It's Spring Break, y'all!

Take your vitamins and put on your most comfortable sneakers...it's Spring Break in Cowtown!  And we've got a whole crew of excited historical interpreters here to ensure your visit to Log Cabin Village is the very best it can be!

Because of our proximity to the Fort Worth Zoo, it can sometimes be a little tricky to get to the Village.  We've got a number of tips to help you get here, however:

• Access our lot from our University Drive entrance.  The Rogers Ave. entrance will be closed for the duration of Spring Break.
• As you are heading south on University from I-30, stay in the right (furthest west) lane.  That will help you get through the light at Colonial Parkway and turn right into our lot.
• Our lot will be monitored by police to ensure we have PLENTY of parking for Village visitors.  No Zoo parking will be allowed in our lot!
• We open at 9 a.m., so plan to come early.  Zoo traffic doesn't pick up until closer to 10 a.m. (when the Zoo opens).
• We are spread out over 2 1/2 acres, so we have plenty of room for a TON of visitors. 
• We are open RAIN OR SHINE.  If it rains, bring an umbrella and experience the tranquility of raindrops hitting cedar shake roofs.  The view is most peaceful from the Parker porch!
• Consider taking the #7 bus, biking (we've got awesome bike racks), carpooling, or taking the Safari Shuttle!
• Be patient.  It may take you a little longer to get here, but it will be worth it!

Also remember that we have a fun and exciting event scheduled to cap off your Spring Break week!  More details are below.

Questions?  Call 817-392-5881, e-mail, ask on Facebook, or Tweet...and we'll get back to you ASAP!  See you soon!

P.S.  Check in on Foursquare or Facebook and get a free piece of thin stick candy!

March 17, 2012
IT’S ALL FUN AND GAMES
1-4 p.m.
It’s time for spring and St. Patrick’s Day at the Village! Cap off your spring break by playing with old-time toys and games, listening to Celtic tunes from Buttermilk Junction Old Time String Band, plowing the field, and helping plant our sunflower fort and bean tipi. You can even make your own frontier toy to take home! Cost is regular Village admission plus $2 craft fee to make the toy.

Hours of Operation:
Tue-Fri, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Sat & Sun, 1 p.m.- 5 p.m. (event ends at 4 p.m. on Saturday)
Closed Mondays

Admission:
$4.00 for ages 4-17 and 65 & over
$4.50 for ages 18 & over
Free for ages 3 & under

Great photos from Frontier Fall Fest!

Check out our great photos from Frontier Fall Fest on Saturday!

The legend of the corn husk doll...

Very soon we'll be featuring our Frontier Fall Fest event here at Log Cabin Village. We're very excited because in addition to a number of activities included with regular Village admission, visitors will have the chance to make copper bracelets with a Silversmyth for $5 (while supplies last) and corn husk dolls for $3.

Corn husk dolls are an interesting craft because they have roots in many different cultures. This is more than likely due to the common nature of people using available materials to create useful and/or delightful things. Although most commonly associated with Native American culture, corn husk dolls appear in the history of many of our white, black, and Latino ancestors as well. They are truly a cross-cultural historical toy!

Perhaps most famous is the Legend of the Corn Husk Doll cited frequently as deriving from Native American culture. While I haven't yet discovered a specific origin (or determined whether it is, indeed, a true Native American legend), it is a great story that reminds us all of the dangers of being vain and self-centered. Most sources indicate that the legend stems from the Iroquois Confederacy, of which Oneida and Seneca were parts. Here are a few different sources for the legend, with only slight variations in each. Enjoy!

The Legend of the Corn Husk Doll (from Illinois)

Legend of the Corn Husk Doll (from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin)

Story of the Corn Husk Doll (Iroquois Tale from a Seneca woman)

Legend of the Corn Husk Doll (Iroquois Tale from Sister Sky)

Legend of the No Face Doll (Iroquois Museum)

Frontier Fall Fest...

