Reminder...

We will be closed on July 4th. You can come see us on the 3rd or the 5th, though!

Fort Worth ISD needs your help!

If you have a child in the Fort Worth Independent School District, please take a few moments to fill out the following survey and to pass it along to your fellow parents! Thanks...

From a FWISD e-mail...

Parent Survey: We want to hear from you!
Can you invest a few minutes in your child's future?

The Fort Worth ISD is reaching out to all parents of FWISD students and asking them to take a quick survey about their perceptions of their child's academic progress in the last year. This information could provide critical knowledge as we move forward. The collected data will also be used in the District's strategic planning and scorecard. The scorecard is a tool for the public and the Board of Education to hold the District accountable for progress and results.

All responses will be kept anonymous. However, participants may choose to add a name or e-mail address to their response. The survey is available in English or Spanish, and may be found by going to http://www.fwisd.org/Pages/AbridgedParentSurvey.aspx.

The survey should take less than five minutes to complete. You'll be asked to agree or disagree with statements about the Fort Worth ISD and asked for some demographic data. If you wish to share additional thoughts, you may also answer some open-ended questions about areas where we can improve. However, this part of the survey is optional.

We're asking parents to:
1. Take the survey.
2. Forward the survey link to other Fort Worth ISD parents.
3. And ask them to forward the link to even more parents.

Woodn't you know it...

If you are faithful Blog Cabin Village readers, you might remember that we had some marvelous Iron Chef Pioneers out here a couple of weeks ago. They fought through rain, power outages, and other crazy circumstances to prepare a magnificent meal.

This week's campers had a challenge of their own: build a tool box using 19th century tools. And do it in 100-degree heat.

Again our campers rose to the challenge. And again the end product was OUTSTANDING. But don't take OUR word for it...take a look for yourself!

Timber Tales Storytime...

These are our precious preschoolers who participated in storytime on June 19th! No additional comments from me are necessary for these sweet little pioneers!

Connecting the past to the present...

The restoration of the Howard cabin has been a truly exciting undertaking. The results become even more rewarding, however, when we are able to unveil the beautiful reconstruction to an actual descendant of the Howard family.

Last Friday, we were treated to a visit from Joe Bentley, a Howard descendent living here in the area. It was truly amazing to see his eyes light up when he saw the home of his ancestors, a cabin he had played in as a child, beautifully brought back to life. We're so glad he was able to come by and see it!

Mr. Bentley has another connection to the past, however. In his "spare" time, he plays the role of "Tex" Dugan, a historical "character" from the cattle drive era.

As a token of appreciation to the Village, "Tex" will be here on Friday, June 26th, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. hosting a Texas Trail Driver's camp. You don't want to miss this!

Here are photos from Mr. Bentley's visit to see the restored Howard cabin:

Cleaning up our act...

What happens when you mix storm debris, random rock and log piles, litterbugs, and twenty-some hard-working volunteers?

This.

And this.

And even this!

Yesterday Log Cabin Village was very fortunate to have forty extra hands to help make our site even more beautiful than it already is.


Volunteers from Chesapeake Energy Corporation worked tirelessly despite 100-degree heat, dragging and stacking downed limbs and logs





gathering trash from the lane, and moving piles of old cemented rocks to a place more accessible for pickup by our intrepid parks crews.

And they actually smiled while doing it.

Please join us in giving our volunteers a big, huge, ginormous, Village "THANK YOU" for helping make this an even better place to escape the present and experience the past!

It's All Fun and Games!

Despite the heat, we're having a great time out here today playing with toys and games that were popular in the 19th century! Life wasn't ALL hard work and chores, you know...

Check out the great photos of our "gamers"... As always, please click on any photo in the slideshow to control the size and speed.

Victorian-era photographs...of the moon? In 3-D?!

Victorian-era photographs...of the moon? In 3-D?!

