Return to Lang Pioneer Village

Villages have an unmistakable charm. There is a subtle magic found in villages. The earthiness, greenery, and fragrance of flowers, plants, fruits, and vegetables growing in the field is breathtakingly inimitable. Sitting in the lush green fields, while gazing at the wide blue sky, amidst the farm animals and the simple houses in the background, is a joie de vivre.
― Avijeet Das

Accounts of eating Christmas sweet potatoes baked in ashes and jackrabbit stewed with white flour dumplings are testaments to pioneer resilience and pleasure - and they help inspire my own best scratch cooking.
— Isabel Gillies

It is not easy to be a pioneer - but oh, it is fascinating! I would not trade one moment, even the worst moment, for all the riches in the world.
— Elizabeth Blackwell

My return to Lang Pioneer Village did not get off to a good start. I got my costume in plenty of time, and it fit perfectly. I had my apron, shoes, and stockings. I put my hair in a braid because I couldn’t find any bobby pins to put it in a bun – there were no plastic claw clips in pioneer days.

However, I forgot the address of the lady I was picking up, so I had to look it up online. This meant going through my emails to find the one from a year ago with everyone’s contact information in it.

Lang Pioneer Village is on the north side of Rice Lake. There is no easy way to get to it, you have to go out of your way to either the east or the west. I prefer taking the western route because it’s more familiar and I don’t have to pass through the cannabis corridor (a long section of highway that passes through the Alderville reservation and is littered with stores selling cannabis).

I turned left, thought I was going in the wrong direction, turned around. Then I realized I was supposed to go left, so I turned around again and we were off. Then I realized I’d forgotten the map I’d printed out. D’oh!

Somehow, I remembered just enough from last year to get us there. Whew! Then I realized I’d also forgotten the spiffy site map I’d printed out. And my big water bottle. And the glasses I need to wear when I’m doing stitchery. *sigh*

Once we were there we discovered something shocking. THERE WAS NO COFFEE! Not a drop – not for staff, not for volunteers, not for visitors. I guess they figured because it was summer people wouldn’t want anything hot to drink. They were wrong.

They were a little more concerned with authenticity this year, so I didn’t get a lot of pictures because the pockets of my apron weren’t big enough to hold my phone. And before the village opened to visitors, a woman in a ATV raced through the village dispensing mason jars for everyone to drink out of so that water bottles could be hidden away.

There was definitely a lot more going on that last year. There was a cheese shop, the spinning and yarn dyeing, a wagon ride, a display by the Peterborough Agricultural Society, broom making, weaving, a spring pole lathe demonstration, demonstration of using a washing board, and on the village green there was my group of stitchers, a rug hooking group, and a lady who was repairing and filling straw mattresses. There was also an on-going corn roast, games and crafts involving corn for the kids, dyeing demonstrations using corn and corn flowers, and freshly popped kettle corn.

I think my favorite was the corn grinding demonstration. The corn is first dried in a corn crib, then husked. The dried corn cob is put into this grinder and when you turn the crank the kernels are stripped from the cob. The naked cobs are set aside to be used in the fire in the smoke house, and the kernels are put into one of the two grinders (they looked like the meat grinder my mother used to have). One ground them into corn meal, the other had a coarser texture.

Lots to see and do, and save for the lack of coffee and the hardness of the chairs we were sitting on, a good time was had by all. But there are a few things I must remember for next year’s visit:

Bring a basket big enough to hide a thermos (or two!) of coffee and something to drink it out of like a tin cup or porcelain tea cup.
Re-do the pockets on my apron so they’re bigger, and lower down.
Bring a cushion to sit on.

I’m already looking forward to next year!

Adventures in Pioneering

It is not easy to be a pioneer - but oh, it is fascinating! I would not trade one moment, even the worst moment, for all the riches in the world.
— Elizabeth Blackwell

Woman must be the pioneer in this turning inward for strength. In a sense, she has always been the pioneer.
— Anne Morrow Lindbergh

There is something about reviewing the lessons of the past to prepare us to face the challenges of the future.
— L. Tom Perry

Yesterday I joined a few of the ladies from my stitchery group at Lang Pioneer Village to participate in their “Tie the Knot” event, which was all about wedding practices in the 1800s. As well as setting up a display of some of the things a young bride might have in her trousseau, we worked at various stitchery projects while in costume.

First stop when we got there was the costuming building – this is where the magic happened.

It looks pretty tame in the picture, but there were hundreds of costumes to choose from, and several volunteers whose job it was to help us. The place was really hopping with activity. The styles may not have been the most flattering, but they were authentic.

Our group set up shop on the porch of the weaver’s building. Between the porch roof and the trees, we didn’t get much direct sunlight so it wasn't bad in the morning, but it did start to get rather warm after lunch.

The weaver’s shop was run by a single volunteer, but she did some amazing work

One of the displays I found fascinating was the yarn dying. I talked to the women there and discovered they used all natural dyes. It was interesting, and surprising, to learn what plants produced what colours. It’s a shame the picture doesn’t show the colours properly, but the yarn hanging to dry was actually a lovely shade of green.

Across the road from us was the blacksmith

And beside him was the general store that also served as the post office and apothecary

There was also a tin smith

And a newspaper office

The highlight of the day was a fashion show of bridal wear from the 1800s, and a mock wedding. Only a couple of us attended these events, but we could certainly hear them. The crowds began to disperse afterwards, and by 4 o’clock we were ready to turn in our bonnets and return to the 20th century.

What a fun way to spend a Sunday.