Frontier Fall Fest will be here before you know it!


Frontier Fall Festival Flyer_LCV

Upcoming events at Log Cabin Village...

Wow! What a great fall line-up! Mark your calendars...it wouldn't be the same without you!

Please note: The Village will be closed for maintenance August 22-September 5, 2011.

September 18 & 24, October 2 & 15, 2011
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction, an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

September 24, 2011
DAY IN THE DISTRICT
Noon-4 p.m.
Celebrate Smithsonian Museum Day and Fort Worth’s “Day in the District” at the Village! Enjoy a day full of music and living history for the whole family. Admission is FREE for this day only!

October 15, 2011
FRONTIER FALL FEST
1-4 p.m.
Grab your pumpkins and shock your corn...it’s time for a good old-fashioned Frontier Fall Fest! You’ll be able to grind grain by hand, shell corn, thresh wheat, “bob” for apples, press tortillas and more. We’ll also have help celebrating the harvest with friends from the Greater Fort Worth Herb Society, Silversmyth Julie Hiltbrunner, Wyatt Earp dealing the card game Faro, Cooper Dan “Five Buckets” Tatum, and Buttermilk Junction Old Time String Band, just to name a few! Bring your own carved or painted pumpkin to enter our “best design” contest (judging at 3 p.m.) For a small additional fee, you can even make your own festive corn husk doll and/or copper bracelet to take home! Cost is regular Village admission plus $3 craft fee for corn husk doll and $5 craft fee for copper bracelet.

November 12, 2011
PHOTOS WITH ST. NICHOLAS
1-4 p.m.
Time to start thinking about those holiday cards! Come have your photos taken with our historic St. Nick! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $5 fee for photo and folder.

November 12, 13, 19, & 20, 2011
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.

December 17, 2011
HOLIDAYS AT THE HEARTH
1-4 p.m.
Enjoy holiday music, string popcorn and cranberries, spin the dreidel, help make pomander balls, tamales, paper chains, embossed cards, ornaments, and more! You can even have your photo taken with our historic St. Nick ($5 fee for photo and folder). No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee to make a punched tin ornament.

Upcoming events...

May 13, 2011
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: My Great Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

May 13, 2011
TIMBER TALES SIGN LANGUAGE STORYTIME
11 a.m.-noon
Note: this storytime is especially for our deaf and hearing impaired visitors.
Featured story: Going West by Laura Ingalls Wilder. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-7 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

May 13-14, 2011
FRONTIER FORTS DAYS IN THE STOCKYARDS
It’s time for us to help show life on the homefront! During this free, two-day heritage event, the Stockyards National Historic District is transformed into an authentic representation of Texas frontier life, and we’ll have interpreters there to help tell the story. We’ll still be here at the Village, too, though...so come visit us either place!

May 15, 2011
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

June 9, 2011
WHATCHA GOT COOKING DAYCAMP
9 a.m.-noon
How did people cook food before electric/gas stoves and microwaves? They mixed a pinch of skill, a dash of creativity, and a liberal serving of patience, and came up with delicious recipes to satisfy their whole family! Participants for this camp will learn a bit about 19th century food preparation and prepare a meal of their own with fellow campers! $15 admission includes materials, snack, and recipes to take home. Reservations required by June 2. Camp is for children going into 4th-8th grade. Download registration form here.

June 10, 15, or 22, 2011 (pick one only)
WAGONS WEST
9 a.m.-noon
Be a 19th century Texan for a day! Wagons West is a program of hands-on activities recreating elements of a typical school-age child's day. The children wash clothes using a washboard and lye soap, card wool, grind corn by hand and weave on a child's scale loom. This popular group program is open for individuals on these three days only! $15 admission includes materials and a snack. Reservations required one week prior. Program is for children going into 1st--6th grade.
Download registration form here.