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Handbook of Texas Online - JUNETEENTH

Please pause and remember the contributions of our African Texan ancestors in helping to build Texas (including the cabin I'm sitting in right now)! We'll be reading "Henry's Freedom Box" by Ellen Levine for storytime, and making beautiful bead bracelets.

For more information about Juneteenth, please see the link below. Also, as a reminder, we have a special event tomorrow from 1-4 p.m.!

Handbook of Texas Online - JUNETEENTH

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Time to come play games on Saturday!!!

Just a reminder..."It's All Fun and Games" is coming up this Saturday. Come check it out!

June 20, 2009
IT’S ALL FUN AND GAMES
1:00—4:00 p.m.
Come and play games the way Texans did in the 1800s. We'll have rolling hoops, Jacob’s Ladders, buzz saws, graces, mancala, jacks, and more! You can even make your own stick and ring toy to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee.

Chore time at the Village!

Not to be outdone by the cooking done yesterday, today we have a group of 19 talented youngsters who are here doing our chores. No...really!

Through our "Wagons West" program, kiddos get the opportunity to learn about our structures, life in the 19th century, and what a typical day might be like for a frontier Texas child. They weave, card wool, wash clothes, go to school, grind corn, and even beat rugs! Many parents comment that they are shocked to discover their children actually ENJOY doing laundry...if it's done on a washboard using lye soap.

The photos tell the story, so here are our kiddos hard at work! Please click on any photo in the slideshow to make it larger and to control the speed.

Iron Chef Pioneers...

Today we had the most amazing chefs as our guests here at the Village. No...Grady Spears and Tim Love didn't drop by. Bobby Flay and Michael Symon didn't make it either.

Instead we had five fabulous fourth grade girls and two super sixth grade boys! Today was our "Whatcha Got Cookin'?" daycamp...and our intrepid Iron Chef pioneers made an entire meal from scratch using a fire pit and a box wood stove. And they did it in under three hours!

The menu: roast chicken, fried potatoes, corn bread, pinto beans, and apple pie

The process: The chefs chopped vegetables, gathered herbs, stirred pots, stuffed chickens, and rolled out pie dough.

The supreme Iron Chef pioneer challenges: storms (which required covering the fire pit with a canopy so the bird could continue roasting, rain, a power outage (no light in the cabin), no modern cooking appliances, and extreme hunger.

These chefs were gamers, however. They didn't let a little thunder steal THEIR thunder. They even shared stories...including one so scary that the screams made the staff in the main cabin come running down to make sure we were alright! :)

A wonderful time was had by all...and this meal will not soon be forgotten.

Special thanks go out to our "Village People," who helped the camp run seamlessly despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. VERY special thanks to Village interpreter Fred Gersch for designing and teaching the camp.

Enjoy the photos and the guidebook in this blog entry! Reminder: you can click on any of the photos in the slideshow to make them larger or to control the speed.



Cooking Guidebook

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu dutch oven firepit

Our furry four-legged guests...

Those of you who are regular Blog Cabin Village readers might remember that we had a visiting fox family living under the Howard Cabin prior to reconstruction. Once again (must be that time of year), we are hosting an adorable family of foxes, only they are living under the Tompkins Cabin this time.

The other day while Mama was out and about (or under the cabin napping), the little ones couldn't resist poking their heads out and saying hello. You could tell that they desperately wanted to be "kids" and run around and play, but we humans were inhibiting their progress.

Like the fox families before them, we know they will soon move on to greener pastures. But we are enjoying them while they're here!

Here are several photos taken by Village historical interpreter Linda Sanders. Caution: extreme cuteness ahead.

Eaves Dropping...

Just in case you weren't sure whether or not the Howard needed remediation, here are a couple of photos showing the stark contrast between "before" and "after":

I can tell you which cabin I'D rather stand next to. :o)

Check out this great story!

Here's a very interesting article about the discovery of sound imprints made some twenty years before Edison invented the phonograph... Cool!