Students Glimpse Pioneer Life

WAITSBURG - Waitsburg Elementary School students washed laundry, made fire with flint, listened to folk music and immersed themselves in Waitsburg history last Friday at the Bruce House Museum.

This is the second year the students spent the day at the museum for Pioneer Days near the end of the school year.

The kindergarten, first and second grade classes rotated through the historical stations in the morning, and the third, fourth and fifth grade classes did so in the afternoon.

At the ice cream station, they learned how ice cream was made by hand and got their own chance to shake plastic bags full of ice, rock salt, sugar and cream for a tasty treat with Dennis McKee, Kathy Stender and Jim and Laura Young.

At the second station, they learned basic sewing with Claudette White, Annette Bergevin and Mary Mathews.

Young Waitsburg musicians treated the students to folk music inside the Bruce House right across the hall from Charlotte Baker who played the piano.

Students washed clothes and completed relay races outside with Heather Baker, Adelle Smith and Marge Benson.

Anita Baker provided history lessons in the house, Joan Helm read books and taught kids how to use chalk slates.

Tom Baker and Jeff Broom taught them to play with button toys.

The last station was Gary Lentz, the former park ranger at Lewis & Clark Trail State Park, who had set up a tent like a fur trapper pioneer would have made and taught the kids how to cook with a Dutch oven and how to start a fire with flint and rope.