June 16, 2011
TOOLIN’ AROUND DAYCAMP
9 a.m.-noon
If you’re wondering what tools helped build the frontier, then this camp is for you! Join our skilled woodworker as he introduces basic 19th century woodworking techniques and helps campers complete a project of their own! $15 admission includes materials and a snack. Reservations required by June 9. Camp is for children going into 4th-8th grade. Download registration form here.

July and August 2011
NO SPECIAL EVENTS
While we will be open and providing daily demonstrations of frontier life, no special events will be offered in July and August. Stay tuned for our exciting fall line up!

August 23-September 5, 2011
CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE
Log Cabin Village will close for maintenance during this time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

The Prairie Dogs are Coming...the Prairie Dogs are Coming!

Greetings, Village People!

We are sooooooooooo excited to have our friends the Prairie Dogs (from the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society) out here to show us their skills again this January! As a bonus, they are hosting mini-demos throughout their visit to help enhance your dutch oven cooking skills. The demo schedule is below...

Mark your calendar...

January 8, 1-4ish p.m.

Temperature Control and Dutch ovens: 1:30 p.m.
How To Care For Cast Iron - 2 p.m.
Brief History of the Dutch Oven - 2:30 p.m.
Pie Crust Making Class - 3 p.m.
How To Care For Cast Iron - 3:45 p.m.
Temperature Control and Dutch ovens: 4:15 p.m.

Cost is regular Village admission. We hope to see you here!

Please note: we will be closed for winter maintenance December 24-January 7. We will reopen on January 8 at 1 p.m.

November and December events...

We have lots of exciting things planned...we hope to see you here!


November 20 & 21, 2010
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.

November 27, 2010
PHOTOS WITH ST. NICHOLAS
1-4 p.m.
Come have your photos taken with our historic St. Nick! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $5 fee for photo and folder.

November 28, 2010
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

December 3, 2010
PHOTOS WITH ST. NICHOLAS
9 a.m.-noon
Come have your photos taken with our historic St. Nick! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $5 fee for photo and folder.

December 12 & 18, 2010
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

December 18, 2010
HOLIDAYS AT THE HEARTH
1-4 p.m.
Enjoy holiday music, string popcorn and cranberries, spin the dreidel, help make pomander balls, tamales, paper chains, embossed cards, ornaments, and more! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee to make a punched tin ornament.

October and November events...

Mark your calendars!

October 17, 2010
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

October 22, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: Anansi Does the Impossible: An Ashanti Tale retold by Verna Aardema. The adventures of Anansi the spider continue with this delightful tale from our West African ancestors about securing folktales for the people. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).


October 23, 2010
JEEPERS REAPERS!
1-4 p.m.
We just celebrated Harvest Homecoming, but now it’s time to reap what we’ve sown! Experience grinding grain by hand, thresh wheat, mix masa, press tortillas and more. Then we’ll use corn husks to make dolls! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 craft fee to make a corn husk doll.

November 14 & 28, 2010
BUTTERMILK JUNCTION OLD TIME STRING BAND
1-4 p.m.
Come enjoy the delightful sounds of Buttermilk Junction , an Old-Time & Anglo-Celtic band, from right here in Fort Worth. They play and sing historical "Roots Music" - tunes and songs from frontier Texas of the mid to late 1800s. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission.

November 13 & 14, 2010
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.


November 19, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: Kindle Me a Riddle: A Pioneer Story by Roberta Karim. Frontier days are brought to life through a series of riddles in this charming story about a 19th century family. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

November 20 & 21, 2010
CANDLE-DIPPING
1-4 p.m.
It’s candle-making time! Come dip your own candles to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $3 fee to dip candles.


November 27, 2010
PHOTOS WITH ST. NICHOLAS
1-4 p.m.
Come have your photos taken with our historic St. Nick! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $5 fee for photo and folder.

So much to say!

Wow! We truly have a TON of exciting things happening around here! Where to begin...

• We were honored to recently receive a Preservation Award from Historic Fort Worth, Inc., for the Howard Cabin restoration. This award recognizes "excellence in the restoration, rehabilitation or adaptive reuse of historic buildings or sites."



