Prairie Days full of Historic Demonstrations

Come to Prairie Days at Shawnee Prairie Preserve on Saturday, September 28th from 10:00am to 5:00pm and Sunday September 29th from 12:00pm to 5:00pm and check out all of the free demonstrations occurring around the festival grounds. You can see apple butter being made over an open fire or help make fresh apple cider on a cider press.  Wander through the encampment area and catch a glimpse of various camping styles from the late 18th century including anything from diamond flies to wall tents.  Check out the assortment of tools from the era that the longhunters and other woodsmen would have traveled with on their journeys.  You can also watch the campers compete in several camp competitions including a tomahawk and knife throwing contest. There will also be demonstrations explaining firearms of the 18th century throughout the weekend.

As you continue your stroll around the grounds, you will see blacksmiths at work, a beekeeper tending to honeybees, a dugout canoe in the process of being completed and corn shredding demonstrations from antique farm machinery.  Outside of the log house, you will find a pioneer working on making wooden shingles, basket weaving and another caning a chair.  As you head inside the log house, you may find pioneers cooking over the hearth while others are busy weaving, quilting, tatting and using alpaca and sheep’s wool for yarn work.  Bring the entire family out to Prairie Days to see firsthand many of the skills that may not be so common anymore, but were vital to everyday life in days gone by.  For more information on everything that Prairie Days has to offer, call the Nature Center at 937.548.0165 or visit our website at www.darkecountyparks.org