for cloth, needles and sugar.
      Soldiers in Civil War garb were actively recruiting young men to "sign up" while Jim Ribby recited poems and stories from the era including a letter written by a soldier to his wife shortly before his death.
      "I liked seeing the guns that they had back then, but I don't think I would want to go back there" said Interlochen student, Jeremy Bower.
      Dulcimer musicians Mary Anne Rivers and Donna Sugart had everyone kicking up their heels when they sang and played folk songs on their traditional instruments. Rivers and Sugart were familiar faces to many of the students, as they tour local schools with their "I've Got a Song" Michigan history program.
      Students also enjoyed getting involved in the fun, from taste testing corn meal mush to trying their hand using a draw knife as they worked with local carver, Bill Steffler to strip the bark from maple saplings as the first step in creating walking sticks.
      While the Heritage Celebration was a big hit, Ryan Forfinski of Elk Rapids expressed the general opinion of his fellow fourth-graders. "It would be a lot harder to live back then, I am glad that I live here now."