• We are once again nominated as "Best Historical Attraction" in Metroplex Baby's "Best of the Metroplex" awards. Would you please vote for us in this next and final round?



• We've got some exciting "new" artifacts, including a beautiful kerosene lamp and a piece from a reed organ. Be watching for the reed organ piece to go on exhibit soon!



• In November, you have FOUR OPPORTUNITIES to come dip your own candles to take home with you! That's right...FOUR!



• For the first time, we'll be offering photos with a historic St. Nicholas on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and the first Friday in December!

• Buttermilk Junction continues to delight visitors with their amazing music. Come check them out!

In addition to all this excitement, we're planning a phenomenal January-June lineup that will include The Lone Star Dutch Oven Society, Woodworking, a Homeschool Day, the Lone Star Leather Crafters, The Greater Fort Worth Herb Society, Boy and Girl Scout activities, summer camps, Cooking, Coopering, Blacksmithing...the list goes on and on!

We're shaking things up around here...so STAY TUNED!

Harvest Homecoming/Day in the District!

Helloooooooooo blog friends! It's almost here...our BIGGEST event of the YEAR! And it will happen RAIN or SHINE!

When: Saturday, September 25, 2010, noon-4 p.m.

Where: Log Cabin Village (and Fort Worth's Cultural District)

Saturday, September 25, we'll open one hour early so that you have more time for the fun. And it's all FREE! We'll have Buttermilk Junction, the Lone Star Leather Crafters, Silversmyths, woodworkers, the Panther City Regulators, the Greater Fort Worth Herb Society, and our own merry Village People here to educate, celebrate, and have a great time!

Won't you join us?

Be sure to check out other Day in the District venues as well!

Reminder...event this Saturday!

Just a reminder...we have our historic Toys and Games event on Saturday! Here are more details:

June 19, 2010

IT’S ALL FUN AND GAMES

1-4 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 toy to take home. No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 craft fee.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Hey! Remember all the fun we had planting last month at our special event? Well look at those little seeds NOW!

Good thing we had y'all to help us!

Celebrate May at Log Cabin Village

May is almost upon us, and we've got some exciting events to keep you entertained!!

P.S. Little House on the Prairie: The Musical is coming to Fort Worth in June. Stay tuned for details about our exciting collaboration!

May 8, 2010
DUTCH OVEN COOKING
1-4 p.m.
Join us for an encore dutch oven cooking demonstration by our friends, the Prairie Dogs (Lone Star Dutch Oven Society)! Cost is regular Village admission. No reservations required.

May 14, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: My Little House 1-2-3 and Going West by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Enjoy some legendary Little House stories rewritten for little pioneers. $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).

May 15, 2010
STRIKE WHILE THE IRON’S HOT!
1-4 p.m.
Experience life before hardware and lumber stores! See the blacksmith hand-forge unique creations, take a turn working wood at the shave horse, and watch trained cooper (barrel/cask/bucket maker) Dan Tatum and members of the Woodturners of North Texas at work. This day is for do-it-yourselfers! Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 fee to make a wooden mallet to take home.

Staff and visitors get All Sown Up!

Wow! What a beautiful day here at Log Cabin Village! Our staff, volunteers, and visitors plowed, planted, washed clothes, played with toys, cooked over an open fire, and made paper flowers to celebrate spring planting! A VERY SPECIAL thank you goes out to the Greater Fort Worth Herb Society for providing such wonderful care and information about our herb garden today.

Here are some photos. Please click on any photo to enlarge and/or control the speed of the slideshow.

Fun activities for April 10th!

Greetings, Village People! You already know about the fun to be had here at Log Cabin Village on Saturday, April 10. But did you know that you can continue your outing well into the night? After you plow and plant here, head on over to Greenbriar Park for lots of exciting activities! More info can be found on the attached flyer...

Greenbriar Great Outdoors Flyer

Upcoming events...

