Pioneer Times Innovation Awards--2009 Grand Prize Winner!

Log Cabin Village and the Log Cabin Heritage Foundation would like to congratulate grand prize winner Marisa Pope from Holy Cross Christian Academy in Burleson!

Kristin Pope (Marisa's mother), Marisa, and
Log Cabin Village Director, Kelli Pickard

Every 4th grade class who visits Log Cabin Village is eligible to enter the Pioneer Times Innovation Awards contest. Entrants are instructed to select from one of the following prompts:

· Students may design their own dream log cabin. This cabin can be as creative and contain as many amenities (historical, not modern—No GameCubes or Satellite dishes!) as the student desires. As the students imagine their dream cabin, have them consider what might make their lives easier or be useful in their small home based on their experience at Log Cabin Village.

· Based on what they learned about frontier living during their visit to Log Cabin Village, students may create an invention that would have made life easier in the 19th century. This invention does not need to be completely grounded in reality; the more fanciful the better (i.e. an automatic chalk-picker-upper for the school)! While it is okay for students’ inventions to be something that actually exists, the design MAY NOT exactly duplicate modern devices (i.e. drawing a Maytag washing machine). The design needs to be original!

Marisa's innovative cabin "destinker" design won her $1100 in savings bonds and the respect of all her peers. Her entry beat out over 500 other extremely qualified candidates! Great job, Marisa!

Marisa's prize-winning entry:

"Do you know how stinky it was in the cabin? In the winter, it was too cold to take a bath! Plus, the days were shorter, so more of the stinky candles were burned for light. I came up with something to make it smell better! First you get some flowers and spices from your garden and dry them. After that, make a fan, pedal, wire mesh, and wooden board. Place the dried flowers and spices on the board. Next, get the wire mesh and put it over the dried flowers and spices. After that, attach the pedal to fan and put it in front of the mesh. Every minute you turn the pedal is another hour of good smell! If you use this great device, you will never have to worry about the terrible stinking again!"

FYI: You can now join or renew your Log Cabin Heritage Foundation membership online!