Summer Camp is coming soon!

June 11, 2013
WHATCHA GOT COOKING DAYCAMP
9 a.m.-noon
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 one week prior. Camp is for children going into 4th-8th grade.  Download registration form.

WAGONS WEST
June 12 or 21, 2013 (pick one only)   
9 a.m.-noon
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. $15 admission includes materials and a snack. Reservations required one week prior. Program is for children going into 1st--6th grade. Download registration form.


June 13, 2013
TOOLIN’ AROUND DAYCAMP
9 a.m.-noon
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 one week prior. Camp is for children going into 4th-8th grade. Download registration form.

Still time to sign up for Summer Camps!

Our camps are filling fast...so don't delay!

June 8, 20, or 27, 2012 (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. $15 admission includes materials and a snack. Reservations required one week prior. Program is for children going into 1st--6th grade. Registration form available here.

June 21, 2012

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 14. Camp is for children going into 4th-8th grade. Registration form available here.

Summer Fun at the Village!

Check out these fun summer camp opportunities...pre-registration is required, so don't delay!

June 14, 2012
WHATCHA GOT COOKING DAYCAMP
9 a.m.-noon
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 7. Camp is for children going into 4th-8th grade. Registration form available here.

June 8, 20, or 27, 2012 (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. $15 admission includes materials and a snack. Reservations required one week prior. Program is for children going into 1st--6th grade. Registration form available here.

June 21, 2012

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 14. Camp is for children going into 4th-8th grade. Registration form available here.

Woodworkers working wood...

Great photos from yesterday's Woodworking summer camp! Enjoy...

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.

Thank you, Mr. Goodnight...

If you've been involved with the Village for any length of time, you'll know what a talented woodworker our own Steven Suarez is. And so when we commissioned a chuck box to augment our firepit cooking demonstration, Steven was more than happy to draw up plans, prepare the lumber, and create a masterpiece that is as beautiful as it is functional.

So what's a chuck box, you ask? The chuck box was originally crafted by Charles Goodnight as part of a chuckwagon in 1866. Mr. Goodnight was looking for a handy way to feed cowboys on the months-long cattle drives from Texas to trail heads in northern and western markets. He fashioned a box that would fit into the back of a covered wagon. This box would contain spices, seasonings, utensils, and dry goods that "cookie" might need to prepare meals for starving cowhands. When the front cover dropped down, it would also provide a handy surface for chopping, mixing, and whatever else cooking prep entailed.

Although we do not have a wagon, we do have a wonderful free-standing chuck box that helps us tell the story of a bygone era. And our firepit chefs approve!

Here are photos of the process. Enjoy!

Summer camp information--sign up today!

Hello esteemed Village People!

As the days turn warmer, we turn our thoughts to the coming months and what exciting adventures lie ahead. And we can't help but think that our June day camps are right around the corner!

All camps are back by popular demand! For our 4th-8th graders, we will again offer our cooking and woodworking single-day camps. Both provide great hands-on opportunities to hone specific "pioneer" skills. For our wee pioneers (K-6th grade) we will feature our Wagons West: Hands-on history programs. Not as intensive as cooking/woodworking, Wagons West still gives our participants a "taste" of pioneer life.

Here's more information on all three programs, plus downloadable registration forms. Classes fill fast, so don't delay!

Registration Form--Cooking and/or Woodworking

Registration Form WW

T'was a woodworker's shop, it was...

It occurred to us that we didn't share photos of the interior of the "final product" of the Howard project. We hesitate to use the word "final," since it's still very much a work in progress (i.e. more tools, a tool cabinet, etc.). Regardless, we wanted to share! Here you are!

Note: the official dedication is slated for May 2010. Stay tuned for more details!

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!

Strike While the Iron's Hot!

Wow! We are a little over an hour into today's special event, and things are exciting around here! We have cooper Dan Tatum here demonstrating how to make a bucket. We have members of the Woodturners of North Texas here showing a pedal-powered lathe owned and operated by Louis Oberheu. John Horn of John Horn Woodturning is here as well. Kids are making mallets to take home, and the blacksmith is hard at work!

If you're not already on your way...you need to make your way out here! You don't want to miss this!

"Wood"n't you know it?

As a follow-up to our blacksmith interview, today I spoke with Steven Suarez--the Village "jack of all trades"--about woodworking on the frontier. Here's what Steven had to say:

R: What are some of the wooden things that were probably made by hand in frontier Texas?

S: When people traveled to Texas by covered wagon, they had very little room for their possessions--particularly bulky furniture. They would commonly have to make their furniture once they got here to Texas (or whatever other place they were traveling). Families needed beds, chairs, and tables, so furniture-making was quite important. Other useful things were also made by hand, like tool and farm implement handles. If you broke your ax handle while you were out working, you would need to know how to replace it!

R: Why would a woodworker use a shaving horse?

S: The shaving horse was a quick and easy way to clamp wood that you were interested in making round stock (round wood) from. Round stock would be used for tool and gardening handles. You could also use the shaving horse for tapering shakes (shingles) for roofs. The shaving horse's method of clamping (by using your foot rather than having to screw a clamp down) allowed the woodworker to turn and move the wood freely and quickly as it was being shaped. This saved time AND energy.

R: What's your favorite frontier tool to use? Why?

S: I think it would have to be the spokeshave. The spokeshave offers a way to free hand a lot of different shapes in the wood. I've used it to make a hammer and ax handles, legs for a three-legged stool, and other "rounded" projects. It's good for rounding over wood with precision.

R: Which of your woodworking projects are you most proud of?

S: The reconstruction of the Reynold's smokehouse. I hand-hewed two of the replacement logs myself. I enjoyed the challenge of putting it all back together with the proper log placement--it was like working a jigsaw puzzle. You had to look to the wood for clues as to how it all fit together. I draw great satisfaction and enjoyment out of working with wood and creating things with my hands. I feel that God blessed me with the talent, and I'm very grateful to be able to use it here.

Thanks so much, Steven! Come see Steven in action this Saturday!