Just a reminder...we have some great events coming up next week!

April 9, 2010
TIMBER TALES STORYTIME
10-11 a.m.
Featured story: Covered Wagon, Bumpy Trails by Verla Kay. Follow a family on their covered wagon trip west in this lyrical tale of bumpy trails! $4 fee includes a story, fun activities, and a craft, all geared towards 3-5 year olds. Please call 817-392-5881 to make your reservation (required).


April 10, 2010
ALL SOWN UP
1-4 p.m.
Join us as we undertake spring planting! Plow the field, pump and haul water, scatter some seed, and watch the garden grow. Be sure to visit with The Greater Fort Worth Herb Society while you’re here! Cost is regular Village admission plus a $2 fee to make a craft.

Reminder: Toolin' Around special event

Just a reminder, the Lone Star Leather Crafters will be here tomorrow (Saturday, March 13th) from 1-4 p.m. demonstrating the art of working with leather. We hope to see you here!

March 13, 2010
TOOLING AROUND...
1-4 p.m.
Grab your punches and your awls...it’s time to craft leather! Fort Worth’s own Lone Star Leather Crafters Guild will be here demonstrating their fine work and giving Village visitors the chance to stamp a little leather on their own! No reservations required. Cost is regular Village admission. Crafts for this event are generously provided by Tandy Leather Factory and Hide Crafters.

As a bonus, we'll also have some of our Tarrant County College--Trinity River Campus service learning students here showing off some of our toys and games! Won't you come out and play?

The one where we apologize for not posting more...

Hello Blog Cabin Village friends!

So sorry for the lapse between blog posts! We could come up with any number of flimsy excuses for you to explain our absence (i.e. the cabins have been restless, the cats locked us out of our computers, a terrible wave of pioneer flu). The truth is that we've just been busy! It's a good busy, however.

Here are a few of the things percolating right now at Log Cabin Village:

• School tours and walk-in visitation are back in full swing! The Village may be beautiful when it's quiet, but we eagerly anticipate the days when the pitter-pattering of feet fill our halls...
  


• We've been making new friends! We love partnering with other like-minded entities, both local AND far away. We currently have students from the Tarrant County College-Trinity River campus doing some service learning projects for us. These projects range from site and cabin maintenance to shooting video and taking photographs. We also recently hosted Kiddin Around USA, and look forward to a potential upcoming partnership with Performing Arts Fort Worth, Inc. We participated in a great survey administered by Reach Advisors.
  


• We've been enjoying our existing partnerships! The Greater Fort Worth Herb Society has started "waking" the garden up for spring. The Lone Star Leather Crafters will be here next Saturday. The Prairie Dogs (Lone Star Dutch Oven Society), Woodturners of North Texas, and cooper Dan "Five Buckets" Tatum have all signed on for May.
  


• We've been getting great press! We were recently featured in a great article in MomsOutLoud. Some of our winter photos were featured on NBC Channel 5. And we have another project "in the works." We'll fill you in on that one later. :)
  


• We've been making improvements! A new sign is about to be installed for the Howard cabin. The Parker cabin has been re-stabilized. Our tool shed has been rebuilt. And we have new items in our gift shop, including the recently released Fort Worth Parks book and the much sought-after limberjacks!
  


• We've been planning special events! We've got Timber Tales Storytime and Tooling Around next week. More information on those and other upcoming events can be found on our calendar!
  


• We've been using social media! We've been learning about making videos. We've made friends from Dallas to Ireland using Twitter. And we've been continuing great conversations with our fans on Facebook.

There's a lot more, but you probably get the idea by now.

Most importantly, we are ALWAYS striving to provide exciting and meaningful opportunities for our visitors, friends, fans, and Tweeps to "escape the present, and experience the past." We hope you'll continue to support and help us on this journey. We appreciate you!

More great photos from Dutch oven cooking!

Here are Prairie Dog Chuck's awesome photos from Saturday's event. Enjoy!